Trekking Nepal - 2/16/14 - 3/18/14
Sunday, February 16 – Mike Collins and I flew from San Diego to LA in the evening and then boarded our 15 hour overnight flight to China. China Southern is a great airline. Pillows, blankets, hot towels with the free meals which included free wine!
Monday, February 17 - We crossed the International Date Line while flying from LA to China so when we landed in China it was Tuesday morning. Monday was gone completely.
Tuesday, February 18 - When we landed in Guangzhou, we were taken by bus to a hotel about 30 minutes away. We were a little worried that it might be a dump because it was complimentary because of our long layover but it was very modern and quite gorgeous. Guangzhou itself is nothing to write home about but it was new to both of us to see bicycles crowding the streets as we both experienced an Asian city for the first time. It was raining all day and after our free breakfast Mike and I slept until it was time to board our bus at 4 pm to return to the airport. We then flew from Guangzhou, China to Kathmandu arriving at about 10 pm. We expected a car from the Nirvana Garden Hotel to be waiting for us but it wasn't so we grabbed a taxi. There were hundreds of Nepali men there trying to get our business but we went with a man who offered to let us use his cell phone to call our hotel. The hotel was nice, our bed was huge and we fell asleep.
Wednesday, February 19 - Kathmandu - We walked to the permit office and met an Australian couple named Greg and Ruth there. They gave us some friendly advice and told us they were going on the same trekking route as us but were leaving a day earlier. They were renting a private car with a driver which would cost about $140 to take them to Jiri. We had been planning to take the bus which would only be $12 for the two of us. Later that day, we ran into them again in the tourist town of Thamel near our hotel. They showed us their car rental place and we decided to book a private car for Friday morning.
Thursday, February 20 - Kathmandu - We were going to spend the day aimlessly wandering the streets of Kathmandu but a nice young man approached us while we were looking at a map and said he wanted to practice his English. His name was Rakesh and he said he was from Punjab, India and that he was an art student who painted mandalas. In retrospect, I think he was probably hired by the art school/shop owner to bring Westerners into his store so he could sell them mandalas. Rakesh and the store owner were very nice and Mike and I ended up each buying an intricately painted mandala. Then we offered to take Rakesh to lunch but somehow he ended up telling us a sad story about buying groceries for his brother's family and we bought him $70 worth of groceries! $70 is a small fortune in Nepal. A lodge keeper charges $2 for a night's lodging. A porter gets paid about $10 per day to haul huge loads up mountains. We were suckers, for sure.
Friday, February 21 - Kathmandu to Jiri - Our driver met us very early - at 7:20 am - because we were hoping to trek to Shivalaya if we got to Jiri early enough in the day. But the winding road got the best of me and I ended up very car sick for the last 30 minutes of the trip so we decided to spend the night in Jiri. Good decision, as it turned out. We got to Jiri at about 2 pm. The hike to Shivalaya would have taken 3 hours straight uphill. The drive to Jiri was fascinating. We saw buses with goats standing on top of them! We got our first glimpse of the snow covered Himalaya. And we pulled over at a tea shop along the way where I peed in a squat latrine for the first time and we got completely undrinkable milky tea from a fishmonger's stall manned by boys about 10 to 12 years old.
Saturday, February 22 - Jiri to Shivalaya - We started out from Jiri in high spirits. I had decided (at the recommendation of our hiking advisor Terry Thompson) to fill one of my water bottles with Emergen-C as an electrolyte replacement and I also decided to start taking Diamox because we were going to be crossing a 9,000 foot pass in 2 days. Unfortunately, Diamox is a diuretic and I wasn't sweating enough in the cold temperatures to need electrolytes. I was feeling low energy and queasy all day and in retrospect I think it was because I was building up too much salt in my system. The problem was hard to diagnose because I was peeing normally so we didn't figure this out for a few more days. Mike and I tried to brainstorm about what was wrong with me and he seemed very concerned about my slow pace on the way to Shivalaya. Once we got to Shivalaya, and stopped walking I felt great. Saturday is the one day off for Nepalis and there was a big pickup soccer game going on in a dirt field near the flat land along the river. We watched that for a while and then wandered back to our lodge for dinner.
Sunday, February 23 - Shivalaya to Bhandar - Today we trekked uphill over Deurali Pass at about 9,000 feet and then down a steep grade to the town of Bhandar. Again, I was moving slow and felt queasy and tired and Mike was concerned. At the top of the pass we stopped for ginger tea and fried potatoes and I felt totally rejuvenated. But Bhandar was clearly the right place to stop for the night as we would have had to continue on for a couple more hours before we reached the next town with lodging.
Monday, February 24 - Bhandar to Kinja - Today was a great day even though I did become totally exhausted again on our hike and we decided to only go as far as Kinja from Bhandar. Coming out of Bhandar at 9:30 am we were passed by a very handsome young Nepali man dressed in Western clothes - suede jacket, knit scarf, jeans, tennies. He was the school teacher. He spoke perfect English. The kids go to school from 10 - 4 Sunday morning through Friday midday. They all wear uniforms and like to practice their English with us when we pass by.
The first part of the day was downhill through a canyon that looked like King's Canyon except for the terraced farms and houses high up on the steep hillsides. There was even a river at the bottom that looked like the King's River and lots of waterfalls cascading down the steep side ravines. After about an hour we ran into a delightful 11-year-old named Sarina resting by the trail with her grandparents. They were headed to her home near Kinja. We talked a little bit in English with her and then went on. About half an hour later she caught up with Mike and me with her personal belongings in a bundle supported by a strap on her head. Mike said, "Sarina, right?" and she was very happy he remembered her. She had a little gold ring in the side of her nose and was absolutely beautiful. Mike walked ahead and Sarina and I started chatting. She told me she was going home to her house and that she had been visiting her grandparents. She said, "I'm a solo trekker!" She asked a couple of questions, "Where are you from?" and "Where are you going?" Then she said, "Are we friends?" And I was really touched. Of course, I said yes we are friends and she grinned. Then I gave her a stick of gum and she popped it in her mouth. It was so refreshing after all of the kids along the trail asking for rupees and sweets. She just wanted to be friends. She showed me the way across the river on stepping stones while Mike crossed on the bridge. Later, we encountered her again as she waited for her grandparents to catch up and she pointed the way to Kinja for us.
We also ran into a young man who had been following us the day before on the steep uphill trek from Shivalaya to Deurali Pass. He had an arm crutch and limped. He was faster than me but he refused to pass me. Mike and I both decided this was because it is such a rare thing to walk behind a woman wearing pants. It happened a couple of other times that day and I started feeling a little uncomfortable. Mike would get 100 feet ahead and when he stopped to wait for me I'd come around the bend with a couple of men on my tail! The young man with the crutch who was following me was very sweet and he chatted with Mike when we caught up to him. He took photos with us and wanted to take one alone with me. Then he showed us - proudly I thought - that he had a prosthetic leg. We told him he was very strong and fast and he seemed very pleased. When we saw him today he was on the trail with a friend near his hometown and he was excited to see us. He shook our hands warmly.
The next friend we made on the trail was an old woman who saw us cross the suspension bridge near Kinja. I was resting in the shade and feeling really tired so I laid down on the stone ledge. She stood and stared at us and was not very friendly. We exchanged namastes but she seemed to want us to get moving. I thought at first that my pants had offended her or my taking photos of the bridge and the river so we started moving along. She followed along with us and tried to talk to me but she didn't have a word of English so we pantomimed everything. She asked me how many children I had by cradling her abdomen. I showed 3 fingers and then showed with my hand above my head that they were all tall. She showed 3 fingers too. Then she pantomimed that she wanted one of my trekking poles! So I said no, I need two and pointed to both knees. She pointed at Mike who was using one pole and carrying the other on his pack and held up one finger. When we got close to Mike I said "She wants your trekking pole" and of course he gave it to her! He pantomimed that he wanted it back when we got to Kinja and she nodded. But halfway there, she entered a house to show off her pole to some girls. So Mike asked for it back and she held it behind her back and looked at him stone faced. Eventually, he said she could have it and she started up the trail to Kinja with us. We saw a couple coming down who looked like relatives and she showed them her new pole. They looked a little embarrassed and shrugged and smiled at us. She did share some interesting info with us. I stopped to look at some caterpillars in the trail and she explained with sign language that they were eating the mulberry tree leaves and would make silk. She identified ginger and onions in Nepali. She pointed to my shirt and pants and signed to me why I didn't wear a scarf and skirt. I didn't know what to say so I said I don't know and shrugged.
