Things you should avoid during Everest Base Camp Trek
The fascinating and popular destination in the Himalayas and bucket list activities for many of the adventure lovers is Everest Base Camp trek. It is not the toughest trek in Nepal but still many people don’t reach base camp because they do ignore some of the things which they shouldn’t ignore and they have to abort their life time adventure activity without successful completion. In this article we are giving light in the activities which one should not do during this trek. The article will help you to understand the underlying factors that are responsible for unsuccessful attempt to Everest Base camp. The major issues which barred people from reaching the base camp are summarized below:
Going too fast
We appreciate your ability to walk fast but if you walk fast in the trek to Everest Base Camp there is a high possibility that you don’t reach the destination which you wanted to go because you get easily caught by acute mountain sickness and have to come back before finishing the trip.
Eating too less
Foods are not that cheap, you want to save some money, you don’t carry sufficient snacks and light meals from Kathmandu, your organizer is controlling the amount of food, you don’t know which dish is big and which dish is small? Either of these cases you might starve in the mountains. Your body needs more energy to cope with the cold temperatures in the high mountains. If you do not get ample supply of the food during the trek, there is a possibility you might not finish the trek so avoid eating too less.
Drinking too little
A bottle of water in Everest Base Camp cost $4? You are running of water purifying tablets, you don’t have a life straw, you hesitate to drink tap water, there is a limited supply of tea, coffee or hot chocolate from the side of the organizer, and you don’t have extra cash to buy you a drink or a bowl of soup or you even feels uncomfortable to use the nasty bathrooms available during the trip or you hesitate to wake up at the middle of the night for urination so you avoid drinking liquids. All of these matters affect your physiology as there is no sufficient liquid in your body and that might lead you for unsuccessful attempt to your destination.
Drinking beers and alcoholic beverage while going up
Alcoholic beverage like beers and whiskies deteriorate body physiology while going up in the high mountains. Drinking any type of alcoholic beverage in excessive amount is not good for reaching your destination. Just in case of thirst, a glass of beer or a can of beer is considerable. There are many budget trekkers who try local Rakshi and Chhyang which are produced locally and sold in the local tea houses has negative impact over the trip. Missing and lost individual trekkers are found to be drunk with local liquors and loss their way or fell in the river and disappear.
Partying late night
We respect that foreigners suffer a lot from Jetlag so we even recommend you to arrive little earlier than your trek starting days. As the sleeping hours are different some trekkers do party in the local tea houses until very late which has negative impact on them and on the guide and porters as well as staffs of the hotel. Normally they close tea houses when everybody goes to the room. As long as there are some people in the dining hall, they are occupying sleeping space for porters and guides as it is used for them when the dinner is over. The staffs are instructed to serve for the clients as long as they stay in the dining hall. Many trekkers are reluctant to leave dining hall in time as these are mostly warmer than the room. Partying late night has negative impact over everyone.
Urinating and poo in the bush
All trekkers should avoid urinating and poo under the tree or inside the bush. As local people rely over different water sources, open latrine contaminate the water sources and has negative impact over everyone’s health. It would be wonderful idea to avoid nasty squat toilets there by using open space as a toilet facility but kindly remember about the contamination, spread of the microorganisms and impact to the environment.
Few years back a Dutch trekker fell down to the Dudhkoshi River and seriously injured and rescued by helicopter with no time. Lucky he, the weather was fair and there was a helicopter standby in Lukla, anything could happen otherwise. Later discovered that he has gone for urination on the down side of the trail and step over somebody else’s few days old poo which got different color than the fresh one and slipped away and finally encountered the fatal accident which nobody thought.
Walk on the riverside of the trail while crossing Yaks
The Yak and Jhopke are frequently utilized to carry trekker’s gear and supplies to the tea houses. It is very common the trekker need to cross these beast of burden quiet frequently during their hike. If they wait on the riverside of the trail or down side of the trail they may be pushed down by these animals or the objects carried by them. It is much safer that you wait on the upper side of the trail while yak and other animals are crossing the trail.
