Hostel Guide - Himalayan Hotel, Pheriche, Base Camp Everest

The Himalayan Hotel 

     You wouldn't imagine such a well equipped guesthouse to be situated so far up on the base camp trek, but there is, and it's the exceptionally clean Himalayan Hotel, located in Pheriche. Not only is the guesthouse clean but it is also very attractive and the communal area is kept warm and cozy at night by an iron furnace, which is also ideal for drying socks. The food is enjoyable and the staff is welcoming and the Himalayan Guesthouse would have scored a whopping 5/5 if  only they would have turned off the Backstreet Boys greatest hits, which the staff played without fail on repeat--day and night.

Hostel Guide - Tengboche - Base Camp Everest Trek

Tengboche Guest House

     What the Tengboche Guesthouse lacks in appearance it makes up for in hospitality. You immediately feel welcomed and at home which is well needed after a long day's hike. Rooms are the standard $2.50 a night and are extremely basic, but the shared bathroom is kept nice and clean. If you want a hot shower you would have to part with another $4.

     The food served at the Tengboche Guesthouse is delicious, and the best I had on the whole trek. I personally recommend the Sherpa stew and chocolate pancake, yummy.

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Hostel Guide - Namche Bizarre - Base Camp Everest Trek

The Nest - Namche Bizarre 

A night's stay at The Nest will cost you $2.50, without a private bathroom, and showers are located outside the building and will cost you another $4. The rooms are a good size and seemed well kept and they offer internet and laundry services but prices are pretty high. The food was reasonably priced but more expensive than the lower towns. However, it was the atmosphere that made this hostel score low: the staff seldom smiled and it made you feel some what unwelcome.
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Hostel Guide - Monjo -Base Camp Everest Trek

Summit Home - Monjo

The room Rate was $2.50 (the standard rate) with shared bathroom, but hot showers were an extra $3each time you washed. The food was reasonable in price but lacked in flavor. We had two windows in our bedroom which kept it light, and we were provided with plenty of blankets to keep us warm at night. The rooms and bathroom were uncluttered, clean and tidy. The lodge offered a large dining area and had some reading material that you could borrow. I found the Great Gatsby which was a highlight of my stay.

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This is the first post dedicated to the places I stay during my travels, which will become a handy guide to the hidden oasis's that are clean and comfy to the bargain buckets and the down right terrible.

Base Camp Everest Part 4

     Leaving Pheirche we now had one day to go till we reached base camp. First we had to hike to the next village, Loboche, sitting at 16,100ft. Luckily on our way to Lobuche the mist Lingering above Pheriche had passed, revealing a bright and clear day, giving way to views that could melt even the coldest of hearts and bring them to a tear, for this land is special and its spirit is alive.

                 Meditation 

     We hiked four long hours from Pheriche to Loboche.  We made it town at 1pm, tired and sore, we were ready for a lodge and a big bowl of Sherpa Stew.

      We ate and rested, but the high altitude began to do very strange things to our bodies.   The effects go something like this: when hiking at high altitude you start to walk like a much older version of yourself; breathing is harder as there is less oxygen; headaches occur; your mouth remains dry even when you drink water; you get tired, so very very tired; sometimes you get dizzy and fall down; and you have a tendency to go to bed very early, but remain awake and restless throughout the night, even though you are exhausted. Worse of all, altitude sickness can bring on death within 12 hours, and the only cure is descend as quickly as possible. You must always remember to listen to your body and walk very very slowly. 

   

   Awaking the next morning we were ready for Everest, we could see her in our sights, she was a short hike away. The higher we climbed towards the 17,000ft  the thinner the air became. The altitude hit us and took over our  bodies, sucking us dry. Altitude sickness symptoms started to stir inside myself and Johnny, so we decided to take the advice we had seen written so many times along the trek 'Don't ignore altitude sickness - DESCEND-DESCEND-DESCEND'.  We listened to our bodies and the warnings and descended just before the official marker.

We had hiked the Base Camp Everest trek alone and we had made it out alive.
    

  

What went up must come down....

After nine days hiking up it took us three long days of hiking to get back to Lukla airport.

Our descent in pictures 

16 seater plane to ourselves!

Love you forever BHW

xHMSx

Base Camp Everest Trek Part 3

Namche Bizarre

     Namche Bizarre was a larger settlement than I imagined. It was a trekkers paradise with everything you could possibly need but at a staggering high price--internet access, bookshops, trekking equipment, snacks, money exchange, even a German Bakery.
     We took a $2.50 room and decided it was time to wash some clothes. We opted to join the locals at the stream and began scrubbing our dirty clothing with soap. We hung our freshly washed laundry in the sun at our guesthouse and hoped it would dry.
     We acclimatized in Namche for two days, where we took short hikes and rested for the trek ahead...

Washing clothes with the locals

Nepalese Momo's 

        Outside the Namste Museum    
        One of the many waterfalls                                        

                                                               

     We where excited to have our packs back on as we left Namche headed for the next village, Tengboche.
It's an exhilarating feeling as you pass trekkers who are armed with guides and porters when you are hiking to Base Camp Everest without those precautions...well, perhaps, one could say I had a porter, my wonderfully strong boyfriend, who carried a few things up the mountain for me; but otherwise, we were on our own.
    We hiked for six hours to reach the ghost town of Tengboche, which was idyllic. We barley saw another hiker all day and it felt as if the land was ours. We were at peace.

     We ate our first Sherpa stew at our guesthouse in Tengboche, which is a hearty stew consisting of vegetables, dumplings, a touch of ginger, a dash of garlic, and a steamy broth--and it is delicious! After dinner, we were ready to hit the sack but as our heads hit the pillow we suddenly heard screams of joy coming from outside our room. We made way to the sound and found a group of people gathered outside the guesthouse staring at the sky:  Everest had made her first appearance in days, and, boy was she stunning.

 Our Room in Tengboche                                                                          Sherpa Stew

Wild flowers that pave the way

World's Highest Monestry

     We awoke early the next day after our first good night sleep in days and set our for the village of Pheriche. With our trusty guide book in hand we were ready for the six hours of hard trekking ahead of us. When I say it was hard work, I mean it really, truly was hard work, especially when you're carrying a large pack, as well as suffering high altitude aliments and a blazing sun.  However--and this is when I need to give a special mention to the many porters of the Himalayan hills--the porters make you feel shameful for stopping, for huffing-and-puffing, and for getting red in the face, because they carry all manor of items up the mountain on their back, and I mean all manor: wood planks, food boxes, water drums, doors, rolled carpets, beds, coffee machines, even generators, beer cases, and stones. So I should retract my previous comment about the high price of a Mars bar, as the porters have to haul the candy bar boxes up the mountain.

                                                                             The porters and their loads


      Reaching the small valley of Pheriche we bunked in $2.50 a night room. Pheriche was a misty place that would ever so often reveal the snow topped peaks that hug like giants in the sky behind the village. We rested and acclimatized here for 3 nights.

All Photo's Pheriche 

x HMS x