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Mount Everest is not what it used to be. Photo: Thinkstock

High adventure

Unlike in the days of the early pioneers, climbing Mount Everest has become an increasingly luxurious and leisurely hike

It's not only global warming that has made a difference to Everest Base Camp. Lined with eco-lodges, gourmet coffee shops and a few luxury touches, a high-altitude trek in the Himalayas has more surprises than one may at first imagine.

Intrigued by the prospect of room service at 5,500m, I find myself in a twin-prop plane high above Nepal en route to the start of the trekking trail. Outside, the sky is a brilliant bald blue. The polished face of Mount Everest awaits the arrival of yet another plane-load of wide-eyed hikers who, after landing at Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary Airport, will tirelessly tread up and down - and up again - to see the world's tallest mountain at sunrise.

I can see dozens of smudged white peaks and it strikes me as a region largely untouched by human ambition, but one of endless prospects. It's only a fleeting glimpse, but the view from the window captures the Himalayas in all their serene, timeless beauty. It is 7am on day one of my trip to the Roof of the World.

Taking about 14 days to complete - depending on the walking pace - the trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp at 5,364m, and the famed Kala Patthar viewpoint at 5,545m, is the world's most famous hike. Unlike the days of early pioneers Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and Heinrich Harrer, who were inspired by mountains simply "because they are there", today's walk is an increasingly luxurious and leisurely hike - and trekkers are spoiled with an array of amenities and services.

Pubs, restaurants, brand-name coffee shops and other modern facilities are a common sight on the climb up Mount Everest. Photo: Mike Maceacheran
While passing through Lukla on the first section leading to Namche Bazaar, I notice a German bakery, an internet cafe and an Irish pub. To complete the upmarket feel, there is a pool hall, a cocktail lounge, a massage parlour and a Starbucks coffee shop. This is the first of many signs that the Mount Everest region in eastern Nepal is not what it once was, and the inner battle is easier to endure with a freshly brewed cafe latte and hot croissant to hand.

"The trail has completely changed since I started as a porter," says my Sherpa guide Ram Thapa, who works for the exclusive Nepal Hiking Team - part of a breed of elite Kathmandu-based trekking agencies. He dons a black puff North Face jacket and a hand-knitted grey hat pulled down to his ears - perhaps a warning of the bitter nights ahead. "Today, there are more options for those with money." He's not wrong. Companies now offer more than just porters to carry luggage, hot meals and pre-assembled tents. Guests can charter a private plane in Kathmandu to circle around the mountain and the neighbouring peaks of Lhotse (8,516m), Makalu (8,463m), and Choyu (8,201m). And, with the right access, you can Skype your family, order room service, pre-book piping hot showers and have priority access to bottles of oxygen to help you on your way.

Not content with that, you could reserve a private bathroom or a comfortable double bed with crisp white cotton linen. If further proof were needed that the trail is firmly on the VIP "bucket list", former United States president Jimmy Carter beat the path to base camp, stopping off at the Khumbu Lodge teahouse for photos, while British-born TV daredevil Bear Grylls made it to the top.

Inspired by such heroics, I suck in the glacial air, lace up my boots and head north. As the days pass - and the grass changes to rock and the snowline creeps closer - I sense a conscious environmental change in the valleys of the Khumbu region. Propped up outside one of the first teahouses that I pass rests a solar-powered heating system.

Used to sterilise and ultraviolet-filter glacial water and heat the shower blocks, it's as ecologically advanced as any luxury camp you could find in Alaska or on the Masai Mara. The difference being that this was all carried up by hand.

Be it because of a demanding clientele or not, locals have been quick to embrace this development, and the rustic life lived by their ancestors for thousands of years now sits side by side with modern-day conveniences.

By the time I reach Khumjung, I come to recognise the time-honoured Mani stones - carved with the Tibetan mantra - that line village walls, but also posters for responsible trekking on teahouse walls, state-of-the-art water systems and solar heaters.

On my sixth day, I reach the small shoebox village of Gokyo - home to the world's highest bookshop at 4,970m. Stocked with everything from George Orwell, Salman Rushdie and JD Salinger to modern-day thriller writers such as Stieg Larsson, it's almost as surprising as the world's highest internet cafe in the neighbouring valley. I might be higher than a skydiver, but I'm still connected enough to catch up with friends in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Ice-climbing tools. Photo: Thinkstock

The following morning, clanging bells awake the teahouse as mule and yak caravans rattle their way through the cluster of lodges - it is an unwelcome 6am alarm clock.

Rising like a reluctant dawn - both bleary-eyed and bandy-legged, I am greeted by Thapa's indelible smile. "The mountains are within touching distance now," he chides. "Just one more day to go." Like a real pro, for the past week he has risen at 4.30am.

Finally, on day eight we reach Kala Patthar, a black mountain spur that is strung from all sides by rows of prayer flags in red, blue, green and yellow. Shortly after 6am, my fellow trekkers hush and the sun rises from behind Everest. It is a majestic fanfare of light and snow that opens up to reveal a 180-degree panorama that makes every step and stagger worthwhile.

That is as far as my adventure can take me: only the well-heeled can afford the US$60,000 climbing permit to realise their ambition of reaching the summit.

On my return to Lukla several days later, I swap stories with fellow hikers at the Shangri-La Hotel, of finding wood-fired pizzas and Italian Lavazza coffee blends on menus more than 4,000m above sea level. Despite these monumental upgrades in such a remote area, it is the enduring scope of the mountains that is the real reward. Hillary and Norgay, surrounded by a symphonic wall of ice, rock and snow, would still be in their element. Regardless of which type of coffee they drank.

 


The most luxurious mountain lodges along the trek can be found at the small Nepalese villages of Phakding, Khumjung and Lobuche. Eco Lodge, the world's highest environmentally friendly hotel at 4,930m in Lobuche, is the pick of the bunch - if you get the right bedroom, you can even see Everest without having to get out of bed. www.himalayanecoresort.com


For those with little time on their hands, it's possible to book early morning helicopter tours to Everest Base Camp from Kathmandu. Taking around five hours, trips include a Champagne breakfast or the chance to have lunch at the world's highest hotel, The Everest View. Prices on request.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: High adventure
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