“What’s going to drive me to go again? Curiosity. You know Nepal, 76, 83, 91, 2002, 2016. Something’s got me, I’m like a fish. I’ve been hooked. I’ve got to go back. Five decades.”
When Joseph returned to Nepal, he decided to focus on Everest Base Camp walk. Mount Everest is on a completely different side of Himalayas from his previous Annapurna trek.
His very first day on the walk, he was struck with a beautiful sunrise coming over the mountains.
“I’d never seen anything like that,” Joseph said. “It’s just a wonderful beginning of the walk. The next day was tough as nails.”
The difficulty of the Everest walk took its toll on Joseph, and after the long dusty walk, he lodged up in Namche Bazaar.
“There I am in Namche, which has changed quite a bit,” he said. “The first time I was up in Namche, say in 83, was the first time Namche ever had electricity–had it for 2 hours.”
Of course, in 2016, Namche now has a consistent source of electricity. In fact, Joseph said that Namche has WiFi, coffee machines, pool tables, and nightclubs. It’s a very different town than he remembered.
Interestingly enough, the most interesting interaction he had in Namche was with a lodge owner, who recognized him from his 2001 expedition.
Next up, he walked through villages Tengboche and Periche to reach Gorak Shep.
“(It was) a tough little walk,” he said. “Several times I lost the trail, and it became obvious that yeah, landslides had washed out the trail.”
Eventually, after even more walking, Joseph reached Everest Base Camp, where the trekkers face the most powerful mountain in the world.
“So it’s back the way I came,” he said. “If I go back, I’ll concentrate again on the Everest Base Camp. There’s (sic) a couple of valleys I want to see up there.”