Abraham Saikley

Nepal

April 20 - June 6, 2023

I’ve felt the mythical allure of the Himalaya since I was a little kid and have wanted to go to the Everest region specifically for a few years. On April 1st this year, Nepal implemented a policy requiring foreigners going into any wilderness area to hire a guide, making it significantly more expensive and destroying any possibility of having the type of solo experience I wanted. I truly felt heartbroken. However, it seemed that certain regions might not be enforcing the policy at least for the time being. It was impossible to find reliable info on official websites but I dug through Facebook groups and Reddit forums and directly contacted travelers who were there currently, all of whom said it was still possible to get into the region without a guide. A lot of uncertainty remained and the timing wasn’t ideal for other life reasons but I figured there may never again be as good a time to go and decided to pull the trigger. On April 20th I got on a plane to Kathmandu just a few days after booking flights while living out in the Mojave Desert. I never would have expected to do a trip like this on such short notice but wanted to arrive asap both to get in before the policy maybe became enforced and to have enough days there before monsoon season. I scrambled to arrange logistics, get last-minute vaccines, and drive into Los Angeles to leave my car with a friend and get on a flight to Kathmandu via Doha. After 50 hours, 3 flights, some strategic maneuvers to get all my gear through airport security, and 2 chaotic taxi rides, I started walking from a village called Lukla up into the mountains with a backpack that weighed roughly 65-70 pounds. I brought a ton of food and warm gear so as not to be beholden to the teahouses and trails along the way, and spent the next 4 weeks among the most inspiring mountains I’ve ever seen. I was in Nepal for 45 days total and am so glad I went despite hurting my ankle and getting quite sick for much of the trip. On this trip I came to the annoying realization that my willpower and health are not limitless resources. It was cool to explore some other parts of Nepal too after getting down from the high mountains. The beauty and poverty all jumbled together left an impression on me.

I kept a handwritten journal every day throughout the trip. I'll share these pages alongside photos and videos below.

Los Angeles to Lukla

Just getting to Lukla, the village where the trail to Everest begins, was a bit of an adventure. From Lukla I hiked a few miles that day to a village called Phakding where I spent the night.

Flying over Greenland

Doha airport

Kathmandu airport shuttle

Kathmandu taxi

Walking through Thamel district in Kathmandu to get on a taxi to Ramechhap 5 hours away

Barbie world

On the way to Ramechhap

Unloading bags

Taking off from Ramechhap

Approaching Lukla

Landing on the sloped runway in Lukla

Day 2 - Phakding to Namche

Walking into Namche

Namche evening

Day 3 - Namche to Kyangjuma

Namche morning

An auspicious sign?

Day 4 - Kyangjuma to Tengboche

Bivy spot near Tengboche

Day 5 - Tengboche to Dingboche

Sunrise near Tengboche

Snowing in Dingboche at 14k'

Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam (left to right)

Lone tree beneath Kangtega and Thamserku

Ama Dablam

Day 6 - Taboche scramble

Boiling water with reflected light

Ama Dablam sun halo

Kangtega

Ama Dablam sun halo

Excited to finally be in the alpine

Wind ripping

Stoked to be here!

Cliffed out

Sublime conditions

Ama Dablam

Nuptse and Lhotse

Ama Dablam

Pumori and Lingtren

Nigthfall as the clouds closed in again

Day 7 - Dingboche rest day

Dal bhat

Kanchha Nuru, a certified badass

Day 8 - Dingboche to Lobuche

Dingboche stupa

Stupa and birds beneath Taboche

Kangtega

Walking to Lobuche

Give your life the credit it deserves!

Day 9 - Lobuche rest day

Day 10 - Lobuche to Gorakshep

Getting humbled by a Sherpa

Lingtren

Khumbu Glacier

Changtse

Nuptse

Day 11 - Pumori high camp

Changtse

Ridge below Nuptse

Nuptse

EBC

Helicopter flying out of EBC

Momentarily feeling good thanks to diamox and tylenol

Accepting temporary defeat

Snowy night descent

Day 12 - Gorakshep rest day

Collecting water

Garlic soup

Gorakshep

Day 13 - Pumori high camp

360° pan

The evening I long dreamed about and reverse-engineered this whole trip around

Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse

Ama Dablam

Everest

Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse panorama

Everest Lhotse moonbeams

Reflections while walking back to Gorakshep

Day 14 - Gorakshep rest day

Shooting Nuptse from Gorakshep

Crags below Nuptse

Pumori

Spotlight on lower flanks of Nuptse

Nuptse

Day 15 - Everest Base Camp

EBC

Khumbu Glacier stream

Hanging glacier with Changtse looming

EBC

EBC

Khumbu Glacier

Day 16 - Gorakshep to Dingboche

High speed chase

River crossing

Day 17-22 - Dingboche

Sunrise from 16k' on the slopes of Nangkartshang

Day 23 - Dingboche to Phunki Thanga

Ama Dablam sunrise

Ama Dablam morning

Ama Dablam

Lhotse

Day 24 - Phunki Thanga to Benkar

Namche volleyball game

Evening alpenglow and prayer flags

Hungry friendly dogs

Day 25 - Benkar to Chaurikarka

Day 26 - Chaurikarka to Thamdanda

Road building

Thamdanda guesthouse

Day 27 - Thamdanda to Phaplu

Our trusty steed

Jeep ride from hell

Phaplu monsoon

Day 28-44

I spent several days in Phaplu before taking another all-day jeep ride to Kathmandu. It was rough but not nearly as bad as the one described above. In Kathmandu I met up with my good friend Eva. She was taking the spring and summer to travel around Asia and Europe before starting medical school (read her blog here). We explored Kathmandu together for a couple days and then got on a bus to Pokhara. Eva left for the Annapurna circuit shortly after and I had a few more days in Pokhara before heading back to Kathmandu and flying home. One morning in Pokhara I walked up a hill to watch sunrise with views of three 8000m peaks: Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and Manaslu. Machapuchare impressively dominated the skyline as well. I was somewhat tempted to head up into the high mountains again but decided not to as I was both wrecked and largely satisfied from my pilgrimage to Everest.