Conquering Everest is certainly viewed as one of the toughest challenges a person can put to themselves, and not everyone is cut out for it. Rigorous training is required and as much mental as physical preparation is needed to fulfil the dream of summiting the world’s highest mountain. The much more accessible Everest Base Camp trek is often a more viable option than aiming for the top and is just as rewarding. But there is another way to experience the grandeur and sheer magnitude of the mountain that can get you to the top of Everest without even getting out of breath. And it all starts in Nepal’s largest city, Kathmandu.

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I found a photo today of the Base Camp Hotel on the Tibet side of Mount Everest. Check out the image below posted on Webshots by davishongkong. I didn’t realise there was this kind of thing on the Tibet side of Everest.

The last picture I saw of Tibet’s Everest Base Camp, it was all tin shacks and rubble. I have to confess that I have a blind spot for the Northern side of Everest, tending just to think about the South Face side of things. I should remember that Mallory is still up there on the Tibet side, and that Sir Ranulph tried (unsuccessfully) to climb it a few years back.

But I’m wondering if my bias is unjustified. This image of Tibet just doesn’t have the romance I associate with the Everest Base Camp. Politics aside, which looks like the better experience to you: the paved road with a 4×4 and a hotel, or the culmination of Everest Base Camp Trek on the Nepal side with the tents, the rugged carpet of the Khumbu glacier, and the satisfaction of arriving there by foot?

Here’s a photo I think makes my point, an image of Everest Base Camp by ilkerender on Creative Commons.

But perhaps I can find a few better pics of the Tibet approach. I’ll get back to you on that.

Gareth

This amazing photo was taken by mckaysavage1 and posted on Flickr. Many thanks.

Click on the image to navigate in a light box.

image by mckaysavage on Flickr

This is the view from Kala Pattar: the sharp peak of Nuptse and Everest rising mistily behind it.

Hi.
This is a video I found showing what we can expect Rosanna and David to be seeing and doing between Day 8 and Day 10 of the Everest Base Camp trek.

This video was posted on Youtube by wwwcelticvideocom. I quite like the narrator’s accent.

I found these photographs on Flickr taken during the Everest Base Camp trek by a photographer and trekker called féileacán. Thanks féileacán!