We lost our little old lady along the way to Kinja when she stopped to talk to another friend and show off her new trekking pole. I was still feeling really tired for some reason so when we rolled into Kinja at about 2:30 pm we checked out lodges. Mike immediately saw Snickers bars in a shop and bought two. I couldn't eat more than a bite of mine so he ate both. I collapsed in a chair while he scouted the best lodge with a sunny patio and a great view of the Himalaya. A nice Northwestern business school student named Will rolled in at about 5 pm. He had done in 2 days what had taken us 4. We took showers with a bucket of hot water. Mike did our laundry while I rested and he hung it on the line in the courtyard. It was a really warm, sunny day.
Tuesday, February 25 - Kinja to Dakachu - We headed out today with a new plan for me - no Diamox or Emergen-C. I felt much, much better. This was a really challenging day with a lot of uphill climbing from Kinja at 5348 feet to Dakachu at 9793 feet. When we rolled into Dakachu we knew we were done for the day and we went with the one lodge that advertised hot showers. The lodge owner - an older man named Danu - had a huge barrel of water boiling on the stove in his dark, primitive, smoky kitchen. This boiling water for the shower was piped directly from this barrel to the shower head without much loss of heat! So I had to mix hot water in a big basin with cold water from another spigot. It was primitive but worth it. We ate in Danu's kitchen and had the best fried rice yet. His 14-year-old son Bimba showed up at some point and did some chores while staring at us sullenly. Teenagers seem to be the same in any country. We tried to draw him out with American music, etc. but he didn't want to talk. Danu did, though! When I found out that his wife had died 5 years ago and Bimba was his youngest son, I told him my husband had died 2 years before. I asked him if he was sad after his wife died and he said no but the trip to the hospital in Kathmandu cost him 10,000 rupees! He was pretty matter-of-fact about the whole thing!
Wednesday, February 26 - Dakachu to Junbesi - This was our longest day of trekking yet. We started early and went over the 11,600 foot pass at Lamjura La. When we got to Junbesi after about 8 hours of trekking we stopped at the first lodge we came to and it was the best yet. A bright sunny room with views up the valley, a truly beautiful valley and a sweet hostess with an adorable 2-year-old.
Thursday, February 27 - Junbesi to Ringmu - Who did we see when we walked out of our lodge this morning but our friends from Melbourne - Greg and Ruth! They had taken a rest day at a different lodge in Junbesi and we were finally able to catch up with them. We started out the day with a plan to hike together and try to make it to Nunthala. Mike and Greg walked ahead at their own pace and Ruth and I followed behind at our pace. Periodically the men would wait for us and sometimes even order tea and share their Snickers bars. Greg is the consummate prankster and it really livened up the day to have him making jokes constantly. He is 44 and Ruth is 54. They are child-free and they started their relationship 14 years ago when they ran into each other in the Kathmandu airport! They had actually known each other before from an Aikido club in Melbourne and after they recognized each other in Kathmandu they started dating when they got back home. I really enjoyed chatting with Ruth who is a very gentle, kind, intelligent woman. Ruhr seemed to have a lot of energy left at the end of the day and she went on ahead. I was all alone and exhausted when I came slowly up the last steep hill into Ringmu. I was relieved to see Mike come out of a lodge to meet me and tell me that we were not going to continue on another hour or more to Nunthala.
Friday, February 28 - Ringmu to Jubhing - After accurately predicting the last 5 places we spent the night, tonight we only made it to Jubhing. And it was a grueling day. A lot of downhill and we were on the trail with Greg and Ruth from 9:30 to 5:30. The longest day yet and my knees are telling me it was the hardest day yet. But it was also a great day. We're having such a nice time trekking with Greg and Ruth.
Saturday, March 1 - Jubhing to Bupsa - Another 1,000 foot climb today and it started to rain at the very end of our long climb. Everyone put their rain gear on but I decided not to and I just strolled along feeling the rain on me. Everyone had gone ahead of me but not before expressing their concern that I might be getting chilled in the rain. I said no worries, I was going to talk a long hot shower in Bupsa and I did. We were joined at our lodge in Bupsa by Youki, a 30-something guy from the Netherlands, and Olive and Charlie, two Brits who had been teaching in Salleri for months. They were followed to Bupsa by a handsome dog we nicknamed Trevor. He walked right in the lodge and hung out with us. And he slept with Youki.
Sunday, March 2 - Bupsa to Surke - Today the four of us trekked on a very, very muddy, slippery trail. Just before we got to Surke at the end of the day, it looked like the weather was going to take a turn for the worse so we decided to stop at the only lodge near the top of the Chutok La pass at 9,750 feet. It was the Nepali New Year and we were concerned that we might be interfering with the lodge owners' celebration but they just let us take over the room with the hot stove in it while they hung out in their warm kitchen. We dried our muddy, wet clothing while freezing hail came down outside and enjoyed a nice evening with Youki, our other traveling companion. I began to have some GI distress so I took Imodium. Not fun when you're using a squat toilet. After tonight, I began to make a Western toilet a top priority for every lodge we stayed in.
Monday, March 3 - Surke to Bengkar - Today we left Youki to his morning routine designed to avoid constipation. It involves drinking pots of tea and hanging around the lodge for an hour after everyone else has left. Mike and I were going to split off from Greg and Ruth and take a one hour detour uphill to Lukla solely to book our return trip airfare from Lukla to Kathmandu. But we missed the unmarked turnoff and happily continued on with Greg and Ruth after deciding we could book our flights when we got to Namche. By going around Lukla directly to Cheplung we shortened our trek to Namche and we missed encountering the hordes of trekkers who had flown into Lukla that morning after delays of several days because of the cloudy, rainy weather in the river valley. However, as we sat with Greg and Ruth and enjoyed tea in Cheplung, the trekking hordes began to walk by with their guides and porters. Ruth and I saw the first Western women of our age that we had seen on the trail in over a week. We also saw some ridiculous looking Westerners and Greg began a comic stream of consciousness commentary that kept us in stitches. My favorite was the German father and son duo wearing identical outfits and walking in lock step behind their Nepali guide. We decided to try to get beyond the major stopping point of Phakding today and we made it to Bengkar late in the day. Mike leaned out of our lodge's upstairs window as I rounded the bend by a beautiful waterfall and he said, "You're going to be a happy girl!" Western toilet and a hot shower! Unfortunately, the hot shower cut out in the middle when I still had conditioner in my hair and I finished my shower with cold water. By the time I joined the others in the warm dining room I was chilled to the bone. I spent the evening drying my hair by the warm fire but I think the GI problems of the night before and the bone chilling cold of this evening sent my immune system into overdrive.
