• Day 10 – Saturday 7th October 2017
• Pheriche to Namche Bazaar
• Altitude Start : 4,200m/13,780ft
• Altitude Finish : 3,440m/11,286ft

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Another very cold night last night, went to bed with endless amount of layers on…in the morning it’s freezing and you have to get yourself out of the cocoon you have managed to just get warm in.

That’s what makes the trek to Everest Base Camp more difficult, the trekking part you can deal with, the all dayers, the massive ups and downs, the altitude you try cope with but then when you get to your tea house and there are no home comforts, not really even basics such as appropriate amounts of sleep due to very early rises/ noises throughout the night keeping you awake, no heat, no showers, no toilets apart from squat styles (and these are hard to deal with for a number of reasons) and the same food/menu every single day, although I must say I have actually been happy with the food considering where we are, ow and you can’t eat meat up here either as it’s carried up the mountain on back so you can imagine the longer you trek up, the less fresh the meat becomes…and believe you me…I’ve seen the meat in transport, things becomes more difficult!!

I think that’s the part most people don’t get. But you get through it somehow, you look around, you see how these people cope on a day to day basis and once again you are grateful for where you are – but it is very tough!

Morning duties come and go and at breakfast it was confirmed that another two within our party are leaving us, again by helicopter. Unfortunately one of the girls has caught a chest infection and has been struggling now for days with the trekking. She was advised by the guide that due to long days ahead trekking wise and hard climbs out she would struggle with the next few days….she made the decision, she had had enough…by helicopter she went.

As mentioned before although we are travelling back the way you would think this would mean downhill but it is not the case. There is so much gaining in altitude one minute to only loose it again the next and this continues constantly.

So the journey today started with quite a few metres drop to the valley floor as you cross the Dudh Kosi River on a suspension bridge, we are well used to these by now.

We walk for some time in the shadows of the pine trees and rhododendron bushes that line the well trodden trails.

The journey back to Namche Bazaar is a long descent down a dusty hill towards the valley crossing and then you start a steep ascent back up the other side of the valley.

We continue to traverse along the side of the mountain and drop back into Namche Bazaar, the thriving community perched on a hillside in the middle of….nowhere really but somewhere very very special!

Most of the way along the track we see many Sherpas who add a fascinating human element to this great outdoor adventure.

Throughout the trek we continue to keep looking at the mountains, trying hard to memorise their glorious features.

In Nepal it’s easy to feel small, especially when trekking in the world’s highest mountain range.

I read something from another trekking companies site which I felt was quite powerful it said…

‘Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time’, if you make these wise words your mantra, you won’t go far wrong here in the Himalayas.

So we dump our bags, have a quick wipe down, then head out on the ‘town’ for souvenirs, a much needed coffee then we finish the night off in the Irish Pub…we had to…it was the highest!! You can clearly see the trend here with the cakes, coffees, pubs etc etc….’its the highest’!!

Late night tonight which will be a sore one in the morning as our final day of trekking is our longest yet – supposedly 9 hours – with a tough climb to finish….I wouldn’t finish the Everest Base Camp Trek any other way though, it has to be a final steep climb!