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Dreaming of Everest: A woman’s trip to dizzying heights
Saachi Dhillon, a marketing executive with a passion for travelling, chronicles her trek to the Everest Base Camp in her book Dreaming of Everest
Moroccan scholar and explorer Ibn Battuta had once said, “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” And, so it was with Saachi Dhillon, a marketing executive with a passion for travelling, when she trekked to the Everest Base Camp.
The trek and its sublime beauty moved and inspired Dhillon so much that the storyteller became an author with the publication of her debut book, Dreaming of Everest, which chronicles her 130-km long maiden trek.
The globetrotter, who has been to 22 countries and has amassed an enviable treasure trove of stories, says, “The Everest Base Camp was spectacularly beautiful. I have been to several places across the world famed for their pristine beauty, but nothing can hold a candle to the Greater Himalayas.”
Along the way, she had to brave many challenges – the aftermath of Cyclone Fani, altitude sickness and extreme weather conditions – so much so that two members of her group pulled out and the author herself suffered from ‘Khumbu cough’.
Dhillon, who splits her time between Gurugram and Chandigarh, spent six months improving her lung capacity before starting on the trek.
“The journey itself started on an ominous note. Because of bad weather, it seemed unlikely that we would be able to fly to Lukla, the starting point of the trek. When we did manage to reach, it started pouring buckets. We had to start on a three-hour trek to reach our lodgings immediately,” she recalls.
“We tried not to lose our footing as streams of water flew down the mountain. Later, a woman fell sick, but the doctor was a three-hour trek away! That was when it really sunk in how far from help we were,” she said, adding that it took them a week to reach the base camp.
Long walks are believed to be meditative and looking at the porters accompanying them, carrying up to 90kg on their back, made Dhillon reflect on the weights we carry in life (physical and emotional). “I hope this book encourages people to conquer their Everest, whatever it is for them,” she signs off.
Dreaming Of Everest is currently available at Capital Book Depot, Sector 17 and on Amazon, Kindle and Flipkart.