Tuesday, March 4 - Bengkar to Namche - A very difficult trekking day. I knew when we started out that we had a demanding 5 hour, 3,000 foot climb up to Namche. Because Namche is at 11,300 feet we also knew we had to start watching for signs of altitude illness. I had stopped taking Diamox earlier in the trip and had decided not to start taking it again unless I experienced symptoms of altitude illness, the most noticeable of which is a headache. Shortly after we started out I knew this was not going to be a good day. My joints ached, especially my knees and I felt a general malaise, queasiness and fatigue. I mentioned my symptoms to Mike, Greg and Ruth. All three of my trekking buddies seemed troubled by my symptoms. Later that morning, Mike began to try to encourage me to eat when we stopped for tea but I still had a full stomach from breakfast and wasn't hungry. By 10 am as I sat at the bottom of a steep set of stone steps resting with my head in my hands, Mike became worried that I was too sick to make it to Namche and wanted to go back to the last town an hour downhill. I absolutely disagreed. At our last tea stop all three of my companions had persuaded me to let them each take a pound or so of my load because I wasn't feeling great. Greg and Ruth had then gone ahead to Namche to meet Ruth's friend Helen and with them had gone some of my dirty laundry. I didn't have a headache and I really wasn't going much slower than usual. The only significant changes were the body aches and loss of appetite which I thought were probably due to the GI bug I had picked up a few days ago. Greg and Ruth both went on, promising Mike and me that they would find a lodge at Namche and then Greg would backtrack to find us and tell us where to go. For the next 3 hours, Mike and I climbed up. At one high pass, a woman was selling tangerines and Mike bought us one each. Then we continued on. By the time we got to Namche together, I was very exhausted and very cold. We saw Greg coming down to meet us and I almost crawled up the stairs to my bed at the Valley View Lodge. I collapsed fully clothed under a blanket and lay there shivering for two hours. Finally, I realized I wasn't going to get warm unless I got into dry clothes and my sleeping bag so I put my bed together with extra quilts. Mike brought me tea and soup but I couldn't eat much. I was clearly sick with something but I didn't have a headache. Eventually I warmed up and stopped shivering and slept until morning.
Wednesday, March 5 - Rest Day in Namche - I felt fine this morning! I went downstairs and was greeted by the other concerned guests and the lodge owner Pasang Sherpa who is the kindest, warmest lodge owner we've met yet. A wonderful young couple from Colorado is staying here, too. We went with them to see a movie about Sherpas at a real coffeehouse. My first coffee in weeks and a truly great movie. There was a snowfall of several inches the day before and Namche looked beautiful.
Thursday, March 6 - Mike and I hiked from Namche to Phortse Tenga today. We said goodbye to Greg and Ruth this morning. It was a gorgeous day as we hiked up the steep trail with tall snow covered peaks on our right hand side. We saw Everest for the first time with a plume of mist blowing from its summit. As the day wore on, clouds began to form on the summits of the nearby peaks and a few snowflakes came down. We got to our lodge at about 2:30 pm and settled in. It is very utilitarian as Nepali lodges go with a long hallway with padlocked doors on each side. The dining room soon began to fill with a lot of trekkers - all of whom have porters and guides. 3 Australians, 3 Austrians, a German or two and a guy from Singapore. Mike and I had the usual for dinner - veg egg fried rice - with fried potatoes as an afternoon snack. In this particular lodge, everyone - clients and Nepalis - sits around the big stove in the dining room which is filled with wood and yak chips. Everyone is speaking different languages. Big kettles of water heat up on the stove top. It's only 6:30 pm and I'm already wondering how I'm going to pass the evening and share the communal bathroom (which has one toilet stall) with all these men. There are 14 men and one other woman in the dining room right now. The Austrians are sharing tips with the Australians about where the best bakeries are in Namche. Half of the folks here are headed down to Namche and the other half are headed up to Gokyo. It should be relatively lonely on the trail tomorrow which will be nice. I really enjoyed hiking alone today. Mike hiked quite a distance ahead of me all day.
Friday, March 7 - Phortse Tenga to Dhole - Today we began trekking up higher to Dhole. Again the sky was cloudless and bright blue. It was a short trekking day designed for acclimatization. 1,000 feet in altitude gained per day on the way up to Gokyo should keep us safe from altitude illness. We rolled into Dhole at noon and just sat around for the entire afternoon. A couple of Frenchmen and their guides and porters showed up. The highlight for me was getting 3 Nalgene bottles full of boiling hot water and putting them in my sleeping bag. They kept me warm all night. I had to get up and go to the toilet at least 3 times and each time I got back in bed I talked the hot water bottles in my armpits and between my legs. The water froze in the toilet bucket last night. We are getting higher and the nights are getting much colder. When I went to bed last night snowflakes were falling but during the night when I went to pee I saw that the stars were out and the sky was clear.
Saturday, March 8 - Dhole to Machhermo - Today we woke up in Dhole and spent about 3.5 hours hiking uphill to Machhermo. We are at an elevation comparable to Mt. Whitney now. Tomorrow - an altitude PR for both of us. The hike today was spectacular. The weather has been brilliant sunshine every morning with a cloudless blue sky. The only clouds were the spindrift blowing off the highest peaks around us. Many of them are over 20,000 feet high. We only saw a few Westerners on the isolated trail to Gokyo. There were lots of yaks, though. Huge, shaggy monsters that have silhouettes like American bison with big humps behind their heads. I noticed that they come in all colors, just like dogs. Black, white, black & white, grey, ginger, brown. They have huge horns and sweet, curious faces. We walked through snow fields above the tree line with just low scrub and brown grass for the yaks to graze on. Some of them wear ornaments in their ears, others wear bells. We got to Macchermo at noon with nothing to do for the rest of the day except sit around and read. We have been advised by a few knowledgeable people that after climbing 3000' in 3 days we should spend two nights here but Mike wants to go on to Gokyo tomorrow and climb Gokyo Ri the day after that. I'm trying to figure out how risky that plan is before I agree to it. But I feel great today so my plan is to start walking to Gokyo tomorrow with Mike and only head back to Machhermo if I get a headache.
I just learned something new from one of the Sherpa guides here. He asked if we had guides or porters and I said no and shrugged apologetically and said I am stubborn. He said, "Americans. They are all stubborn and carry their own packs." Ha! I didn't realize that was a Himalayan stereotype.
Sunday, March 9 - Machhermo to Gokyo - The weather was glorious again today and the scenery spectacular. We climbed up along the river coming out of the Gokyo Lakes - steep stone steps with icicles and water sculpted snow formations on the uphill side. Early in the day we saw some amazing large birds called Kamaa (sp) in Nepalese. I have to figure out what they are when I get back to WIFI in Namche. They looked like large pheasants with black and white stripes on their sides and breasts. They were not shy at all. Then when we got to the first lake, we saw two pair of Brahmani ducks feeding in the shallow lakes. They had loud calls that sounded like someone might be crying for help. We puzzled over it for a few minutes before figuring out it was the ducks. It only took us 4 hours to get here from Macchermo although we had expected it to take five. I felt really strong on the steep uphill climb but slow later on the level snow field along the lakes heading into Gokyo. We had been told by everyone we saw on the trail to stay at Cho-Oyu View Lodge because of the hostess and the food. Sure enough, when we rolled into town at noon we were shown to an upstairs sunny room for a quick nap and then headed down to the warm sunny dining room for fried potatoes with onion and garlic - our usual lunch. The dining room has spectacular views of Cho-Oyu as well as all the peaks around the lake. Large yaks stand outside the windows staring in at us and have to be shooed away because there horns can be dangerous. We can see the trail winding down from the pass on Gokyo Ri and every once in a while a group of trekkers or porters comes down the trail. This afternoon a trekker in a very bad way stumbled into Gokyo being supported by her guide. She looked completely out of it. If she came over the pass (not the way we came) then she may have come up from Namche at 11,000 feet to the pass at 16,000 feet in only 3 days. Not advisable. Mike and I reached agreement yesterday on what would be the conditions that would allow us to head up to Gokyo without a rest day today. Basically, both of us feeling well with no headaches.
Sunday, February 16 – Mike Collins and I flew from San Diego to LA in the evening and then boarded our 15 hour overnight flight to China. China Southern is a great airline. Pillows, blankets, hot towels with the free meals which included free wine!
Monday, February 17 - We crossed the International Date Line while flying from LA to China so when we landed in China it was Tuesday morning. Monday was gone completely.
