Advertisement
Published: December 31st 2016
Edit Blog Post
We were in our lodge at Namche Bazaar (11,300 ft). Tea was served at six in the morning and breakfast was ready by seven. Before heading out from Kathmandu, our organizer Mingma had advised us not to take a shower on the way. You obviously don’t want to risk falling sick on a trek like this and would take any such advice very seriously. Also, it’s not easy to take a shower when you are on high elevations. We did spent the night at a lodge in Namche but during a major part of the trip, we were going to sleep outside in tents, without access to any proper washrooms. Secondly, water is not easy to come by in such places, so it’s better to use them for drinking and cooking.
It was cold, at eight o’clock, when we started our hike. The plan was to hike all the way up to Phortse Village (12,500 ft).
After walking for a while, for the first time on the trek, the sun came out. It suddenly increased my enthusiasm and brought a spring in my steps. But that happiness was short lived as the clouds came out again.
I would
talk to the Sherpas every once in a while, trying to get an insight into their lives. I realised that in many aspects, Nepal is just like India. I got to know that though Mt. Everest is sacred for many Sherpas, not everyone wants to become a guide for Everest climbers. It takes a lot of money and training to become one. Becoming a guide for any of the treks is easier. Trekkers may go on these expeditions for different reasons – some do it as a pure physical challenge, some do it for fun, while some others do it because they want to lose themselves in the place and forget something from back home. But for the Sherpas, it’s all they know, their entire lives revolve around these mountains.
We stopped for a short water break and could see Mt.Khumbila from where we were. No one is supposed to climb this mountain, as it’s considered really sacred by the local people. We also met other trekkers from other groups – people from all over the world, all the way from North America to Oceania.
When we stopped for lunch, we could have viewed the Thamserku Mountain but
we weren’t able to due to the clouds. Then, we descended a bit and crossed the Dudh Kosi River and then started to ascend across a birch and rhododendron forest. It was off season and I couldn’t see any flowers. It was very foggy and I realized that my jacket was moist due to the condensation. After crossing the forest, we reached the Phortse Tenga village. We had to ascend for around thirty minutes more before we reached our camping area.
The next day was beautiful and easy. We enjoyed a leisurely half-day ascent to Pangboche during the morning hours, gaining only around 400 feet, walking over three miles in three to four hours. The evening was free for us to enjoy. Some played cards, some listened to music, some did some writing and the others slept in their tents.
By now, I had grown a little tired of the bland food that the Nepali crew was preparing for the trekkers. I spoke to one of the guys and asked him, if I could get to eat something that’s more traditional. He was happy to help me out. Later that evening, I was treated to some nice Nepali
food (some daal-bhaat (rice and lentils), sabji (vegetables) and fish - it was the same food that the crew had prepared for themselves, the spice level was more suitable to my palate). I ate with my hands and even asked for some green chilies (hot peppers). One of the trekkers commented “This guy was really born and raised in India”.
The next day, we had the same early morning ritual, a bowl of hot water to wash up, hot tea and then breakfast. The previous night was cold and the morning was foggy. The destination for the day was Dingboche (14,400 ft). It was going to be a slightly challenging walk, so I made sure that I had a lot of bread, porridge and eggs (although I don’t like two of these three things).
The trails were exposed and risky. I could still see trees all over the mountains. With the beautiful views in sight, it was very important not to lose focus from the track. One loose step, one careless move and it would have been dangerous. As I kept going, I got separated from the group. Most of the trekkers were way ahead of me and
a few were behind me. There was one guide, right in the front and one right at the end. I was all alone, viewing the wilderness as far as I could. Walking alone, I started thinking about the enormousness of the endeavor that I had undertaken. All the anticipation building up to this trek. And all the hard work that went into the planning and the preparation for this trek. All those nights when I had to work late, but still went to the gym and sweated it out. All of that which made this trip possible.
The skies cleared up and I could see all the mountains around me. The one that really stood out was the Ama Dablam (22.3 k ft). I could also see helicopters (either tourist or rescue helicopters) flying way below me across the valley – which really told me something about the kind of elevation that I was at.
Every now and then, yaks or jopkyos would walk by with heavy bags on their backs and we would have to step to the side to let them pass by. We found different shops selling yak milk or tea prepared with yak milk.
Our head guide said “This is wrong. Yak is a boy, it cannot give milk”. When I asked him, he told me that the female of the species is called ‘nak’.
We reached Dingboche a few hours later. It was very bright and sunny outside. While we were halfway through our lunch, the head guide suddenly shouted “Come out now, see Everest”. We left our meals midway and rushed outside at once.
There it was, Mt. Everest. It was very far from where we were, but it was our first view of the Everest nonetheless. We spent a lot of time, looking at it and taking pictures. No one wanted to get back inside.
After lunch, we went higher up, to let our bodies acclimatize. We tried to visit a local monastery, only to find it closed. So we went to a local primary school instead. There was a basketball court and classrooms adjacent. What a wonderful feeling it must be to play there, with the Everest and all the mountains in plain view.
We went back, all the way down. Sunglasses were really important as the sun was shining really bright. But a couple of
hours later, when the sun had set, the weather changed drastically. It became very foggy and I felt as if it was below freezing. The walk from the tent to the dining area and was a slow and difficult one.
Later in the night, while I was all tucked in my sleeping bag, there was some grunting sound outside that woke me up. I could also hear some bells. I was curious to find out what was happening. I got up, opened the first flap, then the second one, to look out. To my surprise I found all the jopkyos from the nearby shed were roaming around freely. Perhaps, the door to the shed was not tied properly. There was a jopkyo right in front our tent that was looking back at me, as if trying to ask me, what I was doing there in his yard. I quietly closed the tent and went back to sleep.
Next morning I came to know that the herders had gotten up and escorted the animals back to their shed. This was another important acclimatization day for us. To this point we had ascended over 5000ft, and before sleeping any higher,
we were going to hike high for the day and descend to sleep low for one more night. We ascended around 1500ft and saw Mt. Makalu, the fifth highest peak in the world, before heading back to Dingboche.
This was my ninth day in this beautiful country. I had enjoyed every bit of it so far and was looking forward to the next few days. I was close to my destination - climbing Kala Patthar and seeing Mt. Everest.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0615s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb