Glad to be home – learning’s from Everest Summiteers

For a non-romanticized post of an overview what it takes to summit Everest read this. The following is an emotional account of my trip J

I knew it even before he opened his mouth and excitedly told me that he had summited Everest. I knew he had been up there, not just by the chapped black face, lips and cheeks covered by frost bite but by the way he was proudly flying the Pakistani flag and rushing with renewed energy down the mountain. He was the first Everest Summiteer I met and the most excited one. He wanted to talk, he wanted to tell everyone about his experience. He was happy to talk. I would have been as excited if I had done it. Climbed to the top of the world.

The next night we saw a bottle of wine being opened, sizzlers came to the table for two. Celebrations for a husband and wife couple that were returning after their summit. Skinny but smiling. Wine and steak are expensive here but they deserved it. As much as they deserved the smiles and admiring looks at their table. People controlling their desire to walk over and talk as they ate their dinner.

A sad chapped nose -little exaggerated ;)
 Wonder what the summit would do to
me. 

We met many more summiteers, part of the first father son group from the UK to summit, women going up for their third time, youngest Indian to climb Everest and a man who had just scaled the eight thousanders.

I know that I will not summit Everest – I cannot bear to see my face covered with frost bite ;) -  but I wanted to go meet these people. Be inspired and soak in some of the excitement. In the twelve days up there some of it did brush off on me. I want to do bigger things in life, push limits and live to the fullest but I also realized that I do not need to climb Everest. I instead have a need to be with people I love. I will find my limits and summit them with people that love and adore me.

The summiteers - they talked to us, inspired us and made us feel so little at the same time. As one of my wise fellow trekkers put it – it is a matter of perspective, here we are nothing, people walking up a mountain. Back home we will be the people that walked up the mountain.

I am glad to be home now, one of the people that walked up the mountain.