Tuesday, February 18 - When we landed in Guangzhou, we were taken by bus to a hotel about 30 minutes away. We were a little worried that it might be a dump because it was complimentary because of our long layover but it was very modern and quite gorgeous. Guangzhou itself is nothing to write home about but it was new to both of us to see bicycles crowding the streets as we both experienced an Asian city for the first time. It was raining all day and after our free breakfast Mike and I slept until it was time to board our bus at 4 pm to return to the airport. We then flew from Guangzhou, China to Kathmandu arriving at about 10 pm. We expected a car from the Nirvana Garden Hotel to be waiting for us but it wasn't so we grabbed a taxi. There were hundreds of Nepali men there trying to get our business but we went with a man who offered to let us use his cell phone to call our hotel. The hotel was nice, our bed was huge and we fell asleep.
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| Walking the streets of Kathmandu |
Wednesday, February 19 - Kathmandu - We walked to the permit office and met an Australian couple named Greg and Ruth there. They gave us some friendly advice and told us they were going on the same trekking route as us but were leaving a day earlier. They were renting a private car with a driver which would cost about $140 to take them to Jiri. We had been planning to take the bus which would only be $12 for the two of us. Later that day, we ran into them again in the tourist town of Thamel near our hotel. They showed us their car rental place and we decided to book a private car for Friday morning.
Thursday, February 20 - Kathmandu - We were going to spend the day aimlessly wandering the streets of Kathmandu but a nice young man approached us while we were looking at a map and said he wanted to practice his English. His name was Rakesh and he said he was from Punjab, India and that he was an art student who painted mandalas. In retrospect, I think he was probably hired by the art school/shop owner to bring Westerners into his store so he could sell them mandalas. Rakesh and the store owner were very nice and Mike and I ended up each buying an intricately painted mandala. Then we offered to take Rakesh to lunch but somehow he ended up telling us a sad story about buying groceries for his brother's family and we bought him $70 worth of groceries! $70 is a small fortune in Nepal. A lodge keeper charges $2 for a night's lodging. A porter gets paid about $10 per day to haul huge loads up mountains. We were suckers, for sure.
Friday, February 21 - Kathmandu to Jiri - Our driver met us very early - at 7:20 am - because we were hoping to trek to Shivalaya if we got to Jiri early enough in the day. But the winding road got the best of me and I ended up very car sick for the last 30 minutes of the trip so we decided to spend the night in Jiri. Good decision, as it turned out. We got to Jiri at about 2 pm. The hike to Shivalaya would have taken 3 hours straight uphill. The drive to Jiri was fascinating. We saw buses with goats standing on top of them! We got our first glimpse of the snow covered Himalaya. And we pulled over at a tea shop along the way where I peed in a squat latrine for the first time and we got completely undrinkable milky tea from a fishmonger's stall manned by boys about 10 to 12 years old.
Saturday, February 22 - Jiri to Shivalaya - We started out from Jiri in high spirits. I had decided (at the recommendation of our hiking advisor Terry Thompson) to fill one of my water bottles with Emergen-C as an electrolyte replacement and I also decided to start taking Diamox because we were going to be crossing a 9,000 foot pass in 2 days. Unfortunately, Diamox is a diuretic and I wasn't sweating enough in the cold temperatures to need electrolytes. I was feeling low energy and queasy all day and in retrospect I think it was because I was building up too much salt in my system. The problem was hard to diagnose because I was peeing normally so we didn't figure this out for a few more days. Mike and I tried to brainstorm about what was wrong with me and he seemed very concerned about my slow pace on the way to Shivalaya. Once we got to Shivalaya, and stopped walking I felt great. Saturday is the one day off for Nepalis and there was a big pickup soccer game going on in a dirt field near the flat land along the river. We watched that for a while and then wandered back to our lodge for dinner.
Sunday, February 23 - Shivalaya to Bhandar - Today we trekked uphill over Deurali Pass at about 9,000 feet and then down a steep grade to the town of Bhandar. Again, I was moving slow and felt queasy and tired and Mike was concerned. At the top of the pass we stopped for ginger tea and fried potatoes and I felt totally rejuvenated. But Bhandar was clearly the right place to stop for the night as we would have had to continue on for a couple more hours before we reached the next town with lodging.
Monday, February 24 - Bhandar to Kinja - Today was a great day even though I did become totally exhausted again on our hike and we decided to only go as far as Kinja from Bhandar. Coming out of Bhandar at 9:30 am we were passed by a very handsome young Nepali man dressed in Western clothes - suede jacket, knit scarf, jeans, tennies. He was the school teacher. He spoke perfect English. The kids go to school from 10 - 4 Sunday morning through Friday midday. They all wear uniforms and like to practice their English with us when we pass by.
The first part of the day was downhill through a canyon that looked like King's Canyon except for the terraced farms and houses high up on the steep hillsides. There was even a river at the bottom that looked like the King's River and lots of waterfalls cascading down the steep side ravines. After about an hour we ran into a delightful 11-year-old named Sarina resting by the trail with her grandparents. They were headed to her home near Kinja. We talked a little bit in English with her and then went on. About half an hour later she caught up with Mike and me with her personal belongings in a bundle supported by a strap on her head. Mike said, "Sarina, right?" and she was very happy he remembered her. She had a little gold ring in the side of her nose and was absolutely beautiful. Mike walked ahead and Sarina and I started chatting. She told me she was going home to her house and that she had been visiting her grandparents. She said, "I'm a solo trekker!" She asked a couple of questions, "Where are you from?" and "Where are you going?" Then she said, "Are we friends?" And I was really touched. Of course, I said yes we are friends and she grinned. Then I gave her a stick of gum and she popped it in her mouth. It was so refreshing after all of the kids along the trail asking for rupees and sweets. She just wanted to be friends. She showed me the way across the river on stepping stones while Mike crossed on the bridge. Later, we encountered her again as she waited for her grandparents to catch up and she pointed the way to Kinja for us.
We also ran into a young man who had been following us the day before on the steep uphill trek from Shivalaya to Deurali Pass. He had an arm crutch and limped. He was faster than me but he refused to pass me. Mike and I both decided this was because it is such a rare thing to walk behind a woman wearing pants. It happened a couple of other times that day and I started feeling a little uncomfortable. Mike would get 100 feet ahead and when he stopped to wait for me I'd come around the bend with a couple of men on my tail! The young man with the crutch who was following me was very sweet and he chatted with Mike when we caught up to him. He took photos with us and wanted to take one alone with me. Then he showed us - proudly I thought - that he had a prosthetic leg. We told him he was very strong and fast and he seemed very pleased. When we saw him today he was on the trail with a friend near his hometown and he was excited to see us. He shook our hands warmly.
The next friend we made on the trail was an old woman who saw us cross the suspension bridge near Kinja. I was resting in the shade and feeling really tired so I laid down on the stone ledge. She stood and stared at us and was not very friendly. We exchanged namastes but she seemed to want us to get moving. I thought at first that my pants had offended her or my taking photos of the bridge and the river so we started moving along. She followed along with us and tried to talk to me but she didn't have a word of English so we pantomimed everything. She asked me how many children I had by cradling her abdomen. I showed 3 fingers and then showed with my hand above my head that they were all tall. She showed 3 fingers too. Then she pantomimed that she wanted one of my trekking poles! So I said no, I need two and pointed to both knees. She pointed at Mike who was using one pole and carrying the other on his pack and held up one finger. When we got close to Mike I said "She wants your trekking pole" and of course he gave it to her! He pantomimed that he wanted it back when we got to Kinja and she nodded. But halfway there, she entered a house to show off her pole to some girls. So Mike asked for it back and she held it behind her back and looked at him stone faced. Eventually, he said she could have it and she started up the trail to Kinja with us. We saw a couple coming down who looked like relatives and she showed them her new pole. They looked a little embarrassed and shrugged and smiled at us. She did share some interesting info with us. I stopped to look at some caterpillars in the trail and she explained with sign language that they were eating the mulberry tree leaves and would make silk. She identified ginger and onions in Nepali. She pointed to my shirt and pants and signed to me why I didn't wear a scarf and skirt. I didn't know what to say so I said I don't know and shrugged.
