Everest Base Camp Trek Cybercasts

Namaste friends, family & loved ones,

This morning we said goodbye to our friends in Zamphute, who made a special breakfast cake for us and gave all of us white khata scarves (signs of friendship and respect). We hit the trail and were treated with more beautiful weather, which gave us some fabulous views of the Himalaya. There was some traffic on the trail (- human and animal) but we were still able to cruise into the village of Namche by mid-afternoon.

The Spoons enjoyed the walk up here. We took lots of photos of everything and had some great conversations along the way.

We’re already luxuriating in our new digs- the Panorama Lodge here in Namche- and will be very happy spending the next two nights here.

Tune in tomorrow for the further adventures of the Spoons!

Carole & Vern Tejas

Namaste friends, family & loved ones,

Team 15 Spoons, formerly known as Team October 15 Everest Base Camp Trek, has just finished up One Great Day. We awoke in Lukla this morning to a beautiful warm sunny day. After taking some cool photos of the planes landing at the Lukla Airport (- a short, inclined runaway!!) we hit the road and had a nice walk to our newly built teahouse in Zamfute, just above Phak Ding.

After lunch, we got to climb up to a small village not often visited by tourists called Thulo Gomela, where we visited an interesting monastery and got to meet some of the younger monks who were just finishing up their computer class.

Everyone is healthy and hearty and looking forward to tomorrow’s hike to Namche.

Thanks for following!

Carole & Vern Tejas

Friends, family, and loved ones,
Our exploration of the Kathmandu Valley began early this morning when we our team photo and jumped up on the bus. Our first stop was the world famous Monkey temple also known as Swayambu.. We climbed the 365 steps up to the top of the shrine. From the top we could see all of Kathmandu city and the surrounding mountains.

We walked clockwise (a Kora) around the Stupa monument at the top of the hill. As we walked our Kora we spun the prayer wheels and made offerings.

From Swayambu we departed across town to Pashtupatinath, the Hindu cremation spot. Here we observed several cremations and various aspects of the process taking place on the far side of the river. This is considered one of the Hindu holiest sites and many people were on pilgrimage to this holy place during this time of festivals. We also made friends with the Sadus, the holy men of the Hindu region. We got back on the bus and travel across Kathmandu to the largest Stupa in all of Nepal and one of the largest in the world known as Boudanath. We walked another Kora, visited a monastery and we were blessed by the monks.

After a sumptuous feast of a lunch we headed to the airport and helicoptered to the mountain village of Lukla, the starting point of our trek. The team is excited to be here and ready to start the trek. Please join us as we explore the Khumbu valley on our way to visit Everest Base Camp.

Friends, family & loved ones,

Welcome to our October 15, 2022 Everest Base Camp Trek! We’re off to a rather good start here in Kathmandu: the team has arrived on time and ready to go, the monsoon rains have finally ended and the weather is looking promising.

We got right down to business today with an orientation meeting and gear check. We met in one of the banquet rooms of the Old Palace— very fancy as you can see in the photo below.

All went smoothly and we even had some time to rest and relax before going out to dinner for the first of many traditional Nepali meals.

Kathmandu is absolutely buzzing with activity at the moment, which is great to see after several very quiet years during the height of the pandemic.

Tomorrow morning we’re going to tour some of the city’s most interesting sites. We will do our best to post a daily update of our progress as we trek up the Khumbu Valley to Everest Base Camp. So stay tuned to our further adventures!

Vern & Carole Tejas

Friends, family & loved ones,

The whole team returned back to sweltering Kathmandu just in time for the Nepali New Year. Tonight is New Years Eve in Nepal (tomorrow will begin the Nepali year 2079) and we’ve decided to celebrate with a pizza party in the garden. Just the thing we are craving after a couple of weeks of momos and dal bhat.

Tomorrow night and the next day, most of the team will begin to fly back home to you. We have one more day here to explore the city and give ourselves a well-earned rest after the trek.

This will be our final Cybercast for the Spring 2022 Everest Basecamp Trek. Thanks for following along with us!

Carole & Vern Tejas