A Georgia couple says an unexpected decision to leave their tour group and visit Mount Everest may have saved their lives during Nepal’s deadly flooding.
Mita and Hemant Parikh, from Suwanee, Georgia, were on a long-planned pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, one of Hinduism’s holiest destinations, when they made an unplanned change to their travel itinerary.
When they eventually returned to their hotel, they found it destroyed. Several families and all of the guides traveling with the group remain missing.
The Parikhs were among 47 travelers from the United States, Australia and other countries taking part in the pilgrimage. Seven guides were accompanying the group.
Their choice to make a separate trip to Lhasa and Everest Base Camp—places that were not included in the original tour—would ultimately change the course of their lives.
‘That’s what we talk to each other every single day,’ Mita told CBS Atlanta. ‘Why did we decide this way?’
The couple had spent 15 years preparing for the spiritual journey.
Mita and Hemant Parikh of Georgia were headed to Mount Kailash in Tibet when an impromptu change of plans led them away from the devastating August floods in Nepal, which swept away other travelers and all seven guides in their group
Hundreds of people remain missing after deadly August floods in Nepal destroyed roads, buildings and other major infrastructure
After making the difficult journey to Everest Base Camp, the couple returned to discover that their hotel had been wiped out by the muddy surge
‘Everybody has a bucket list, but this bucket list, you don’t choose it,’ Mita said. A deeply religious woman, she described her faith and a higher power as the forces that guided her toward the trip.
Hemant proposed the detour after being drawn to the possibility of seeing Mount Everest, despite knowing he would never try to climb the world’s highest mountain.
‘Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world, and I said, at least, I cannot climb, but I can go and see from a distance,’ he explained.
Under normal circumstances, the added cost and disruption might have persuaded them to stay with their original plans. This time, however, they did not hesitate.
‘Usually we argue, or tickets are expensive – no, let’s not go,’ Mita recalled. ‘But I don’t know why we both agreed.’
Once they had viewed Everest, the Parikhs intended to rejoin their fellow travelers with the separate guide who had led them to the mountain viewpoint.
A 15-year spiritual journey became an unimaginable tragedy for the Parikhs, who now live with the survivor’s guilt of returning home while others remain missing
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Homes sit partly submerged in muddy floodwater along a riverbank after flash floods hit Trishuli Bazar in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
An earthmover prepares a burial site for victims of Nepal’s flash floods during a mass burial on August 29
Instead, they returned to a scene of devastation after the catastrophic flooding struck.
The hotel where they had been staying had been completely washed away by the floodwaters, and the restless couple could no longer reach their fellow travelers.
What had begun as a spontaneous sightseeing excursion had separated them from the group just as flooding swept through the region.
Mita said the experience has left her haunted by those they left behind.
‘As soon as I close my eyes, I see Kailash, and I see the people,’ she added ‘I don’t know what happened.’
Hemant, meanwhile, said he continues to struggle with the question of why they survived when so many others remain missing.
‘I ask myself why?’ he said. ‘And I don’t have an answer.’
For Mita, the unanswered question has become inescapable.
‘That’s what keeps me awake,’ she said. ‘Why? Why God chose us to live. So there has to be some purpose, right?’
Medics wearing coveralls carry the body of a flash flood victim in Chitwan, Nepal
The catastrophic event, which took place on 26 August, saw a massive section of overhanging glacier and rock fall from Lantang Lirung mountain. This caused an enormous flood of water, ice and debris that swept downstream, killing over 1,300 people, with more than 5,000 still missing
Devi Ghat town was torn to shreds by the floods, with livestock left rotting on top of the mud
The flooding has caused widespread destruction across Nepal, devastating homes, roads and other infrastructure.
At least 1,400 people have died, while more than 6,000 remain missing, according to officials. At least 85 of those reported missing are US citizens.