We lost our little old lady along the way to Kinja when she stopped to talk to another friend and show off her new trekking pole. I was still feeling really tired for some reason so when we rolled into Kinja at about 2:30 pm we checked out lodges. Mike immediately saw Snickers bars in a shop and bought two. I couldn't eat more than a bite of mine so he ate both. I collapsed in a chair while he scouted the best lodge with a sunny patio and a great view of the Himalaya. A nice Northwestern business school student named Will rolled in at about 5 pm. He had done in 2 days what had taken us 4. We took showers with a bucket of hot water. Mike did our laundry while I rested and he hung it on the line in the courtyard. It was a really warm, sunny day.
Tuesday, February 25 - Kinja to Dakachu - We headed out today with a new plan for me - no Diamox or Emergen-C. I felt much, much better. This was a really challenging day with a lot of uphill climbing from Kinja at 5348 feet to Dakachu at 9793 feet. When we rolled into Dakachu we knew we were done for the day and we went with the one lodge that advertised hot showers. The lodge owner - an older man named Danu - had a huge barrel of water boiling on the stove in his dark, primitive, smoky kitchen. This boiling water for the shower was piped directly from this barrel to the shower head without much loss of heat! So I had to mix hot water in a big basin with cold water from another spigot. It was primitive but worth it. We ate in Danu's kitchen and had the best fried rice yet. His 14-year-old son Bimba showed up at some point and did some chores while staring at us sullenly. Teenagers seem to be the same in any country. We tried to draw him out with American music, etc. but he didn't want to talk. Danu did, though! When I found out that his wife had died 5 years ago and Bimba was his youngest son, I told him my husband had died 2 years before. I asked him if he was sad after his wife died and he said no but the trip to the hospital in Kathmandu cost him 10,000 rupees! He was pretty matter-of-fact about the whole thing!
Wednesday, February 26 - Dakachu to Junbesi - This was our longest day of trekking yet. We started early and went over the 11,600 foot pass at Lamjura La. When we got to Junbesi after about 8 hours of trekking we stopped at the first lodge we came to and it was the best yet. A bright sunny room with views up the valley, a truly beautiful valley and a sweet hostess with an adorable 2-year-old.
Thursday, February 27 - Junbesi to Ringmu - Who did we see when we walked out of our lodge this morning but our friends from Melbourne - Greg and Ruth! They had taken a rest day at a different lodge in Junbesi and we were finally able to catch up with them. We started out the day with a plan to hike together and try to make it to Nunthala. Mike and Greg walked ahead at their own pace and Ruth and I followed behind at our pace. Periodically the men would wait for us and sometimes even order tea and share their Snickers bars. Greg is the consummate prankster and it really livened up the day to have him making jokes constantly. He is 44 and Ruth is 54. They are child-free and they started their relationship 14 years ago when they ran into each other in the Kathmandu airport! They had actually known each other before from an Aikido club in Melbourne and after they recognized each other in Kathmandu they started dating when they got back home. I really enjoyed chatting with Ruth who is a very gentle, kind, intelligent woman. Ruhr seemed to have a lot of energy left at the end of the day and she went on ahead. I was all alone and exhausted when I came slowly up the last steep hill into Ringmu. I was relieved to see Mike come out of a lodge to meet me and tell me that we were not going to continue on another hour or more to Nunthala.
Friday, February 28 - Ringmu to Jubhing - After accurately predicting the last 5 places we spent the night, tonight we only made it to Jubhing. And it was a grueling day. A lot of downhill and we were on the trail with Greg and Ruth from 9:30 to 5:30. The longest day yet and my knees are telling me it was the hardest day yet. But it was also a great day. We're having such a nice time trekking with Greg and Ruth.
Saturday, March 1 - Jubhing to Bupsa - Another 1,000 foot climb today and it started to rain at the very end of our long climb. Everyone put their rain gear on but I decided not to and I just strolled along feeling the rain on me. Everyone had gone ahead of me but not before expressing their concern that I might be getting chilled in the rain. I said no worries, I was going to talk a long hot shower in Bupsa and I did. We were joined at our lodge in Bupsa by Youki, a 30-something guy from the Netherlands, and Olive and Charlie, two Brits who had been teaching in Salleri for months. They were followed to Bupsa by a handsome dog we nicknamed Trevor. He walked right in the lodge and hung out with us. And he slept with Youki.
Sunday, March 2 - Bupsa to Surke - Today the four of us trekked on a very, very muddy, slippery trail. Just before we got to Surke at the end of the day, it looked like the weather was going to take a turn for the worse so we decided to stop at the only lodge near the top of the Chutok La pass at 9,750 feet. It was the Nepali New Year and we were concerned that we might be interfering with the lodge owners' celebration but they just let us take over the room with the hot stove in it while they hung out in their warm kitchen. We dried our muddy, wet clothing while freezing hail came down outside and enjoyed a nice evening with Youki, our other traveling companion. I began to have some GI distress so I took Imodium. Not fun when you're using a squat toilet. After tonight, I began to make a Western toilet a top priority for every lodge we stayed in.
Monday, March 3 - Surke to Bengkar - Today we left Youki to his morning routine designed to avoid constipation. It involves drinking pots of tea and hanging around the lodge for an hour after everyone else has left. Mike and I were going to split off from Greg and Ruth and take a one hour detour uphill to Lukla solely to book our return trip airfare from Lukla to Kathmandu. But we missed the unmarked turnoff and happily continued on with Greg and Ruth after deciding we could book our flights when we got to Namche. By going around Lukla directly to Cheplung we shortened our trek to Namche and we missed encountering the hordes of trekkers who had flown into Lukla that morning after delays of several days because of the cloudy, rainy weather in the river valley. However, as we sat with Greg and Ruth and enjoyed tea in Cheplung, the trekking hordes began to walk by with their guides and porters. Ruth and I saw the first Western women of our age that we had seen on the trail in over a week. We also saw some ridiculous looking Westerners and Greg began a comic stream of consciousness commentary that kept us in stitches. My favorite was the German father and son duo wearing identical outfits and walking in lock step behind their Nepali guide. We decided to try to get beyond the major stopping point of Phakding today and we made it to Bengkar late in the day. Mike leaned out of our lodge's upstairs window as I rounded the bend by a beautiful waterfall and he said, "You're going to be a happy girl!" Western toilet and a hot shower! Unfortunately, the hot shower cut out in the middle when I still had conditioner in my hair and I finished my shower with cold water. By the time I joined the others in the warm dining room I was chilled to the bone. I spent the evening drying my hair by the warm fire but I think the GI problems of the night before and the bone chilling cold of this evening sent my immune system into overdrive.
Tuesday, March 4 - Bengkar to Namche - A very difficult trekking day. I knew when we started out that we had a demanding 5 hour, 3,000 foot climb up to Namche. Because Namche is at 11,300 feet we also knew we had to start watching for signs of altitude illness. I had stopped taking Diamox earlier in the trip and had decided not to start taking it again unless I experienced symptoms of altitude illness, the most noticeable of which is a headache. Shortly after we started out I knew this was not going to be a good day. My joints ached, especially my knees and I felt a general malaise, queasiness and fatigue. I mentioned my symptoms to Mike, Greg and Ruth. All three of my trekking buddies seemed troubled by my symptoms. Later that morning, Mike began to try to encourage me to eat when we stopped for tea but I still had a full stomach from breakfast and wasn't hungry. By 10 am as I sat at the bottom of a steep set of stone steps resting with my head in my hands, Mike became worried that I was too sick to make it to Namche and wanted to go back to the last town an hour downhill. I absolutely disagreed. At our last tea stop all three of my companions had persuaded me to let them each take a pound or so of my load because I wasn't feeling great. Greg and Ruth had then gone ahead to Namche to meet Ruth's friend Helen and with them had gone some of my dirty laundry. I didn't have a headache and I really wasn't going much slower than usual. The only significant changes were the body aches and loss of appetite which I thought were probably due to the GI bug I had picked up a few days ago. Greg and Ruth both went on, promising Mike and me that they would find a lodge at Namche and then Greg would backtrack to find us and tell us where to go. For the next 3 hours, Mike and I climbed up. At one high pass, a woman was selling tangerines and Mike bought us one each. Then we continued on. By the time we got to Namche together, I was very exhausted and very cold. We saw Greg coming down to meet us and I almost crawled up the stairs to my bed at the Valley View Lodge. I collapsed fully clothed under a blanket and lay there shivering for two hours. Finally, I realized I wasn't going to get warm unless I got into dry clothes and my sleeping bag so I put my bed together with extra quilts. Mike brought me tea and soup but I couldn't eat much. I was clearly sick with something but I didn't have a headache. Eventually I warmed up and stopped shivering and slept until morning.
