Honeymooners describe surviving Nepal earthquake while hiking near Everest
A couple from Newfoundland's west coast who were hiking near Mount Everest are happy to be alive after surviving the devastating earthquake in Nepal last week.
Steve and Natalie Wheeler were in Nepal on their honeymoon, and were on a plateau near the Everest base camp on April 26, when they first heard the rumblings of what they would later discover was the worse quake to hit Nepal in over 70 years.
"When it first happened, we weren't sure if it was a landslide, an avalanche or if it was thunder," Steve Wheeler told CBC's Jane Adey from the Hyatt hotel in Kathmandu days after the disaster.
"We heard crashing before the actual ground started to shake."
He said some nearby buildings started falling over, and the couple, along with their Nepalese guide Porba, feared that the plateau they were on was going to crumble into the valley below or the upper parts of the mountain were going to come down on them.
"The three of us were just holding hands, Porba was just chanting something in Nepalese and Natalie was praying," said Wheeler.
"We were just standing there hoping to God we didn't die, honest to God."
Luckily for the couple they did survive the initial earthquake. However,a number of aftershocks over the next few days made for some sleepless nights.
"With every little rumble I was jumping up, and you're wondering if the building you are in is safe," he said.
"It was a bit of a whirlwind, and we're really only starting to feel some relief now."
Even though they had feared for their lives on the slopes of the world's tallest mountain, they still had no idea just how devastating the earthquake had been until they were able to get to a town that had an internet connection.
"We really didn't have any indication or communication with the outside world, we didn't know how big it was, how Kathmandu was affected at this time," he said.
"All we really wanted to do was tell our family we were OK."
From the slopes of Everest to the comforts of home
Now that they are getting ready to work their way back to Canada, the couple have had some time to reflect on a humbling experience.
"We went into it with some goals with what we wanted to do, just get to the base camp and that," said Wheeler.
"It really puts things into perspective. Maybe the goal is not getting somewhere, it's just coming home safely."
"Being safe, having each other, and having your friends and family, that's the real take home from this."
