In the shadow of Everest
Trip Start
May 02, 2009
1
8
13
Trip End
Dec 03, 2009
Lukla,
Nepal
Sunday, June 21, 2009
You've probably noticed that we haven’t updated you for a while, that’s because we have been trekking for 2 weeks for a total of 132km (82 miles) in the Himalayas. The photos in this entry are out of order sorry - we have spent 3 hours trying to do this so in the end we can't be bothered to fiddle with them.
We booked the trek with GAP Adventures before we left so on Sunday (7th June) we moved in to the hotel included for the first night of our tour. In the evening we met our group – quite a mixed group, 14 of us with ages 21 to 32 from Scotland, England, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Sweden and us from Wales of course!!
We went back to the guesthouse we had been staying at before for tea with John and Jess – a couple from Leeds
Andrew's fav toilet
. Then we packed the bags we had been given by the tour leader and got an early night – well 11.30pm.The next morning we woke up at 4am (!!) and quickly had our last shower before meeting the others and getting on our bus to the airport. Kathmandu domestic airport is very basic and has one little café – which proved useful later – but the security is very thorough and the frisking lady was quite scary! Still, she managed to miss the pair of scissors that I had forgotten to take out of my hand luggage, luckily!! We had arrived early only to find out that our flight was delayed by an hour because of rain at our destination, Lukla, where we were to start the trek. Apparently it has to be perfectly clear for the pilot to be able to see the runway for landing. Anyway, an hour didnt seem too long to wait, except that it turned into 5 hours. Luckily the people at the cafe didn't seem to mind too much that 14 people decended to have breakfast, at least for the first 3 hours. Eventually we were rushed outside and bundled onto the plane - it seems like we had to leave as soon as possible. 16 (group + 2 guides) of us got into the tiny propellor (twin otter) plane and then we were off. I have to admit that I had my eyes closed for the majority of the flight, especially coming in to land at Lukla - an extremely short runway on the side of the mountain with one end 60m higher than the other with a solid wall of rock in case the pilot cant brake in time! Lukla is at 2,827m and we had breakfast there before trekking 3 hours to Phakding where we spent our first night. The walk was beautiful and we passed through little villages and over metal suspension footbridges with rivers far below.The weather was warm and sunny and the views of corn and potato fields were lovely. Our guesthouse in Phakding was comfortable in a nice location on the side of a river and with yaks and horses in the garden - one of which had a crazy 5 minutes swinging around a plank of wood!
Yak loaded and ready
!The following day was a relatively easy day with two hours of 'Nepali flat' trekking following the Dudh Kosi river and crossing more bridges before lunch. After lunch we had a climb of 400m up through pine forests which we took really slowly and arrived in Namche Bazar (3,440m) after 2 hours. I treated myself to a hot shower which cost more than my dinner, but I felt that it was definately worth it. Andrew decided to man it out and went for a free cold bucket wash outside instead! The day after was a rest day for acclimatisation, so we just walked up 350m where we got our first glimpse of Lhotse (5516m) + Everest, before a cloud swallowed it up again. In the afternoon we had a little walk around Namche before an afternoon of playing cards and backgammon.
On day 4 of trekking we walked 5 hours from Namche Bazar to Tengboche. We had some lovely views and sunny weather. Before lunch was fairly flat but after was a climb of 600m, which we felt a little due to the altitude. I put my I-pod on and got to Tengboche relatively easily with the help of the Foo Fighters! Tengboche (at 3867m) was really peaceful with a large monastry and a handful of small teahouses. Our teahouse had a lovely common room with a wood burner in the middle, so we all sat in there for warmth and to play cards.
