I think until, maybe the last 15 – 20 years or so trekking in the Himalaya has been the domaine of the retired, ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. Again a very broad pompous generalisation. I just wanted you to understand where I’m coming from with no misconceptions. At the other end of the scale climbing in the Himalaya was left to the experts who spent much of their time begging for sponsorship so that they could afford the big expeditions that the Himalaya attracted.

I just caught the very tail end of the ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. In 2007 I used a company called Catreks, the reason I chose it was because it was owned by Doug Scott. His philosophy seemed to be to scale down the big expedition mentality to suite those that wanted to trek. The service was excellent, woken by a hot cup of tea followed by hot washing water and a breakfast fit for a king sat at a high table. A hot lunch would be provided halfway through the day and camp would be all set up on your arrival… anyway hopefully you get my drift. That first trek I was on, the clientele were retired teachers, retired professionals, but it was the start of the transition and there were a young couple, a journalist and a mad cap Chinese Liverpudlian. The retired teachers and professionals defiantly expected the ‘full’ service, me, well, I didn’t really know what to expect. But the high level of service, I have to say for me wasn’t unwelcome.

Over the last 15 or so years that I’ve traveled to the Himalaya both for climbing and trekking, times have definitely changed. The Nepalis have taken a greater control of their tourist industry and the somewhat pompous mentality that the West had, has nearly died out (on this trip I have observed a couple of nations that seem to think that the world revolves around them and them alone and still expect a that kind of service) attracting a far more diverse group and age of people.

The first group I met were a mixture, there were no couples but most had partners at home. Being away from your partner affects people in different ways. Two or three of them appeared to have no qualms with leaving their partner at home, no news is good news. One wanted some form of contact most days and another thought that his partner would be extremely worried after no contact in seven days. We’re all different and try and cope with a partners absence in different ways on these trips. I won’t get into the discussion about ‘why go’ if you miss your partner, in this blog. Just one thing on technology, the problem is the misconception that technology works with out interruption in these high mountains and it doesn’t, far from it. It isn’t helped by many of the operators, who will often state that either Wi-Fi or phone signals are available when in the lodges.

The other big group I actually met in Kathmandu was an Australian group. The owner of the company, Nick Farr I met back in 2011, whilst climbing Island Peak and we’ve kept in touch since then. It was pure coincidence that we were in Kathmandu at the same time. His group were also heading for Mera Peak. Again a very diverse group. A family with two children, I think they were middle to late teens, a father and son and the son having ambitions to climb an 8,000m peak. The rest were a mixture of ages and abilities, some never having been to the Himalaya and those that had been on numerous occasions. Nick’s a great leader, but this, like me could well be his last trip to the Himalaya as he wants to spend more time with his growing family. There’s a slim possibility that Nick’s group will be in Khare later this afternoon. It’d be good to meet up with them before I move on over Mera La tomorrow.

PEOPLE… once we entered the Hinka Valley, PEOPLE everywhere, I mean it was like coming out of a football match at Wembley, jostling and shoving for your own space, OK a slight exaggeration. But those photographs of the queues on Everest are nothing compared to the number of people heading towards Mera Peak. It’s not a large peak and would probably only accommodate 20 people, comfortably on its summit at any one time, but the biggest restriction is that High Camp will only hold 70 people. It is possible to ‘wild camp’ further up the mountain but most of the summiteers are with groups and they are not geared up for carrying their own tents and all the equipment required. So High Camp remains the limiting factor on how many people can summit in any one day. The groups are large, German, French, East European, Australian and of course British. There are a few pairs or individuals like myself but not many. As these groups are so big they dominate the dining areas reserving tables long before they sit down to eat, even to the extent of moving tables together whilst a poor Korean guy was sat having a drink! It was a little bit like reserving sun beds abroad… need I say any more.

A final word on PEOPLE, when I arrived at Khare yesterday lunchtime, sat in the dining area was one of the most surreal sights I’ve seen. A group of very glamorous middle aged ladies from Norway, were sat having lunch. They were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow, heavily made up and with nails my daughter in laws would have been proud of. I spoke to one of the two 6’ tall leaders and they were just on there way up to Mera Base Camp hoping to summit in two days time. They organise trips mainly to Kilimanjaro and this was there first time back to Mera Peak in four years. I would love to see their summit photographs they would make any LGBGT parade look dull!

So the days of the somewhat pampered over the top service that companies used to supply are limited and become more scarce as all generations can now enjoy, what I believe to be some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of a holiday, but it is good to see so many and diverse people on the mountains. I might not be a lover of crowds but I am a believer in the mountains and the countryside being open to ALL.

Tomorrow I move on away from the PEOPLE and into the Barunste valley, where I expect there to be just a few PEOPLE!