It's March 2020. Airport feels grim. Maybe it's the sight of surgical masks all around, or maybe it's the subconscious feeling of the fear of catching the virus or maybe people are really keeping to themselves. Airports usually are filled with excitement because the destination is often an exotic place or is just home. But things are different now. Little did we know that the world is going to change forever very soon. But this journey of ours didn’t start this way. {Cue festive music} It started with the same excitement that airports usually fill us with. Off we go. To Kathmandu. To adventure.

The Journey

Day 0: Kathmandu

Touchdown in Kathmandu. One of the most paradisiacal places as portrayed by Hollywood and YouTube. But the airport doesn’t feel any different from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad. Neither does the town. It’s like any medium-sized city in India. Tollywood actor Nani on the restaurant TV, Dal Bhat for lunch (and dinner), monkeys, cremation by the river etc. Just like India. Almost feels like home.

First impressions were meh, but we’re not here for Kathmandu. We're here for the mountains. We're here to complete the Three Passes Trek. Kongma La, Cho La and Renjo La are the three passes on this trek. We even planned to hit Kala Pattar and Everest Base Camp on the way if possible.

Day 1: Chhumowa

After taking the hyped up "world's most sketchy airport" flight (it's not), we touch down in Lukla.

We did not precisely plan the first leg of the hike to Namche. We were just winging it based on our stamina levels. We didn't know if we gonna make it to Namche or stop at Phakding. We pushed ourselves a bit further than Phakding and stopped at Chhumowa, a place we didn't even know existed until then. A 6.5hr 7-mile hike on Day 1. It's a successful start. Hot showers and hearty dinner awaits.

Day 2: Namche Bazar

The elevation gain from Chhumowa to Namche took some effort, but it wasn't that bad. There were absolutely no villages on the way from Monjo to Namche (6km). It was eerie and solace at the same time. Finally, we arrive at the cute little town of Namche. Yet, houses some of the big name stores in the world of outdoor recreation like North Face, Deuter, Sherpa etc. Nice hotel, hot showers, warm food... and the constant barking of dogs at night. We took off a good day to acclimatize and take it easy before the big elevations and big mountains.

Day 3: Namche Bazar Acclimatization

Day of acclimatization. Going up and coming down, going up and coming down. The day was wet and soggy, not the ideal conditions for acclimatization psyche. But we get along. We keep assessing the weather across the three passes and reaching Gokyo Ri seems implausible day by day. We also keep hearing accounts of Gokyo Ri closed and only pass if we have crampons. (Which we bought at Namche).

Day 4: Tengboche

What a day to start and take on the high altitudes. Sunny, dry and ideal conditions for the environment. This is the first time we are about to go beyond 12000ft. Onward we march, to Tengboche.

Of all the mountains we saw in the Himalayas, Ama Dablam takes the crown for the most beautiful. The awe-inspiring mountain made my hands fold when I laid my eyes upon it the first time. The Himalayas have divinity in them.

And just like that after an awe-inspiring 10km (6-mile) hike, we arrive at Tengboche. The day was nothing but a chain of little villages and jaw dropping sights of the mighty Himalayas. This is the day it sunk in us that we were actually in the presence of the mightiest mountains in the world.

We realized that we were carrying way more than we needed given how well equipped the villages along the trail were. So we decided to shed the weight of our packs and left some stuff at a hotel on the way to Tengboche. This will prove to be an anxious experience later on in the trip.

Day 5: Dingboche

Another 11km (7-mile) hike with a pretty good elevation gain. This section of the trek takes makes you realize that as you go, you will be seeing fewer and fewer humans and animals. Very few villages along the route and vast expanse of valleys with far away mountains. It will make you feel lonely as heck (and a little bit bored). But you plow through. Eventually leads us to our favorite town of the trek, Dingboche. Situated in a beautiful valley flanked by beasty mountains that pictures can't do proper justice to this place.

We were so looking forward to the hot meals and much needed rest after a trecherous hike. And when we reached the hotel, even after embracing multiple layers of warm blankets we were still chill to the bone. This town is also the first time we experienced the bone chilling cold. And this is not even the coldest we were gonna experience in this trip.

This was also the first time we experienced what we call "frozen toilets". NSFL: The poops in the toilets were frozen when we arrived. Thankfully the hotel staff cleared the poops with boiling hot water.

Day 6: Dingboche Acclimatization

Another day of high altitude acclimatization. We summitted the nearby Nangkar Tshang Peak with an elevation gain of 620m (2100ft). The views are nothing but stunning. See the first picture for the perspective of town vs mountains.

Day 7: Lobuche

We set ourselves to Lobuche, the last established town before reaching Kala Pattar. Now we can see a drastic change in the landscape. Greenery is starting to vanish, lots of glaciers covered in dust and rocks. It's a true feeling of solitude.

