Six-year-old Indian-origin boy Om Madan Garg has grow to be the youngest Singaporean to complete the Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal, a feat that has been recognised by the Singapore E book of Data.

Om made the 10-day journey together with his mother and father in October, reaching the south base camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 metre, after a trek of 65 km.

The outdoorsy baby isn’t any stranger to journey — his mother and father have taken him on backpacking journeys to Vietnam, Thailand and Laos since he was simply two-and-a-half months outdated.

Om, his father Mayur Garg, 38, and mom Gayatri Mahendram, 39, kicked off their 10-day trek on September 28, aided by a information and two porters, The Straits Instances newspaper reported on Monday.

Their whole journey has been documented on the household’s YouTube journey channel, The Courageous Vacationer, in a seven-part sequence.

“I wish to see the entire world,” mentioned Om, the Kindergarten 2 pupil from Canossaville Preschool whose 65 km trek took him previous distant villages, Nepalese temples and monasteries, and scenic vistas of Himalayan mountains just like the Everest, Lhotse and Lhotse Sar.

When the going obtained robust on the undulating and rugged paths in direction of the Everest Base Camp, lollipops, raisins and cookies stored Om occurring the once-in-a-lifetime expedition together with his mother and father.

Mayur — a senior enterprise analyst and avid mountain climber who has scaled peaks in Indonesia, Russia and Tanzania — had made the journey to Everest Base Camp in November 2021, and thought it could make for a enjoyable household journey.

To arrange for the journey, the household watched YouTube movies of different trekkers who had logged the journey, and made it a degree to be lively each day six months previous to the journey.

“We stay within the Yio Chu Kang space, and we stroll to the Marina Bay Sands space which is about 10 km away. It takes us 4 to 5 hours, however we simply go,” Mayur mentioned.

The regime additionally included swimming, stair-climbing and excursions to locations like Fort Canning.

“Fort Canning was arduous as a result of we needed to go up and down the steps 30 occasions. However as a result of it was arduous once we had been coaching, once we went to Everest Base Camp, it was straightforward,” Om mentioned.

The high-altitude hike, with an elevation acquire of about 2,500 m, is a problem even for adults. From the place to begin on the Nepalese village of Lukla, which is at 2,860 m above sea degree, the trio headed to the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) and frozen lake mattress Gorakshep (5,164 m) earlier than reaching the Everest Base Camp (5,364 m).

The household initially deliberate for a 13-day trek in order that they might go at a simple tempo of 5 km a day on the path. However dangerous climate situations meant that their helicopter journey to Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, infamous for being essentially the most harmful airport on this planet, was held again for 2 days.

The household needed to make up for the misplaced time by protecting extra distance per day, particularly on the primary day, once they hiked 12 km to the village of Benkar.

“Om coped and went alongside, however in direction of the tip, I obtained a little bit of altitude illness and had complications. It’s a troublesome journey as a result of it’s all uphill,” mentioned Gayatri, a senior physiotherapist, recalling the primary day of the journey.

Om fell sick on the second evening of the expedition. “I had a tummy upset, and I used to be feeling yucky. I needed to change my trousers thrice, however I solely had three pairs of trousers. I needed to wash my trousers in chilly, chilly water,” he mentioned.

Om’s mother and father added that he was capable of proceed the journey after he rested and took some medicine from a neighborhood pharmacy.

“There was a plan for each type of state of affairs. We had helicopter tickets already booked. If one thing breaks, we thought, we are going to fly again,” mentioned Mayur. Fortunately, the remainder of the trek continued with out main hiccups.

The household used to get up at about 6 am each day whereas on the trek and would hit the path after breakfast at about 8 am.

After just a few hours of trekking, they might break for lunch after which proceed on their journey till 3 pm, earlier than retiring for the remainder of the day at native tea homes.

“We introduced all these little card video games to play with Om, and we had notepads, so we’d additionally play video games like tic-tac-toe to go the time,” mentioned Gayatri. They went to mattress at about 7 pm as a result of it was chilly and there was nothing a lot to do at evening.

The sight of the younger boy on the path amazed different trekking lovers. The household met a bunch of six Singaporeans who gave Om their staff T-shirt as a memento.

“They had been so emotional after seeing somebody so small doing one thing that they had been doing,” mentioned Mayur.

“My favorite a part of the journey is the Hillary Bridge, as a result of it’s increased than all the opposite bridges,” he mentioned, referring to the 150m-high suspension bridge that could be a fashionable picture cease alongside the route.

It was a proud second for the household once they reached the bottom camp on the afternoon of October 7. “All these feelings that we felt, the stress, the pressure – it was so surreal,” mentioned Gayatri.

“I felt good, I did one thing I’ve by no means achieved earlier than,” mentioned Om of his achievement.

The household of three returned to Kathmandu by helicopter after spending an evening on the close by city of Gorakshep.

Om now has his sights set on one other formidable trek to the bottom camp of Ama Dablam, the third hottest Himalayan peak in Nepal amongst climbers after Everest and Mera Peak.

He caught a glimpse of that mountain vary whereas on the Everest Base Camp trek. “It appears to be like lovely,” mentioned Om.

Learn all of the Latest India News right here