Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Doctor Strange’ is one of the most anticipated films of the year. Marvel’s $165 million fantasy film directed by Stock Derrickson is scheduled to hit the theaters on November 4th. Some of the major parts of the movie were also filmed in Nepal last year. Cumberbatch recently recalled the incident from 21 years ago when he along with his friends got lost in the Himalayas and survived how we see in Bear Grylls’ shows.

In the cover story titled “The Mind-Bending Benedict Cumberbatch‘ published on Vanity Fair magazine’s latest issue, the ‘Sherlock’ actor talked about his gap year in mid 90s. At 19, he took a year off from his studies and went to India and started teaching English to monks in Darjeeling. He along with three of his friends then went on a trip to Nepal. After reaching Kathmandu, they took a bus as they wanted to explore the Himalayas. As they were students and could not afford to hire Sherpas, they decided to go on their own. But to their shock, altitude sickness started derailing them one by one and soon the group of four became a group of three and then a group of two. By the third night of the trip, Cumberbatch recalls, “I started to have really weird, fucked-up dreams, and felt things were happening in my sleep. I wasn’t sure if I was conscious or awake.”

Continuing the trip, he and his friend reached a spiritual fork in the road and got confused if to go up or down. They chose up and that’s when they got bewilderingly lost. They ran out of biscuits and had to drink rainwater squeezed out of moss, because they had read it was safer than river water. The next morning, they followed the river in hope it would lead to civilization. Both of them had nearly broken their necks slipping down moss-covered boulders. As they continued to trek, leeches stuck to their ankles. They found a path with fresh yak droppings which was a good sign. Finally, the trees thinned and they came to a clearing of terraced pastures and log cabins. They were served the “best-tasting meal” as Cumberbatch recalls, by the inhabitants. The meal that consisted of unwashed greens and a bowl of eggs had him immediately suffer from dysentery.

Well, that’s one heck of an adventure that Cumberbatch still has fresh memories of even after over two decades. Here’s the trailer of his upcoming superhero flick. The world is eagerly waiting for its release, are you?

Cover Picture: Marvel