Well its been quite the journey but Kiersten and I are finally back in Kathmandu from our 34ish day trek through the Khumbu, Solu-Khumbu, and other high places. We successfully made it to Gokyo-Ri, over the Cho-La Pass, to Kala Pattar (at least Kiersten did, I was too busy dying of some bacterial disease), and to the summit of Island Peak. Unfortunately our trek was altered slightly due to bad weather, forcing us to flee from the Hinku valley and unable to climb Mera Peak. However the trek and climb was still an unforgettable experience and has made us want to spend far more of my time among the mountains.
Because our trek was so long and many events occurred along the way, I will not attempt to relate them to everyone all at once. Instead I will post about a few days at a time when the internet connection is strong and willing and I have nothing better to do.
The journey began with a flight from Kathmandu to the town of Lukla which has the dubious honor (at least according to some people) of hosting the most dangerous airport in the world. We were very lucky to make it onto the first flight out of Kathmandu (6am) on the day we left because people are often stranded for weeks in Kathmandu because of poor weather making it too dangerous to fly. The short 40ish minute flight was unreal and provided fantastic views of many peaks. As we neared Lukla you could look out plane windows to the side of valleys that rose high above the height the plane was flying. I've never really experienced anything like it. The landing was probably the most exciting part, as the run-way is only a few hundred meters long and slopes upwards. Right before we were about to smash into the concrete wall at the end of the runway our pilot took a hard right into a small parking area and we safetly disembarked. Right away we got some great views of 6000m peaks. It was great way to start the trip. The only shitty thing about the begining of the trip is that Kiersten got some sort of sickness the day before we left. She literally puked 30 seconds before getting onto the bus that took us to the airport.
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| A plane about to fly out of Lukla (not the runway angle) |
After a hearty breakfast of poridge, eggs, and chibata, we left Lukla to our first destination: Phakding (2610m) (awesome name eh?). It was a short walk and probably only took us 2 or 3hrs but it was a good way for the guide (Luke) to get a feel for the group as there would be significant hardship ahead.
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| On the way to Phakding |
Phakding was small and nice. It seemed like the primary source of revenue was from tourism and trekkers, just like most of the towns that sit along the Everest base camp trek. The food was good and we got some time to get to know the group after becaused we arrived fairly early. Kiersten still had the plague but was trying to find her way to recovery road via anti-biotics.
Day 2 we hiked up to Namche Bazar (3440m) where would spend three nights to aclimatize before heading higher. Two nights would have probably been sufficient but Luke wanted make sure everyone could make it up into the 6000m zones and didn't want to take any risks with altitude sickness. I can't remember how long it took but it was definitely 3hrs to Jorsale where we had lunch and we crossed a bunch of rivers. Even though we were still down fairly low we got some great views of some of the surrounding mountains. At one point along the way I ran into the porter who was carrying my gear (along with the gear of two other people). He was taking a break on the side of the trail so I gave the load a try. All I gotta say is I have mad respect for those guys. They can carry pretty much anything that shouldn't be humanly possible (see the dude with a fridge a few pics below). They work hard, drink hard, and will carry way too much for too little money while probably hungover.
Unfortunately along our way, one of the group members (Chris), fell violently ill and was forced to stay in one the small towns along the way. Fortunately some magic pills he took allowed him to recover quickly and he was able to join us in Namche the following day. He looked pretty grim at the time and was on the verge of losing conciousness so it was great that he managed to recover so fast.
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| Random horse on the way to Namche |
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| Probably Jorsale but maybe somewhere else |
After lunch we walked a little while more and then entered the Khumbu region. Upon entering we were greeted by the sign below. The rules were fairly easy to follow, however, number 5 was a challenge when we hit up Namche on the way back down (consuming an Irish car-bomb followed a few extra adult beverages isn't excessive is it?). After entering the park we started the climb to Namche where we were told was high enough for altitude to potentially be a problem. I was the only member of our group who couldn't take diamox due an allergy (a preventative drug for altitude issues) so I was interested to see how the altitude would treat me. I couldn't find any coca leaves in Kathmandu to use as a diamox alternative, and although cocaine was probably readily available, there is still a slight social stigma surrounding its use and I wanted to appear to be an upstanding young citizen among my fellow trekkers.
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| Yep, a fridge on a bridge carried by someone who is better at carrying things than you |
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| Some views while climbing to Namche. The mountains probably have names but I didn't remember them. |
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| Welcome to Namche Bazar where they make a mean apple turnover and Tibetans sell cheap pants (among other things) |
Day 3-4 were acclimatization days spent hiking around the different areas surround Namche and taking in the views. It turns out that I aclimatize well and altitude was not a problem. Kiersten, although having found recovery road, had still not made her way all the way down it, and was unable to join us on first alimatization hike. The hike was amazing and we got our first glimpse of Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. We ate lunch in Kumjung, a town located directly above Namche at 3800m. The town situated below a sacred peak that is banned for climbing. It also has a name that escapes me, and my map buried somewhere in my large sack right now.
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| Namche Bazar from above |
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| Mountain located directly across from Namche |
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| Aclimatization hike |
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| From left to right: Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam |
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| These maniacs were struggling down a hill with what appeared to be massive safe |
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| Heading back into Namche |
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| Lotsa Naks (female Yaks) wondering around |
On the second aclimatization day, Kiersten went on the hike I had done the previous day because she had fully recovered while I ended up doing some rock-climbing with a bunch of Nepalis and Aussies that were on their way to go climb Ama Dablam. Rock climbing 5.11 at 3600m or so proved much harder than sea level. I had to catch my breath for 10 minutes after the climb.
Anyways, that's it for now. We have loads more pictures and stories to tell and hopefully I'll get around to posting them soon. We head to Pokhara as soon as we can get our Indian visa's figured out to do another shorter trek in the Annapurna region. Life is good.