Wednesday, March 5 - Rest Day in Namche - I felt fine this morning! I went downstairs and was greeted by the other concerned guests and the lodge owner Pasang Sherpa who is the kindest, warmest lodge owner we've met yet. A wonderful young couple from Colorado is staying here, too. We went with them to see a movie about Sherpas at a real coffeehouse. My first coffee in weeks and a truly great movie. There was a snowfall of several inches the day before and Namche looked beautiful.
Thursday, March 6 - Mike and I hiked from Namche to Phortse Tenga today. We said goodbye to Greg and Ruth this morning. It was a gorgeous day as we hiked up the steep trail with tall snow covered peaks on our right hand side. We saw Everest for the first time with a plume of mist blowing from its summit. As the day wore on, clouds began to form on the summits of the nearby peaks and a few snowflakes came down. We got to our lodge at about 2:30 pm and settled in. It is very utilitarian as Nepali lodges go with a long hallway with padlocked doors on each side. The dining room soon began to fill with a lot of trekkers - all of whom have porters and guides. 3 Australians, 3 Austrians, a German or two and a guy from Singapore. Mike and I had the usual for dinner - veg egg fried rice - with fried potatoes as an afternoon snack. In this particular lodge, everyone - clients and Nepalis - sits around the big stove in the dining room which is filled with wood and yak chips. Everyone is speaking different languages. Big kettles of water heat up on the stove top. It's only 6:30 pm and I'm already wondering how I'm going to pass the evening and share the communal bathroom (which has one toilet stall) with all these men. There are 14 men and one other woman in the dining room right now. The Austrians are sharing tips with the Australians about where the best bakeries are in Namche. Half of the folks here are headed down to Namche and the other half are headed up to Gokyo. It should be relatively lonely on the trail tomorrow which will be nice. I really enjoyed hiking alone today. Mike hiked quite a distance ahead of me all day.
Friday, March 7 - Phortse Tenga to Dhole - Today we began trekking up higher to Dhole. Again the sky was cloudless and bright blue. It was a short trekking day designed for acclimatization. 1,000 feet in altitude gained per day on the way up to Gokyo should keep us safe from altitude illness. We rolled into Dhole at noon and just sat around for the entire afternoon. A couple of Frenchmen and their guides and porters showed up. The highlight for me was getting 3 Nalgene bottles full of boiling hot water and putting them in my sleeping bag. They kept me warm all night. I had to get up and go to the toilet at least 3 times and each time I got back in bed I talked the hot water bottles in my armpits and between my legs. The water froze in the toilet bucket last night. We are getting higher and the nights are getting much colder. When I went to bed last night snowflakes were falling but during the night when I went to pee I saw that the stars were out and the sky was clear.
Saturday, March 8 - Dhole to Machhermo - Today we woke up in Dhole and spent about 3.5 hours hiking uphill to Machhermo. We are at an elevation comparable to Mt. Whitney now. Tomorrow - an altitude PR for both of us. The hike today was spectacular. The weather has been brilliant sunshine every morning with a cloudless blue sky. The only clouds were the spindrift blowing off the highest peaks around us. Many of them are over 20,000 feet high. We only saw a few Westerners on the isolated trail to Gokyo. There were lots of yaks, though. Huge, shaggy monsters that have silhouettes like American bison with big humps behind their heads. I noticed that they come in all colors, just like dogs. Black, white, black & white, grey, ginger, brown. They have huge horns and sweet, curious faces. We walked through snow fields above the tree line with just low scrub and brown grass for the yaks to graze on. Some of them wear ornaments in their ears, others wear bells. We got to Macchermo at noon with nothing to do for the rest of the day except sit around and read. We have been advised by a few knowledgeable people that after climbing 3000' in 3 days we should spend two nights here but Mike wants to go on to Gokyo tomorrow and climb Gokyo Ri the day after that. I'm trying to figure out how risky that plan is before I agree to it. But I feel great today so my plan is to start walking to Gokyo tomorrow with Mike and only head back to Machhermo if I get a headache.
I just learned something new from one of the Sherpa guides here. He asked if we had guides or porters and I said no and shrugged apologetically and said I am stubborn. He said, "Americans. They are all stubborn and carry their own packs." Ha! I didn't realize that was a Himalayan stereotype.
Sunday, March 9 - Machhermo to Gokyo - The weather was glorious again today and the scenery spectacular. We climbed up along the river coming out of the Gokyo Lakes - steep stone steps with icicles and water sculpted snow formations on the uphill side. Early in the day we saw some amazing large birds called Kamaa (sp) in Nepalese. I have to figure out what they are when I get back to WIFI in Namche. They looked like large pheasants with black and white stripes on their sides and breasts. They were not shy at all. Then when we got to the first lake, we saw two pair of Brahmani ducks feeding in the shallow lakes. They had loud calls that sounded like someone might be crying for help. We puzzled over it for a few minutes before figuring out it was the ducks. It only took us 4 hours to get here from Macchermo although we had expected it to take five. I felt really strong on the steep uphill climb but slow later on the level snow field along the lakes heading into Gokyo. We had been told by everyone we saw on the trail to stay at Cho-Oyu View Lodge because of the hostess and the food. Sure enough, when we rolled into town at noon we were shown to an upstairs sunny room for a quick nap and then headed down to the warm sunny dining room for fried potatoes with onion and garlic - our usual lunch. The dining room has spectacular views of Cho-Oyu as well as all the peaks around the lake. Large yaks stand outside the windows staring in at us and have to be shooed away because there horns can be dangerous. We can see the trail winding down from the pass on Gokyo Ri and every once in a while a group of trekkers or porters comes down the trail. This afternoon a trekker in a very bad way stumbled into Gokyo being supported by her guide. She looked completely out of it. If she came over the pass (not the way we came) then she may have come up from Namche at 11,000 feet to the pass at 16,000 feet in only 3 days. Not advisable. Mike and I reached agreement yesterday on what would be the conditions that would allow us to head up to Gokyo without a rest day today. Basically, both of us feeling well with no headaches.
There is one German woman
staying here in the lodge with us. She has been to Nepal 12 times in the
last 25 years. She has a guide with her and is not the most chatty
trekker we've encountered. I miss Ruth and Greg and Youki although we
can't really hope to see Greg and Ruth for another day at least. We keep
looking up the trail, though, even as the sun sets here in Gokyo. A new
altitude PR for both of us. 15,500 feet! Tomorrow if we make it to
the summit of Gokyo Ri we'll hit almost18,000 feet and head back to Gokyo to
spend the night at a lower elevation. After tomorrow, we won't have to
worry about altitude illness any more.