In the morning we woke up early and trekked mostly downhill for three hours through Rhodedendron forest, dodging Yaks on the way. After lunch we had a gradual uphill hike upstream of the river. We arrived in Dingboche (4410m) fairly early, and Andrew and I managed to share a hot bucket shower for just 300 rupees (2 pounds 40 pence)
Breakfast
. In the evening we all crowded round the fire fuelled by sundried yak poo and I washed my clothes in a bowl of freezing cold water and shampoo before hanging them out to dry in 2 degrees celcius overnight!! A 'rest day' on day 6 included a 250m vertical hike up in the cloud to 4,660m where we sat shivering for half an hour to acclimatise before returning down to Dingboche with an afternoon to kill, Andrew and I took a walk around 'town' and bought a mars bar to share from the 'shop'!! Dingboche was a lovely peaceful town with horses and yaks with bells around their necks wandering around between the stone tea houses and people farming potatoes in the fields. We both started to get headaches from the altitude which the hot chocolate helped to shift a little bit but still we had an early night.On day 7 we woke up to the most amazing views of the snowy mountains all around. Considering it is monsoon season it hadn't yet rained once and this day the sky was an amazing clear blue. Soon after we started walking the clouds rolled in and the mountains disappeared again. After about 30 minutes of walking through the valley the clouds lifted and we had even more amazing views of AmaDablam (6856m) Khangtheka, Thamserku, Taboche and Cholatse. We stopped for lunch at the end of the Khumbu Glacier moraine with fantastic views, before a tough 300m climb with the altitude taking its toll
Doing laundry
. At the top we reached a site with many monuments for people that have died in the mountains over the years. I searched for the Hillary/Irvine monument but many of them were so weathered that you could not make out the writing. From there we trekked through a rocky valley and although we were walking slowly I was as breathless as if I was running. We reached Lobuche (4,900m) early on in the afternoon and needless to say spent the afternoon drinking hot chocolate and playing cards.Day 8 was the major day - Everest Base Camp day. The first 3 hours from Lobuche to Gorak Shep were difficult but do-able and we all felt confident. After lunch at 10am (!) we set off for base camp. To cut a very long story short I got hit by a serious case of altitude sickness 40 minutes away from away from base camp, and though I could see base camp, I had to turn back - so the photos are courtesy of Andrew. I am disappointed not to have made it but I 100% made the right decision to turn back - 3 people have already died this year trying to reach base camp and of 30,000 people who attempt it every year only 20,000 actually get there. Still, to have got so close after 8 days of trekking it was maddening to fall at the last hurdle. I somehow got back to Gorak Shep but I remember hardly anything except not being able to look up at the mountains because I was terrified. I stayed in the tea house recovering for 3 hours until the group came back and then the tour leader said that I could sleep for a few hours
Nia on her last legs
. When I woke up we had a nice end to the day as we were brushing our teeth outside, and saw Everest glowing bright orange as the sun was setting on it. The next moring I had recovered slightly but not enough to go with the rest of the group up Kalla Pattar (5545m). Andrew practically ran up ahead of the group as the altitude didn't affect him at all and he has taken some excellent photos of Everest and the valley below it at dawn. After they had got back we had breakfast and I forced down a few mouthfuls of porridge and then we set off on a 13km trek down to Pheriche, down the side of the glacier and through a beautiful glacial valley. As we got lower (Pheriche is 4252m compared to 5150m at Gorek Shep) I began to feel much better and by the evening after a hot shower, I felt almost normal again which was a big relief.
The following day was a long day - 16km of mostly steep downhill but with some tough uphills which I was struggling with a lot more than on the way up, and ended up having an asthma attack. I was probably still weak from the altitude sickness, and I pushed myself too hard to keep up with the group. Anyway, bar that slight mishap the walk was pleasant and we were still being lucky with the weather. Back at Namche Bazar we treated ourselves to a shandy and 15 mins on the internet - pure luxury
Panoramic from KP
! As we had covered so much ground getting to Namche we were able to get up at 9am the next day and have the morning to relax before a 3 hour trek back the way we had originally come downhill through forests and bridges over rivers to Monju. It is amazing how thick the air felt compared to 2000m higher and the vegetation makes a big difference. After arriving at Monju Andrew and I backtracked a few minutes and went for a wash in a small waterfall, which was cold but refreshing!
The next day was a four hour walk back to Lukla, where our bedroom overlooked the runway just to psyche us up for the flight the next day. We had a short walk around the town in the evening and bought some yak cheese from one of the shops, before a couple of beers in the evening to celebrate the end of the trek.
We woke up to thick cloud which meant the airport would be closed and so we braced ourselves for a three day wait in Lukla, but our luck held out and by half past eight the cloud had lifted, all of a sudden four planes came in from Kathmandu, a quick changeover and we were off while the weather was clear for takeoff. It was a bit scary how the plane had to pull right up against the back wall to get every inch of runway possible, and how the pilot had to swerve the mountain straight after taking off
Group at KP
! Still, we made it back to Kathmandu and had a nice farewell night out with the group last night. Today we are going to Bakatapur for three days before coming back for our flight to Thailand on the 24th.Hope you managed to stay awake, we did warn you it was going to be a long one this time.
We will write again from Thailand
love,
Nia and Andrew xxx
Comments
Wow!
Hi N & A!
Firstly congratulations to you both on doing so well! Nia, it must have been agonising to get so close to EBC but you are very clever to have made the right decision. Your photos are simply stunning. I'd really like to go there. Thank you so much for looking up Mallory & Irvine for me. Powerful place eh?
Hope you have a lovely last few days before Thailand and a whole new adventure awaits. Lucky things! Have a wonderful time.
Flash & Co