Imagine your first real overseas experience being trekking through the Himalayas in Nepal. At 16. Because that’s what I did. I had no travel experience, little hiking experience, and yet I hiked one of the most incredible trails in the world while in high school. It’s been 5 years, and it still doesn’t seem like it was real.
I had this amazing opportunity through Youth to Everest, which is a trip run by Everest Treks NZ (this is in no way sponsored but I cannot recommend Everest Treks NZ highly enough). Youth to Everest supports students from schools across NZ to visit Nepal, trek through the Khumbu Valley and contribute to projects in the local Sherpa communities. Everest Treks NZ was founded by Kiwi, John Gully who has been taking students and adults to the Everest region since 1988. He has established a strong, resilient relationship between New Zealanders and the Sherpa people over the last 35 years, and achieved a great deal through community-based projects to support Sherpa communities. Not only do they lead Youth to Everest, but also many other trekking experiences including Everest Base Camp, and Annapurna Base Camp. As a New Zealand-based organisation, they made the whole experience straightforward, concern free and easy.
And all this brings me back to my experience.
I’ve always known I wanted to travel and see the world, that was not something new. However, when I came home from school one day and told my parents that I wanted to go to Nepal next year as a part of the trip Youth to Everest their questions and concerns were more than justified. But after dragging them along to a couple of the information sessions, I managed to convince them, they could see the merit, especially when promising that I would pay for the whole trip.
All together, there were 18 students, and 3 adult chaperones who took part in Youth to Everest 2018. There were 6 other students from my school who attended the trip, + Gary Hinds, a well-respected local member of my home community who would be coming along as group leader. We spent 17 days away, which isn’t that long when you include travel time from New Zealand.
We flew from Auckland, NZ, into Singapore, where we go to spend a day exploring the city before moving on to Kathmandu. Singapore was really different, and such an interesting place that I would love to visit again. One day was certainly not enough. Before writing this post, I dug up my old “travel diary entries” in which I wrote little blurbs about each day (and only did this for like the first 10 days) – looking back at them, some of the stuff we did was somewhat unhinged. To quote my 16-year-old self, “we spent like an hour trying to get the bikes (hire bikes, think lime/flamingo/etc) to work but our phones were basically dead and we had no wifi or data so we hailed a cheap taxi to Chinatown. We then got lost, and couldn’t figure out how to cross the road without jaywalking (which is a fineable offence in Singapore)”. Iconic. A bunch of 16/17-year-olds roaming the streets of Singapore, talk about a cultural experience.
When we arrived in Kathmandu late at night, I vividly remember being so out of it. I hadn’t slept a lot in the last couple of days, and arriving at the airport was overwhelming. There were security guards walking around with rifles, monkeys roaming, then cars, bikes, and people just EVERYWHERE as we were driving to our hotel. We had a few hours to get some rest before departing for our early morning flight to Lukla (the gateway to the Khumbu Valley/Everest Region). However, I don’t think I slept at all. I was stressed, I thought I was absolutely crazy, and wanted to go home. Why did I sign up for this?
The next morning, we took the short 30min flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, right as the sun was rising, and it was stunning. Mountain ranges covered in snow were glowing, and the terraced land below us was beautiful. The Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla is widely regarded as the most dangerous airport in the world due to its high altitude, extremely short runway and the surrounding mountains forcing an aircraft to 100% commit to its landing approach. The plane was so small that everyone got a clear view of the scenery, and then the very short runway upon approach. As we exited the plane surrounded by mountains and stepped foot into the small village of Lukla, my worries retreated and I knew that this trip was going to be an incredible adventure, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Over the next few days, we spent anywhere from 3 to 6hrs walking each day, gradually gaining more and more altitude. Some sections were definitely more challenging, but it was always so rewarding when we would reach little lodges and tea stops for lunch. We crossed swing bridge after swing bridge, which started off as terrifying, but came to be a normal part of everyday life in the Himalayas.
It was on day 3 of the trek that we were greeted with our first sighting of Chomolungma (Mt Everest), and what a moment that was. It was a fleeting look as the clouds had been rolling by the mountains, but that certainly didn’t make it any less spectacular. We were just teenagers from New Zealand, yet here we were right in front of the World’s tallest mountain. Along the way we passed through countless Sherpa villages, spinning prayer wheels as we walked by. The local people were so warm and welcoming, highlighting the beautiful nature of the Nepali people and their culture.
