British actor Benedict Cumberbatch travels all over the world — as part of his job, and not. But one trip, a week in Kathmandu, Nepal and a long trek in the Himalyas, did not turn out quite as Cumberbatch expected. He and a friend got completely lost in the mountains by themselves — for a day and a half.
Cumberbatch was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night where he talked about a trip he took to volunteer to teach English as a Foreign Language to some Tibetan monks in India soon after he graduated university. A trip that involved a side visit to Nepal.
During the visit, he and four friends decided to go on a trek but, as Benedict Cumberbatch explained “We had a map, but not a guide, for a walk into the Himalayas. There were four of us, then mountain sickness struck, and then there were three of us then two of us…”
Kimmel jumped in then with a shocked, “They died?”, to which a deadpan Cumberbatch shot back, “That’s the kind of reveal I like to give you. An anecdote on a chat show to talk casually about two friends that passed away…the casual funny story about the death of two friends”. And no, they didn’t die. They went back down the mountain to seek medical care.
Which, of course, is when Benedict Cumberbatch and his remaining friend got lost. Without a guide, and not much food or water. For the aforementioned day and a half.
Watch Benedict Cumberbatch talk about getting lost in Kathmandu in the Jimmy Kimmel video below. And aren’t we glad he got found again? Because he is such a lovely, lovely man.
I am a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I’m also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!