Trespass the park entry point
There are peoples who intentionally avoid the park entry check post and do not buy entry permits to the national park. These people supposed to cross the check post by night time when nobody is there or follow the alternative tiny trails used by locals for cattle herding. The authorities have a right to put you in Jail if you do not buy the necessary permits. In many places there is a huge penalty for not buying the permits in the right place so keep in mind where to buy the necessary permits to enter the area.
Bargain the food price
Every village they have their own lodge management committee who fixes price for the rooms and meals and revised it frequently considering multiple factors. Nowhere they entertain discounts on the price of the food, however if you are trekker in the low season you might get little discount on the price of the room. So do not bargain the food price in none of the trekking area in Nepal. The lodge owners consider an offense when somebody bargains over the food price.
To Show affection in the public areas
Public kissing and hugging is not the Nepalese culture. The people working in tourism are used to for this but if you find somebody from the village and want to show the affection by hugging specially to opposite gender, which would definitely be an embarrassing situation. Just do Namaste, say Hi, say Goodbye, thank you or you can shake hands and lowering your head little bits will be the nicest idea to show affection to the local people.
Take nude baths on the streams
As there are pristine rivers during the trek, some people are found taking a nude bath and swim in the river water specially on the lower elevation of the trails so please consult with locals or your guide and porter before doing that. It is disrespect to have nude bath in public area in Nepal. Females are supposed to cover from chest part up to knee part while doing washing in the villages. Exceptions are different hot springs where lots of females are going with BIKINIS still you see no local women doing that.
Climbing over big boulders to take pictures
To get better shots, many trekkers often climb big boulders which are very slippery and it is very hard to come down. Take precautions while finding good place for pictures so that you avoid any unpleasant results of taking a good shot.
Through garbage and dispose the batteries and other electronics
There is a saying “take only pictures and leave only footprints”. Follow this to maintain the beauty of the area and discourage throwing the garbage if somebody found to do so. Help and train local people and community to dispose and recycle the garbage correctly. Your help will be highly appreciated. Hundreds of tons of unwanted material are piled up in Everest area every year. If you have idea and fund to make the area better we have our objective to clean up the trekking areas through our sister concern “Junkiri Nepal” a government registered and affiliated NGO dedicated for betterment for the underprivileged school kids from rural areas of Nepal.
Buy snacks on the way
Twix in Kathmandu cost 70 rupees for small bar; the same in Everest Base Camp would cost 400 rupees so you can compare the price of small chocolate bar. So if you keep buying snacks on the way, end of the trip you might have spent a big bunch of money on that.
Wearing new shoes on the trek
We have a saying “Only person who wears shoes knows where shoe pinches”. The same is applicable for this trek only person who wears new shoes knows how to get a trouble with new shoes. So be careful not to get big blisters which result in slow walking as well as unpleasant walking.
Joining a group of different nationalities or nationalities you hate
You cannot imagine how somebody might ruin your trip until you put your feet inside it. We have complains in many of our group joining trips that somebody is extremely noisy all the time, do not respect the group and guide at all and looking for something extra for the same price. Our poor guides suffer a lot as they consider guest as a god. Think twice before you book a group joining trip.
Joining a company with scams
There are many companies who offer a very cheap trip are engaged in different type of scams which mostly lead to incomplete treks or you end up paying extra. Do your research before you sign up for any of the trip and read carefully what is included and what is not. It is like cinema hall in Kathmandu, tickets to cinema hall cost 200 rupees and a coca cola and popcorn inside cost 500 rupees and food and drinks from outside not allowed. It is not easy to figure out what actually includes, e.g. your lunch included a fried rice would cost $4 in base camp and a steak cost $17 in base camp so it is very hard to get confused of what actually includes.
In general there are lot of things you should avoid while doing the trek, our team after doing quite a few years of research and listened to our customers have crafted the most feasible itinerary for the Everest Base Camp Trek for successful trip to base camp. If you do not like to walk or no time for walking you can still enjoy the roof of the world by taking our helicopter trip or simply a mountain flight early in the morning. Feel free to write to our expert team who will suggest you the different alternatives according to your needs which might be a three high pass trek or just an Everest view trek. Please share the information to others who are interested to take part on our adventure trips.