Monday, March 10 - Gokyo to Gokyo Ri - Well, we made it to the top of Gokyo Ri. I started out the morning at 6 am by using a squat toilet with the rinse water frozen in the water bucket. The water bottles on the window sill in our room were frozen solid. The only water that was liquid were the two Nalgene bottles I had slept with in my sleeping bag the night before. I quickly changed into my hiking clothes but by the time I crossed from the sleeping quarters to the dining room my fingers were already numb. I should have warmed them on my stomach while eating our porridge and black tea breakfast but as we set out on the trail to the peak a few minutes later I realized my fingers were already frost bitten and hurting a lot. After about 15 minutes of climbing in the sub-zero temperature I was in enough pain that I told Mike I needed to stop and warm my hands in my armpits. It was excruciatingly painful to thaw them out and the air temperature was freezing cold on the exposed face of the hillside. After about ten minutes, my fingers stopped hurting, and I put my gloves back on. The Gokyo Ri trail itself wasn't that difficult but the high elevation made it a step, breathe, step, breathe ordeal. There was a lot of snow on the trail so we often picked our own trail over the tussocks of grass, dirt, stone, and yak dung that covered the steep hillside. I stopped every 15 minutes or so to sit and just look at the amazing view unfolding before us. Our lodge on the edge of the lake was visible for the entire climb and it just got smaller and smaller as we ascended 2,400 vertical feet. The huge Ngozumba Glacier that fills the upper end of this valley became visible. It is an incredibly huge swath of grey glacial debris and ice that leads down to the snow covered Gokyo Lakes. Eventually, we were able to identify Everest peeking over the nearby mountains and it became even more massive as we reached the prayer flag draped summit. We were alone on the summit and took a couple of photos. After only a few minutes on top, I headed down because I knew the downhill would be slow for me. Mike lingered and took a few more photos. The German father and son (who we had secretly ridiculed before because of their matching outfits) kindly congratulated me as we passed a few feet below the summit. When they reached the summit, Mike was still there and be witnessed them break into tears and fall into each other's arms sobbing. I'll think twice before I make fun of anyone's trekking outfit ever again!
Olive and Charlie (our friends from Bupsa) just showed up in Gokyo and reported that Youki had just settled into the lodge next door to ours. We tried to persuade Olive and Charlie to stay here with us but they headed out to check out the other lodges. Mike and I are sitting in the sunlit dining room reading, writing and looking out at the Renjo La Pass trail hoping to see Ruth and Greg tonight. Fingers crossed. All else is good. GI tract back in order. Looking forward to 4 days of downhill to Lukla starting tomorrow and then - Kathmandu!
Youki showed up at about 4 pm and joined us in our warm dining room for some lemon tea. After looking out the window for hours to see if Greg and Ruth might appear on the trail over the pass, darkness started to fall. It was snowing hard and we had pretty much given up seeing them when all of a sudden, 5 people came trudging steadily out of the snowy darkness on the distant hillside trail. I threw on my jacket and gloves and ran down to the edge of the lake to greet them. Youki and Mike waited under the eaves of the lodge instead and of course Greg had to holler, "Yankee pussy!" at Mike when he got close enough. They were all completely exhausted. I gave Greg and Ruth each a quick kiss on the cheek because I didn't want to break their momentum and promised to come up to their lodge in about an hour after they had had time to warm up and settle in.
When Mike and I went to visit them, Greg told us they had been on the trail for 12 hours that day! The snow coming over the pass was so deep that the last part of the day was by far the most difficult. Their Ozzie friend Helen had hired a guide and porter so they had the support they needed to be safe but there literally was no choice but to go on to Gokyo once they got to the top of the pass no matter how exhausted and cold they were. When they finally got close to Gokyo their guide ran ahead to town and brought them back some hot tea. After visiting for an hour or so, we finally had to say goodbye and we gave Greg and Ruth warm hugs and kisses knowing we wouldn't see them again on this trip. But I have big plans to visit them in Melbourne very soon!
Tuesday, March 11 - Gokyo to Dhole - This morning Mike and I said goodbye to Youki and our wonderful hostess at the Cho Oyu View Lodge. The trek down to Dhole was spectacular. We were the first people to head downhill from Gokyo this morning and the trail was covered with a couple inches of fresh powder. The only footprints ahead of us were those of a mysterious trekking dog we had heard about. We never saw him but his footprints kept us company for most of the way down to Dhole. Finally after a couple of hours we started to see some trekkers coming up to Gokyo. They had lots of questions about the conditions up high, especially if they were thinking about crossing the passes at Renjo La or Cho La. We stayed at the same lodge in Dhole that we stayed at before. There was a beautiful girl there who was a solo trekker from Chile. She had a very young and inexperienced guide and porter. She seemed incredibly brave to me to be trekking without a companion.
Wednesday, March 12 - Dhole to Namche - Another clear beautiful morning. As we hiked back to Pasang Sherpa's Valley View Lodge in Namche where we had about ten pounds of our gear stashed, I mentioned to Mike that it felt like we were actually going home. Sure enough, when we got there, we had a warm reception from our host, hot showers and great food. There was a very nice young Ozzie couple staying here. She is a community organizer and he is a civil engineer and they are traveling for a year and looking for projects to work on. It is quite impressive how many young philanthropists there are out on the trails.
Thursday, March 13 - Namche to Phakding - This morning when we said goodbye to Pasang, he gave us prayer scarves. As we walked downhill from Namche the streets were dry and all the snow was gone. It was amazing how much more like spring it felt than it had one week ago. Again, I was amazed at how happy and healthy I felt first thing in the morning. I got off track early in the day when Mike went way ahead of me and I missed a sharp turnoff for the new suspension bridge. Fortunately, Mike saw me on the lower trail and yelled down to me so I went back up and got on the main trail again. I thanked him for looking out for me. After we crossed the bridge, we accidentally got on a lesser used trail and since Mike had gone far ahead of me again I was actually alone for about half an hour on a deserted trail feeling very worried that I was off track again. Finally, I rounded a bend to find Mike waiting for me at a stone bench.
Monday, March 10 - Gokyo to Gokyo Ri - Well, we made it to the top of Gokyo Ri. I started out the morning at 6 am by using a squat toilet with the rinse water frozen in the water bucket. The water bottles on the window sill in our room were frozen solid. The only water that was liquid were the two Nalgene bottles I had slept with in my sleeping bag the night before. I quickly changed into my hiking clothes but by the time I crossed from the sleeping quarters to the dining room my fingers were already numb. I should have warmed them on my stomach while eating our porridge and black tea breakfast but as we set out on the trail to the peak a few minutes later I realized my fingers were already frost bitten and hurting a lot. After about 15 minutes of climbing in the sub-zero temperature I was in enough pain that I told Mike I needed to stop and warm my hands in my armpits. It was excruciatingly painful to thaw them out and the air temperature was freezing cold on the exposed face of the hillside. After about ten minutes, my fingers stopped hurting, and I put my gloves back on. The Gokyo Ri trail itself wasn't that difficult but the high elevation made it a step, breathe, step, breathe ordeal. There was a lot of snow on the trail so we often picked our own trail over the tussocks of grass, dirt, stone, and yak dung that covered the steep hillside. I stopped every 15 minutes or so to sit and just look at the amazing view unfolding before us. Our lodge on the edge of the lake was visible for the entire climb and it just got smaller and smaller as we ascended 2,400 vertical feet. The huge Ngozumba Glacier that fills the upper end of this valley became visible. It is an incredibly huge swath of grey glacial debris and ice that leads down to the snow covered Gokyo Lakes. Eventually, we were able to identify Everest peeking over the nearby mountains and it became even more massive as we reached the prayer flag draped summit. We were alone on the summit and took a couple of photos. After only a few minutes on top, I headed down because I knew the downhill would be slow for me. Mike lingered and took a few more photos. The German father and son (who we had secretly ridiculed before because of their matching outfits) kindly congratulated me as we passed a few feet below the summit. When they reached the summit, Mike was still there and be witnessed them break into tears and fall into each other's arms sobbing. I'll think twice before I make fun of anyone's trekking outfit ever again!