Along the trek, we stayed in lodges, usually 2 or 3 of us per room, and we had free time to explore the villages, and surrounding areas as we wished. Namche Bazaar was an awesome village that we stayed in for a couple of days to acclimatise. It had the cutest souvenir shops, and restaurants, as well as yaks roaming the streets. The sound of yak bells on the trail became a common and *somewhat* welcomed sound. You learnt to move out of the way pretty quick when you heard them coming and to always give way to them on the swingbridges. The village was welcoming and hospitable, however, you did learn to barter with the shop staff pretty quick to avoid getting completely ripped off.
While camping in tents in the village of Khunde, we played soccer and volleyball in the neighbouring village of Khumjung at Sir Edmund Hillary’s School with local children. This was lots of fun. We were playing sports at an altitude higher than New Zealand’s tallest mountain – Mt Cook which stands at 3,724m. It was in Khunde that we were meant to help with the establishment of a plant nursery, however, the supplies did not arrive in time so we missed out on this. We visited the memorial for Sir Edmund Hillary, his wife and daughter, the connection between Kiwis and Nepal had never felt stronger. Sir Ed is a well-regarded hero in NZ, and he is so well respected in the Nepalese communities. And further, not only were the Nepalese and Sherpa people so welcoming, but so were other trekkers. They would always stop to chat, wanting to know where we were from, and what inspired us to come out to the Khumbu Valley.
The pinnacle of the trip for us was reaching Ama Dablam Base Camp at 4,600m, and then we continued onwards to 5000m – apparently only 5% of people have been above 5000m (I cannot find factual evidence to back this up). At Ama Dablam Base Camp we spoke to climbers who were camped there, preparing to summit Ama Dablam in the coming weeks. How cool it was to hear about their stories and experiences. Standing up on the ridge at 5000m, all you could see were mountains and peaks, as far as the eye could go. Even though many of the surrounding mountains were still higher than us, it felt like we were (almost) on top of the world.
From here, we started our downhill journey, which still had many significant uphills, and headed back to Lukla over the next few days. The journey was somewhat comforting, as we revisited the villages we had previously stayed in. In Lukla, we said goodbye to the Himalayas and our porters and flew back to Kathmandu, where we spent a few days before returning to New Zealand.
During our few days in Kathmandu, we visited a range of temples including the Great Boudha Stupa, Swoyambhu Mahachaitya (also known as the Monkey Temple) and the Hanuman-dhoka Durbar Square. These temples gave a lot of insight into the Buddhist culture. We also spent time exploring the Thamel District within the city, it was so colourful, and exciting. A very memorable experience during our time in Kathmandu was a visit to an after-school program for children, run by a local orphanage. We spent hours playing and crafting with the children aged between 2-16. To end our visit, we spent time singing and dancing with these children on the rooftop, looking out over the expansive city. This was an inspiring experience as these children have so little but had so much joy to share.
Hands down, I don’t think I could’ve picked a better experience for a shy, but adventure orientated 16 year old. There are so many moments from this trip that have stuck with me, and I know I will not forget. The first time I saw Mt Everest. Prayer flags and wheels. The Nepalese people, and their way of life. The morning we left for Ama Dablam Base Camp when the sun was rising but it was blocked by the magnitude of the surrounding peaks. Flying into (and out of) Lukla. Dancing on the rooftop with Nepali children. Not to mention some of the friends I made on this trip and am still in contact with today.
The Khumbu Valley and wider Nepal were breathtaking. I have every intention of returning to travel further. I would love to do the same trek, but to Everest Base Camp, and I am also really keen on hiking the Annapurna Circuit. Hopefully, I can do this in the next few years. Ironically, the students who partook in Youth to Everest 2018 actually go to go all the way to Everest Base Camp as it was something we all said we would have loved to do. All of this being said though, it was not easy. Some of the days were gruelling, and the altitude made everything harder. But it was all well and truly worth it. A character-building experience.
~ Nikitas Nomadic Notes
Nikita’s Nomadic Notes 