You can’t make a huge leap to reach the top. It’s a gradual and steady process. Each step is significant. It all comes down to believing in yourself and trusting the process.
I used to be a professional cricketer until I was injured. That was a huge setback as I always wished to represent my country. After the pandemic, things were not falling into place. I started getting satisfied with my daily life. I always had the itch to do something out of the ordinary. In life, I believe it is crucial to step outside of one’s comfort zone and challenge oneself. Only to prove to yourself, not others. We just need to be sufficiently self-motivated to reach these goals.
The trail was crooked, lonely, and dangerous at times, but it always led us to the most incredible view above the clouds. It did not begin well because there was a thunderstorm in Thamdanda (the place where we had planned to start our trek). Our car got stuck in the mud and we had to start from Bupsa, which is about 10 km behind Thamdanda. “Difficult roads often lead us to the most beautiful locations”, as we all know. We intended to trek the traditional route, rather than take a luxury mode of transportation such as a flight or a helicopter. So we had to trek more than 170km in nine days, with two days off in Namche Bazaar and Dingboche to acclimatise. Even though this is one of the most popular trekking destinations in the world we had to face difficulties. My companion, Suvankar Roy, for whom it was his first trek, twisted his ankle on the second day, and I had a high fever, but we had no alternative but to walk for eight hours from Chheubas to Ghat. It became more difficult as it rained the entire day. The people in the area were extremely caring and helpful. Conversations with the local Sherpas were especially memorable. It was useful as it was just the two of us and we were going without a porter and a guide. This was a significant difference that set our expedition apart from the rest, as most people travel with agencies and rely on porters and guides.
Towards the Everest Base Camp
There were tea houses all along the way. The majority of them did not charge us for our stay. The prices of our accommodations increased after we reached Namche Bazaar and while we were in the Khumbhu region. On the other hand, food prices were exorbitant. For example, a dal bhaat with veggies would cost us around Rs 500 to Rs 1,200, Namche Bazaar onwards.
Our Stays
- Chheubas
- Ghat
- Namche Bazaar
- Tengboche
- Dingboche
- Lobuche
- Gorakshep
Lobuche to Gorakshep
The Prep
We took Coca 30 for 10 days before leaving, carried Diamox, some homeopathy medicines, and inhaled camphor, which was extremely helpful when we had headaches. We also took a lot of chocolates and energy bars with us. Our teachers provided us with all of these. We will be eternally grateful to them. We did struggle for oxygen, especially after 4,500 metres. To deal with these challenges, we took frequent breaks, and breathing slowly and deeply helped us lower our heart rate and take in more oxygen.
Khumbhu Icefall at Everest Base Camp
At The Top
Throughout the journey, we complimented each other and had complete faith in our abilities. When we finally made it to the top, it was an emotional experience. We hugged and broke down in tears. It was an incredible sensation. There is always a sense of calm as your gaze sweeps over the Himalayan range and the view of Mount Everest in the distance. It feels fantastic. We went through a lot of pre-trek training to overcome the physical challenges, but to step into the discomfort zone, I would call it an 80 per cent mental challenge and 20 per cent physical challenge. We watched a lot of videos and read a lot of blogs to improve our mental toughness and reduce stress. We were extremely focused on the trek and used to visualise ourselves at the summit. In those days, we had devised our own way of dealing with life.
View of Mt. Ama Dablam at Dingboche
Motivating ourselves was the key to increasing our resilience.
For us, this was not only a once-in-a-lifetime experience but also a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity. You feel like giving up with each step forward, but there was always that one driving force in our minds that was getting to 19,000ft and just enjoying the view from up there! Heavenly! We’d like to thank our school (The Heritage School), parents, friends, and everyone else who believed in us and believed we could raise the school flag high at the base of the tallest mountain in the world.
Akash Basu and Suvankar Roy
Akash Basu is a teacher at TheHeritage School. He went on theexpedition with Suvankar Roy,currently pursuing a Masters degree ineconomics at Jadavpur University