Trekking Part 2 - Tibetan Bread doesn't taste very good

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So here is Part 2...
So here is the itinerary of our trek for reference.
Day 1: Lukla (alt 2800m) to Phakding (alt. 2650m...note we LOST altitude the first day!)
Day 2. Phakding to Namche Bazar (alt. 3480m)
Day3: Aclimitization day in Namche...climbed up to Khumjung (3790m) and back down
Day 4: Namche to Tengboche (alt 3870)...this is where the Monestary was where we met the monks
Day 5: Tengboche to Dingboche (alt 4410m)
Day 6 & 7: rest days in Dingboche, aclimitization hike to Chukkung (alt 4600m) and back down to sleep
Day 8: Dingboche to Dughla (alt 4620 m)
Day 9: Dughla to Lobuche (alt 4930)
Day 10: Lobuche to Gorak Shep (alt. 5160m) then up to Mt. Kala Pattar in afternoon (alt 5600m) and back down
Day 11 (april 30): Gorak Shep to Everest Base camp (alt. 5345m) and back down to Pheriche (VERY long 10 1/2 hour day, we were exhausted!), we dropped over 1.1 km downwards in 1 day!
Day 12: Pheriche (alt 4240m) to Namche (another very long and tiring day...I cried because I was so tired...boo)
Day 13: Namche to Phakding
Day 14: Phakding to Lukla
Day 15 (may 4): fly back to Kathmandu for a much needed rest and shower!

I definately need to talk about Diamox...the medication we were taking to prevent altitude sickness. It has some crazy side effects, especially tingling and numbness in the hands, feet,and face! It was bizarre and we would faithfully take our Diamox (which works by increasing your bodies ability to uptake oxygen from the lungs I believe, because as you get higher of course there is less of it and it makes you have headaches, fatigue, difficulty catching your breath, and can actually die from it if you are suffering symptoms and don't decend). We were all feeling the effects of the altitude by about 4000m with headaches, Patrick was seeing starbursts, fatigue, difficulty catching your breath even at rest, etc. So we took it easy and took extra rest days, and extra days to get to basecamp to make sure none of us got seriously sick.

The interesting thing about the food along the trek was that the menus were practically identical but you could order exactly the same thing in 2 villages a few hours apart and get something completely different!!. Museli with hot milk being a popular and nourishing breakfast choice, and Sherpa Stew (broth with potatoes, pasta, carrots, onions) being also very filling for lunch. Spring rolls were something completely different from being something like we have at home, to being something totally unrecognizable as what we would call spring rolls. Tyler and Patrick stayed away from them after gettnig a bad batch and having to make some emergency breaks from the trail into the bushes...but for the most part we didn't get sick at all.

We all pumped and purified our own water which saved us a TON of money as a litre of bottled water could run as high as 400 nepalese rupees, or about $6.50. And since none of us got sick, it must've worked no problem.

In Tengboche there was a monastery and shortly after our second very long uphill climb (another 600m gain in 2 hours) Becky quickly befriended a very kind monk named Mingmar. We chatted for a while and he was sure a highlight for us. He spoke english fairly well, but VERY quickly and when we would ask him question often the answer was not at all related, so we weren't so sure on his comprehension skills! But nonetheless he was very kind to us. We went and sat in as the monks did their afternoon chants (prayers) which was very moving and calming and afterwards Mingmar invited us in for tea. He made us milk tea which was very good, but sweet (there are many kinds of awesome tea here and we have tried them all!). He gave us like 4 cups of tea and our bladders were going to burst but he kept filling them even when we gratefully declined another cup. He was very social and we asked him all kinds of questions about being a monk and his life. He was only 24 years old, and had been living at the monestary since the age of 12!! Can you imagine knowing your lifes calling at 12!! He also gave us blessings (a red string tied around our necks for luck on our trek) and silk scarfs as well for protection. He also gave us snacks, Tibetan bread and coconut. The Tibetan bread was not very good at all...deep fried as much of the food here is, and very tough to chew, but again being the attentive host he was, Mingmar kept on giving us more!! He showed us more of the monestary not permitted usually by visitors and invited us for morning prayers the next day at 6:30am. We didn't quite make it there in the am, but we did go back the next day and had lemon tea (again very sweet but tasty!) to say goodbye before we left for the next leg of our trek. He was definately a very special part of the experience.

