Day 12 (7/Apr/2026): Gorakshep (5170m) to Pheriche (4200m)
Memories from our trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC)
Not only did I have trouble falling asleep, I also had a slightly disturbed sleep. When I stepped out of the room in the morning around 5AM, I bumped into Sonam Dai. He was looking for the members who were to join for Kala Pathar. Unfortunately, I had no idea on the rooms allocated to our group. Usually all our rooms were next to each other, but here the group was scattered across different areas of the tea house. Later when we gathered for breakfast got to know Rupal had a very bad AMS. Megha who was Rupal’s roomie had to get support from the AP team in the night. Thankfully Sam had decided to stay back because of bad weather and was around to help. Yogesh, Sanjeev, Shobita and Gowthami who had earlier planned to go for Kala Pathar also dropped out for various reasons – bad headache, tired, lack of sleep etc. Like Pankaj and me, Hyderabad gang had decided the previous night that they would not be joining to Kala Pathar. So, eventually no one from the group went to Kala Pathar.
It was a bright and sunny day. The melting snow from the roof of tea house had frozen halfway and formed beautiful spikes. The ground around the tea house looked beautiful with fresh snow shining in the sunlight. The skies were clear blue with the snow mountains right outside the tea house. There was a statue of Chatrapati Shivaji in the courtyard of ‘The Himalayan Lodge’. We had completely missed seeing this the previous day. Apparently, this was installed in 2012 by a Pune based mountaineering club to honour and acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the local Sherpa community.
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| Shivaji Statue @ The Himalayan Lodge |
After breakfast we took some group pictures with Shivaji statue shouting the slogans ‘Jai Shivaji Jai Bhavani’ with full team spirit. This was our final day at this high altitude. We also took a bunch of pictures with backdrop of mountains right outside the tea house.
Around 9am we started our hike back. We were now 11 trekkers and 3 guides. Rupal had taken a chopper from Gorakshep to Lukla. Sam had also left early in the morning. Though we would be descending, it was going to be another long day. I think the hike back is not as exciting as the onward hike – especially if it’s the same path on return. Once you are done with the summit, I don’t know why the urge is there to reach back to the base and return home at the earliest. As we were still at very high altitude, we continued to walk slowly. Though cold, the weather was good with clear skies – which was a boon considering how bad the weather was the previous evening.
At one point Shobita felt a little uneasy and dizzy. With a little bit of rest, she was fine and back on the track. Though we were descending, there were a few sections where we had to climb up and hike down. I felt the ascends more tiring today than the previous day. With slow and steady pace reached ‘The Oxygen’ tea house at Labouche. This was our stop for a short tea break before heading down. Just 2 days ago we were here for a night halt to go towards EBC. The tea house now seemed very different – it was very quite at this hour as it was just our group.
We had our tea/GLTs and back on the trail. Since we were descending, I was now able to walk at a relatively faster speed than before. Somewhere before Thukla pass, I might have twisted my right ankle. I didn’t realise it. I continued walking but in a particular angle it was hurting. I tried adjusting my legs to not exert pressure on the pain point. Because of this my hip started hurting. I told Dorchi Dai, that my ankle was hurting. He helped me tie the ankle band. This gave me temporary relief. I had to slow down my pace due to the pain. Crossing Thukla pass and descending towards Kala Pathar lodge for lunch would have been a relatively easy hike compared to what we had gone through on the onward hike. But due to my sprain, it didn’t seem any easy. Only saving grace was the weather, which so far had been good - bright and sunny.
Finally reached Kala Pathar Lodge for lunch. Hot aloo parathas were ready. Other group members had almost finished with their lunch. I removed my shoes to check how the ankle looked. There was a slight swelling in the ankle. On our lunch table, there was a young solo trekker from B’lore who had also finished EBC and was going towards Pheriche. She helped me with the Volini pain relief spray and tying back the ankle band. I was amazed to know that she did this trek by herself – no shrepas, no guides. Pain relief spray seemed to help. We quickly had lunch and got back on the trail. Others who had finished lunch, had already got on the trail with Sonam Dai and Chirring.
Post lunch the weather started to get a bit cloudy and windy. The pain was manageable when I walked at a slow pace. Soon the cloudy weather paved into a drizzle and our ponchos were out again. For large part of this trail section, Sanjeev and Shobita were also with us. When my pace further slowed down, they went ahead. It was me, Pankaj and Dorchi dai. As we reaching Periche the land got flatter and seemed like a huge open ground.
We saw a bunch of Yak herds. Dorchi dai told us about how the villagers managed the yaks in winter months. Thankful to Dorchi Dai to have stayed and supported me through this until Periche. I thought everyone had reached way before us but looks like they had reached the tea house in Periche ahead of us only by 15-20 minutes. The trail back from Thukla pass to Periche was not very strenuous. Had I not sprained my leg, it would have been easier. Descending to lower altitude gives better oxygen levels and the sense that you are getting closer to the end of trek gives a mixed feeling of relief, happiness and sadness.
Our stay here was at the Periche Resort. Now that we were on a relatively lower altitude and had successfully done most part of the trek, everyone was relaxed. The Hyderabad gang had already decided they would be taking the heli back to Lukla next day morning. They had also booked their ride back. So they were in party mood as this was officially the last day of the trek. Considering my leg pain, Pankaj and I were also leaning towards taking the heli back. Pankaj discussed the situation with Sam. He suggested if the pain is bad it’s better to take the heli to avoid further pain to the leg. We too had to decide quickly because apparently the heli rides get full quickly and we might not get a slot. Pankaj and I decided we will take the heli back. When we discussed this with Sanjeev and Shobita, they too decided to join us. Pankaj went ahead and confirmed 4 seats for heli ride back to Lukla. Cost of spraining the leg was too high - this costed us a bomb 375$ per person😢.
Now that we were not hiking back and taking the heli to Lukla, it was our final trekking day too. Gowthami and Megha decided to complete the trek. Hats off to both of them - they stood strong and trekked next two days inspite of all the weather challenges they had to go through. More power to them💪💪.
The evening turned out one of the most memorable evenings. Kukri (Nepali Rum) was ordered. Everyone was in a party mood. Lots of laughter and chatting on the memories of the trek. As a group we decided to felicitate all the sherpas and trek leads who had been and supported us through and through for the last 11-12 days. Without them we could not have had such an amazing experience. We shared our token of appreciation to each one of them. It was a very emotional evening. It was hard to digest that tomorrow morning all of us will break into groups and go different ways. Couldn’t believe after months of planning and training this is ending. It was very heart wrenching.
Evening filled with fun
The evening was full of masti. We partied, ate, played and laughed as a group one last time. As per the tea house rules, we winded up by 10pm and got back to our rooms.
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