Day 14 to 17 The Descent

After 3 nights enjoying the hospitality of the climbing team at base camp it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes to Amit, Nawal and the others, wishing them every success on the mountain and confident that they were in the best hands possible! Hugo walked us back to Gorak Shep, from where we climbed a hill called Kala Patar, a great viewing point for Everest.
A word about Hugo for those who don't know him: he is an old university friend of mine who is a successful mountaineer and now runs his own expeditions company. He summited Everest two years ago as a guide. If you are interested to follow his progress and that of his team towards the summit in the next few weeks you can follow his blog on his website www.haexpeditions.com/

Because for various reasons (including illness) we had taken extra days to get up to basecamp, we decided to make up some time and descend quite quickly. So for the last 3 days we have covered about 12 miles a day, quite steep up and down but thankfully mainly down. It has been a relief to breathe air containing a decent level of oxygen, and to get rid of the headaches that plagued us further up. Our appetites are even returning! We stayed at the 'nice' lodges on the way down and noticed new views that had passed us by on the way up. We're now staying next to the infamous Lukla airport ready for a flight back to Kathmandu at 6am tomorrow. I feel tired and elated but relieved to have finished trekking, it will be good to end the trip with a couple of days in the luxurious Yak & Yeti hotel in Kathmandu.
Thanks to everyone who posted comments, I haven't worked out how to reply yet - this whole blog has been written on my iPhone so hopefully I will be able to tidy it up and add a few photos from my camera when I get back. It's been amazing how many lodges have Wifi yet lack basic plumbing and heating...

Paul's dreaming of a Big Mac on our return - I'm thinking it's got to be a beach holiday next year!