Olive and Charlie (our friends from Bupsa) just showed up in Gokyo and reported that Youki had just settled into the lodge next door to ours. We tried to persuade Olive and Charlie to stay here with us but they headed out to check out the other lodges. Mike and I are sitting in the sunlit dining room reading, writing and looking out at the Renjo La Pass trail hoping to see Ruth and Greg tonight. Fingers crossed. All else is good. GI tract back in order. Looking forward to 4 days of downhill to Lukla starting tomorrow and then - Kathmandu!
Youki showed up at about 4 pm and joined us in our warm dining room for some lemon tea. After looking out the window for hours to see if Greg and Ruth might appear on the trail over the pass, darkness started to fall. It was snowing hard and we had pretty much given up seeing them when all of a sudden, 5 people came trudging steadily out of the snowy darkness on the distant hillside trail. I threw on my jacket and gloves and ran down to the edge of the lake to greet them. Youki and Mike waited under the eaves of the lodge instead and of course Greg had to holler, "Yankee pussy!" at Mike when he got close enough. They were all completely exhausted. I gave Greg and Ruth each a quick kiss on the cheek because I didn't want to break their momentum and promised to come up to their lodge in about an hour after they had had time to warm up and settle in.
When Mike and I went to visit them, Greg told us they had been on the trail for 12 hours that day! The snow coming over the pass was so deep that the last part of the day was by far the most difficult. Their Ozzie friend Helen had hired a guide and porter so they had the support they needed to be safe but there literally was no choice but to go on to Gokyo once they got to the top of the pass no matter how exhausted and cold they were. When they finally got close to Gokyo their guide ran ahead to town and brought them back some hot tea. After visiting for an hour or so, we finally had to say goodbye and we gave Greg and Ruth warm hugs and kisses knowing we wouldn't see them again on this trip. But I have big plans to visit them in Melbourne very soon!
Tuesday, March 11 - Gokyo to Dhole - This morning Mike and I said goodbye to Youki and our wonderful hostess at the Cho Oyu View Lodge. The trek down to Dhole was spectacular. We were the first people to head downhill from Gokyo this morning and the trail was covered with a couple inches of fresh powder. The only footprints ahead of us were those of a mysterious trekking dog we had heard about. We never saw him but his footprints kept us company for most of the way down to Dhole. Finally after a couple of hours we started to see some trekkers coming up to Gokyo. They had lots of questions about the conditions up high, especially if they were thinking about crossing the passes at Renjo La or Cho La. We stayed at the same lodge in Dhole that we stayed at before. There was a beautiful girl there who was a solo trekker from Chile. She had a very young and inexperienced guide and porter. She seemed incredibly brave to me to be trekking without a companion.
Wednesday, March 12 - Dhole to Namche - Another clear beautiful morning. As we hiked back to Pasang Sherpa's Valley View Lodge in Namche where we had about ten pounds of our gear stashed, I mentioned to Mike that it felt like we were actually going home. Sure enough, when we got there, we had a warm reception from our host, hot showers and great food. There was a very nice young Ozzie couple staying here. She is a community organizer and he is a civil engineer and they are traveling for a year and looking for projects to work on. It is quite impressive how many young philanthropists there are out on the trails.
Thursday, March 13 - Namche to Phakding - This morning when we said goodbye to Pasang, he gave us prayer scarves. As we walked downhill from Namche the streets were dry and all the snow was gone. It was amazing how much more like spring it felt than it had one week ago. Again, I was amazed at how happy and healthy I felt first thing in the morning. I got off track early in the day when Mike went way ahead of me and I missed a sharp turnoff for the new suspension bridge. Fortunately, Mike saw me on the lower trail and yelled down to me so I went back up and got on the main trail again. I thanked him for looking out for me. After we crossed the bridge, we accidentally got on a lesser used trail and since Mike had gone far ahead of me again I was actually alone for about half an hour on a deserted trail feeling very worried that I was off track again. Finally, I rounded a bend to find Mike waiting for me at a stone bench.
By afternoon, after 5 hours of downhill, my knees were very sore and I was exhausted. We found the lodge that Pasang had recommended in Phakding - Green Village. There were a few other trekkers in the dining room including a couple from Olympia, WA. The IMAX movie about the 1996 Ed Viesturs Mt. Everest climb was playing in the dining room.
Friday, March 14 - Phakding to Lukla - Mike and I set off for Lukla this morning. We had no trouble finding the turnoff this time and when we got into town we found the North Face Lodge that Pasang had recommended very easily. The entire lodge was freezing cold. I took a great hot shower but with wet hair I quickly began to freeze in the cold dining room as we waited for our food. The service was terrible and the food was just so-so. At about 6:30 pm, while we were having our dinner, 20 Lukla residents showed up for a city council meeting. It was pretty interesting to see Nepali democracy in action. Everyone kept their coats and hats on in the freezing dining room while the lodge hosts handed out cups of hot tea. I endured the worst night of the trip so far. Freezing temperatures, no extra blankets and dogs barking all night long.
Saturday, March 15 - Lukla to Kathmandu - We were instructed by our host to meet him upstairs in the dining room at 6 am to catch the early flight to Kathmandu. He served us tea and porridge and then walked us over to the nearby airport. Women and men had separate security lines with agents of the appropriate gender. My agent asked me my occupation and I said, "Retired mother." She laughed. Once we were through security we stood in a windowed room with about 50 other nervous passengers waiting for the planes from Kathmandu to land and then for it to be our turn to take the scary takeoff from the incredibly steep runway. There were only 7 passengers on our tiny plane and the flight attendant handed out cotton balls to all of us to stuff in our ears. The 30 minute flight and the takeoff were pretty spectacular. Our flight into Kathmandu when we first arrived was at night so we hadn't seen the Himalaya from the air. It is really hard to get a proper perspective of the size of the mountain range until you view it from the air. It fills the entire visible horizon with snow-capped peaks jutting up for the low green hills of Nepal.
We landed in Kathmandu at about 8 am and as we drove in a cart to the front of the terminal we saw a herd of scruffy looking monkeys running down one of the side streets. We grabbed the first cab we saw and $9 and 30 minutes later we were back at Nirvana Garden checking into our room. It feels great to be warm and clean again.
I was able to FaceTime with Rosie this morning after we got to our room. She heads out tomorrow on her spring break road trip to Santa Barbara with her UPS family of friends and I should be seeing Rosie and her whole crew in just a few days when they drive down to San Diego.
Sunday, March 16 - Kathmandu - Holi Festival - Every time I woke up during the night, I fantasized about coffee and croissants in bed. So, in the morning, Mike and I ordered room service and I stayed in bed until 9 am reading. Just when I started thinking I should really get out of bed and shop for gifts, we both realized that the celebration of Holi was in full swing. Young Nepalis were throwing water balloons full of colored dye off of the rooftops and it wasn't safe for anyone on the streets who didn't want to get splattered. We went down for late breakfast in the hotel garden at about 10 am and then we went back up to the room for more leisurely reading. All over the city we can hear yelling and cheering and celebrations. It is a really big deal here in Kathmandu and the noise may be going all night. We should be safe to go out and do some souvenir shopping tomorrow.
Monday, March 17 – Kathmandu
– Mike and I went out souvenir shopping and everywhere we turned we saw
Westerners with pink and orange hair. I
felt a little cowardly for not venturing out into the streets of Kathmandu
during the Holi festival but it was clear that Westerners were a target of the
colored dye and that I would have had to spend two days of international travel
with dye-stained hair and skin so I guess I have no regrets. We saw enough of the Holi festival from our
hotel balcony. We did run into our Colorado
friends from Namche – Laura and Mark.
They are both very blonde and their hair was bright pink. They said they were out and about during the
festival and it got very overwhelming at times.
Crowd surfing and pickpockets!
Mike and I fly home tonight and even though I know the trip home will be
grueling, I can’t wait to get started so I can get home. This whole trip has been a great adventure
but I am very homesick right now.