We reached New EBC Hotel. This place was bustling with folks from all over the world. Some coughing, some fine, some with masks. But overall bustling. Glad to see a happy bunch even in -15°C (5°F) drinking and eating hearty. We did too.

It was so cold outside that this is the first time I've seen water freeze instantly. You can see the frozen water mistakenly fallen on the backpack collar.

This was the only stay where we had difficulty with the cold. I felt cold even sitting in the restaurant with the so-called heaters. This was also the night we had difficulty sleeping through. We were told it reached -20°C (4°F) during the night. I don't know what numbers we slept through, but it was freaking darn cold. Probably the coldest we've ever experienced in our lives even though we were well-prepared.

Day 8: Kala Pattar

This is the day of Kala Pattar summit and also the views of Mt. Everest. But it was slightly uneventful. Or as Alamelu puts it, the most annoying experience of the trip.

As we were giddying up the trail, I started to feel breathlessness at maybe halfway point. I had to sit down to catch up on breathing. It was mildly scary. The thought of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) crossed my mind but all I needed was a few mins of rest. This is me forcing a smile while trying to catch a breath.

While I was struggling, Alamelu was all giddy and hyped up to get going (see below). Her looks were definitely talking to me. They're yelling at me to get over it and start moving. Somehow she knew it wasn't AMS and it's just my sick ass body.

I reach Gorak Shep after struggling a bit and after asking Aamelu to continue while I'm gonna take my time. After eating some good lunch at the Snow Land Highest Inn in Gorak Shep (it could probably be one of the highest restaurants in the world), we start our trek to Kala Pattar.

Halfway up Kala Pattar, our eyes lay upon Sagarmatha (also known as Mt. Everest), the teeny tiny peak visible behind the facade of Mt. Nuptse (on our left) and Mt. Lhotse - the peak right above us in the picture. That's Mt. Everest. It was unbelievable that we were there.

Day 9: COVID & Chaos, March 19, 2020

After the Kala Pattar hike, we were all jubilee about Sagarmatha, and we came back to Lobuche to the same New EBC Hotel. We were planning on going back to Tengboche to Gokyo Ri because of multiple people confirming the unfavorable conditions of Cho La pass. At this point we abandoned the idea of Three Passes and decided only to do Gokyo Ri in the remaining time. We quickly replanned our trip sitting in the restaurant.

The place was bustling as usual but out of the bustle came news to us that India is about to close its borders. We both looked at each other before we swiftly ensued into confusion and anxiety. We confirmed with my father about it. He advised us to drop everything we're doing and immediately come back. This added more stress since my Dad usually doesn't sound like that. We had no idea what to do at that moment; Utter confusion, stress and anxiety. Are we going to be stuck in Nepal for a long time? India only announced border closures for a week, but Dad tells me that it was gonna extend farther out and that we should cross the border by any means. We were in the upper Himalayas near Mt. Everest, and it's easily gonna take a few days to get down to Lukla. We were helpless. Sat there speechless.

And in that moment, she entered into our lives. Whom I call, "the Iron Lady of the Himalayas".

Pemba Doma Sherpa

Came into our lives like an angel. She owns the New EBC Hotel and is one of the most influential people in the EBC area of the Himalayas, apparently. She also takes likeness to people. She wasn't helping everyone, but thankfully she liked us (or more particularly Alamelu). She asked what's going on. Listened to what we had to say. And the next moment, she was making calls arranging for a helicopter to lift us off to Lukla, for people to bring our stuff way back from Tengboche (Remember we left our stuff to shed some weight?). She asked us to eat well and sleep well. We followed suit.

Day 10

The next morning, we wake up to a soon to arrive helicopter for us. She made the arrangements look easy, and we are so very grateful for her help.

Day 11

That was the unexpected, exciting and abrupt end to our hike. And a surprise visit from someone we weren't expecting. It was one of Pemba's men who brought us the stuff we left on our way to Tengboche. Pemba kept her promise. She truly is the Iron Lady of the Himalayas. Hope we get to meet the boss again.

But we weren't done yet. We had to make emergency bookings to Kathmandu and to Delhi, and fortunately we got tickets for the last flight out of Nepal to India. That was a relief. What was to come at Delhi, we did not expect.

Day 12: India Closes Borders

While we were extremely lucky to catch the last flight out of Nepal to India, we arrive at Delhi to WHAT THE F*CK. It was the day before India officially closed its borders and there were so many emergency flights that arrived at Delhi that the staff nor the passengers anticipated the chaos that erupted. We all stood in slow moving lines for 18 hours; yes just in the lines/groups. Barely any food or water provided. It was the most frustrating experience in an airport ever. I thought the airport was grim when we took off to Nepal but this was like hell unleashed on us. After spending more than 24 hours in the Delhi airport, we come home!

The rest is history.