Garlic Soup at the Top of the World

Annapurna Base Camp. We made it.

I want to be clear about the conditions of our arrival: about thirty minutes of daylight left, temperature dropping like something that hates you, and me feeling genuinely unwell. Altitude sickness had arrived — nausea, dizziness, balance gone sideways, the full package. I was not what you’d call triumphant.

Kazi, unbothered, told me to drink garlic soup.

I want to be honest: I had zero faith in garlic soup. It sounded like something your grandmother tells you when she doesn’t know what else to say. But I drank it because Kazi told me to drink it, and Kazi has not been wrong yet about anything.

The nausea stopped. The dizziness faded. I was left with just a dull, manageable headache and a new and sincere respect for garlic. I don’t know how it works. I don’t need to know. It works.

The night before (Machapuchre Base Camp, I think — the days blur a bit at altitude), I met Arielle and Jo. From Holland. We played cards — Bullshit, specifically — for most of the evening, and I’m telling you these two women are something. Funny, sharp, genuinely warm, and yes, objectively attractive (I’m a journalist, I report facts). We also played some dice game that I only half understood but committed to fully.

They’re traveling for six months. Six months. Jo and Arielle have apparently decided that the entire world is their itinerary and they’re just working through it. Somewhere in the evening they mentioned that if I ever have time, I’m invited along for part of it. Burma. New Zealand. These are the sentences that make you question every life decision that put you in a position where you can’t just go to Burma for a month.

We drank rum with hot water. They had me singing Christmas carols. Then they requested Mariah Carey and George Michael.

I drew a line. Some things are sacred.

But it was a great night. And we may catch them again in Pokhara on the 4th. I find myself hoping that particular piece of logistics works out.

For now: base camp. 4,130 meters. Headache present but manageable. The mountains are very large. I am very small. Both of these things feel correct.