I could not believe how many suspension bridges were involved in the trek to Everest Base Camp.

No one really talks much about this— I’m guessing because there are so many other more traumatic aspects of the journey to discuss! Lol

But still. Even though I personally do not have a problem experiencing heights in this precarious, unnatural, and dangly way, I know many people who do. People who— without proper warning— would have been at an impasse at the entrance to one of these death-defying bridges, frozen in place with fear and incapable of going any further.

People’s fears, both rational and irrational, present themselves in such a wide variety of unexpected ways, that I seriously have friends who would have no problem, say, jumping out of an airplane or zip-lining though the jungle, but would be incapable of walking across one of these swaying bridges.

So let’s talk about it real quick and get it out in the open, shall we?! Lol

The truth of the matter is, trekking the EBC involves crossing multiple suspension bridges, and each one is seemingly higher up and more dubiously constructed than the last. And no, there’s no way of going around them. And no, you will not be able to cross them in peaceful solitude, or even in a calm and relaxed way (or whatever your personal version of an ideal bridge crossing scenario might look like), no, you will likely be walking across with tons of other people, herds of donkeys, and a bunch of enormous and rambunctious yaks.

The bridges sway and shake and bounce and make suspicious noises throughout the duration of your crossing, and unless you close your eyes, yes, you will be able to see the river/ground/cliff beneath your feet the entire time.

Again, this doesn’t bother me. I have lots of irrational fears (i.e., needles going into veins 🤢), but suspension bridges are not one of them.

However, I bet you many of the folks I saw on the EBC who were hysterically crying or holding up the line with their mental breakdowns would have appreciated a little article like this one before they signed up for the trek. 😜

That way, they could have…. I dunno, prepared themselves somehow? Although I’m not quite sure how you could practice this at home, as you’d really need a whole bunch of rowdy, smelly yaks (with bells on— don’t forget all the cacophonous bells…) to prepare yourself properly and make the whole thing feel authentic.

And I have no idea where you could go to borrow a herd of yaks*.

*COWS would probably do in a pinch