Day 01 (27/Mar/2026) - Kathmandu
Memories from our trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC)
Wrapping up all the things at home, we set out to B'lore airport, all excited to leave to Kathmandu for the much awaited EBC trek. We were traveling by Air India Express direct flight from B’lore at 10:30AM and we would be in Kathmandu at 2PM. After juggling with the packing to ensure we don’t cross the baggage limit, we were now in the baggage drop line hoping our bags were not overweight. We met Sanjeev and Shobita at the airport - they had just about dropped their bags. Once our bags were dropped without any hassle it was a big sigh of relief. Security check was quick and we now had a lot of time before our flight. All of us had left home early to get to the airport on time and hadn't had a chance to grab breakfast. We stopped at Bombay Brasserie for breakfast - a fancy looking restaurant at Terminal 2 which was decorated all over with wooden dolls.
After breakfast some more chilling at the airport before the flight arrived. Thankfully our flight was on time and no more surprises. Just one week ago, we get to know Air India Express has cancelled all flights in April. While our onward flight was still confirmed, return flight was cancelled. Apart from all the other stuff this was an additional task to find a return flight which was also with reasonable fare. So when we boarded the flight it was a big relief. Pankaj, me and Shobita were seated in the same row. Sanjeev was a few rows infront of us. Flight to Kathmandu was a short 3 hour flight. So we mostly read and slept through the journey.
Immigration at Kathmandu was chill. Looking at the bags and the attire of the people in the immigration queue, most of them seemed like trekkers. Once we were out, we met Adventure Pulse (AP) team SPOC who had come to pick us. We also met Yogesh who had traveled from Pune for this trek. In about 45 minutes we were dropped at 'Hotel La Mustang'. When Pankaj and I had visited Nepal couple of years ago, we had stayed around the same area. We were greeted by Samir (Sam) and Ghanshyam. Shobita and Sanjeev had met Sam and Sauraj (founders of AP) when they were in B’lore for their book launch event in Feb '26.
After the check-in formalities and intros we went to our allocated rooms. Sam suggested he can do a round of check to ensure we have all the necessary items and also leave back unnecessary things. Once Pankaj and I got to our room, we put all the trek items as per the checklist provided by AP team. Sam verified and asked us to reduce the number of trek pants/shirts and a few other items which were not required. To ensure we have all the necessary items and keep the weight under 12kgs was tough task. We managed to get our bag under 11Kg and left some room to accommodate sleeping bag as well. In the hindsight, we realised we really don’t need/use many thing on the trek - especially clothes. Even eatables/snacks could have been cut down. Throughout the trek, there was a lot of food variety especially for dinner, it was pretty good and the three meals were filling. Only a little bit of snacks would have been sufficient to carry along. That would have helped us further reduce the weight.
Once the packing was sorted, plan was to do the pending shopping for the trek. Pankaj and I needed down jackets, windcheaters, gloves and woolen sock. We explored buying all these items, but then decided to rent down jacket and windcheater and purchased buff, gloves and woolen sock. Ghanshaym accompanied and helped us with all the shopping.
By now it had started raining. Sam and Ghanshyam walked us to a Nepali thali place for dinner. Gowthami who had landed in Kathmandu a day earlier, also joined us for dinner. We had met her once in B’lore where she had joined us on one of our weekend practice treks to Makalidurga. It was great to see her again. All of us ordered Nepali thali. The food was delicious. Little did we know then that we would be having this kind of food almost every day for the next 11 days 😀. While we were winding up our dinner, Rupal joined. She had traveled from Mumbai. We were meeting her for the first time. While waiting for Rupal to get her dinner, we ordered masala chai and brownies.
By now the rain had subsided. We walked back to the hotel and went to our respective rooms. Few minutes later I get a call from Gowthami checking if she could come by and introduce Megha. She had traveled from Assam. I had exchanged a couple of message with Megha few days ago. It was nice to meet her in person. 8 of us from the EBC trek group of 12 were here. Next day morning, we would be meeting the remaining four. Sam had mentioned, a meet and briefing session was planned for 10 am tomorrow (after breakfast). So for now it was time to unwind and get a good night sleep.
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