Our Trek to Everest Base Camp through Cho La Pass and Gokyo Lakes is not so much about hiking as it is about testing, EXPERIENCING the altitude. It is a challenge to your whole body. Not its physical preparedness for loads, but the reaction to the high-altitude oxygen limitation, which causes the body to malfunction in absolutely every area and manifests itself by all sorts of symptoms. The altitude is about overcoming, above all, yourself! And success lies in the right acclimatization and the right response of the body.
Not without effort, we coped with everything, emptying the group and personal first-aid kits.
I want to scream about the Himalayas in a riot of emotions, as well as to be quiet and close my eyes, trying to preserve every moment of what I have seen. These stone giants cut into your soul. They are magnificent with their power, coldness, snowy peaks, glaciers (with blue and gray ice), emerald-blue, crystal-clear lakes…. I want to be silent about them more than talk about them, I want to keep them to myself…very impressed!
Kathmandu. Another otherworldly world) From the airplane window it is a vast city, just huge! Kathmandu should not only be seen, it should be walked through in order to feel and hear it for real. For me it is a city of complete chaos, which according to the rules known only to him does not lead to a collapse! People from all over the world come to Kathmandu to experience this philosophy of being. Although I did not discover the secrets of Kathmandu, but I liked its bustle very much and we even learned how to cross the streets) You just need to relax and enter smoothly into the flows of everything and everyone moving around.
For me, Kathmandu is also a city in details. It is especially evident in the art of woodcarving. The patterns, figures, and other elements of wooden architecture that have been preserved for centuries show a very high level of ancient craftsmen. The 2015 earthquake took a heavy toll on Kathmandu, including its historical treasures. The city is still undergoing restoration work, some at the expense of the Chinese government.
Nepalese flowers. I don’t know who presented the flowers to whom (or rather to us), but I was struck by the number of familiar species. If you close your eyes to the difference in the architectural decoration of the houses, at times it seemed that you are looking at a garden in an ordinary Ukrainian village. The most “respected” are chernobryvets. They are decorated not only with them, but also monasteries, and from their buds are woven festive neck wreaths. Also, a great variety of chrysanthemums, dahlias, pelargoniums, nasturtiums, daisies, mallows and petunias are found. P.S. The final impressions of Kathmandu were the burning of a corpse and the arati (fire ritual) ceremony, both taking place in the same place, on both banks of a narrow sacred river, opposite each other. Cremation and celebration side by side… One has to grow up to understand how this is possible…