A note here now on the Sherpa people. For those who are not aware the Sherpa poeple have been livign in the Himalayas for centuries in these very rugged and sparce environments. Many of the villages we stayed in exist solely for tourism and trekking. Lodges and restaurants which provide good money to the economy. Sherpas are not just people, they are super heros. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has to be brought in on foot by people or on yaks. These people haul up to 100kgs (yes kgs, not pounds) of stuff on their backs up these vastly steep and dangerous terrain. We were only carrying day packs and were huffing and puffing. These are truly amazing people. And we do it wearing expensive gear and hiking boots. Most Sherpa people are wearing at best worn out running shoes, or even flip flops. And they run down hill when they are not carrying anything...run...down these crazy steep and rocky paths. We met up with a group of researchers in Tengboche who were telling us there were studying the effects of altitude on Sherpa people and non-Sherpas. And they said thre were finding that Sherpa poeple have up to 3x times the amount of Aveoli in their lungs (air sacs to exchange oxygen) which explains why as we huff and puff up the side of these mountains they are unphazed by it....natural selection at its most apparent. But truly they are amazing, we started calling Pasan superman and he thought that was funny! There are no roads,no cars, only people, yaks, cows, horses, and donkeys...that is all we saw for 2 weeks.

Now about the yaks....they mostly all have bells so you can hear them coming but you better get outta the way. They are in no way vicious or dangerous,but their large pointy horns are a bit daunting but they are so docile a simple nudge will guide them away from you. But I did nearly get knocked off a cliff at one point so I learned quickly to move when the yaks were coming!! They were also good trail markers. As we got further up the mountain the trails were less apparent, but when all else failed I just followed the yak dung!!

Throughout the day we had to make sure we kept an extra layer in our day packs as when we would stop it would get cold quickly when we were sweaty. Often we would stop to put a layer on, or take one off. It became tiresome at times though.

We purchased prayer flags to take with us and put up on Kala Pattar. Prayer flags are everywhere and the Sherpa people are very superstitious and believe in luck and bad omens etc. We put prayer flags up to pray for those who have perished during the expeditions, and for those who are attempting. Prayer flags are everywhere along the way as are large rocks and sheets of slate/sandstone chiseld out in Nepalese symbols for luck. These were all along the path and you had to walk clockwise around them for luck. They were very intricate, I couldn't imagine the amount of work that went into them.

Electricity is either solar or hydro but is not reliable and often only turned on at night, if at all. our headlamps definately got good use especually for the night time trips outsdie to the toilet (basically a hole in the ground most times, at best flush toilets which usually didn't flush...etc!). Even here in Kathmandu the power may or may not work, it is kinda a best guess to see how long the lights will stay on for!

The liquid bandaid and moleskin became our good friends quickly as blisters developed for all of us. It kinda became ritual to cut a new piece of moleskin each night! Also as it got colder, we became accumstomed to sleeping with not only our clothes for the next day so that they weren't completely freezing cold in the am, but also our cameras and electronics so that the batteries were not affected by the frigid temperatures...that sleeping bag sure was full sometimes!!

As the days wore on and it got colder, less oxygen to breath, and we rose above the treeline and the wind really whipped it took not only strength of the body, but more importantly the mind and spirit to keep going. As we slugged along each day along the paths which were so rocky, that you had to stop and look up to enjoy some of the fantastic views we were privy too and remember where we were, and why we were doing it. I won't lie, sometimes I didn't think I could take another step. But somehow a lot of self talk and using the strength and prayers of everyone at home I made it up those mountains. Along the way my ipod definately helped to distract me from my heavy breathing, sweating, and light headedness. But I want to mention a few people in particular who helped me make it up that mountain. When I didn't feel I could take another step, I used some certain people to motivate me. My training buddies Erin Zalasky Blackburn and Desiree Saskiw. Erin our running mantra was modified a bit and I thought of you often as I slugged on the crazy steep uphills and remembered McNally hill! Dez...the Two Hills version of Everest somewhat pales in comparison to the real thing...but nonetheless I heard your voice and pictured you in front of me pulling me up the hill. To both of you...thank you for all your support!
At other times I actually had to dedicate some sections of the trail to people who I pictured walking beside me (I know it sounds crazy but it helped). There are steps up those trails for my parents, my siblings and brother in law, my nieces and nephews in heaven and in Red Deer, my grandparents, and special friends Arlene, Erin S., Di, Virg, Ryan, and Anelia in particular. But I relied on all your strength when my legs wouldn't go any more! So thanks a bunch! And of COURSE to my teamates of "Everest Base Camp 2008" Becky, Patrick, Tyler, Pasan, and Dowa who kept me going each day (espeically Becky, thanks babe for keeping my going and listening to my grumblings!!)

On that note...stay tuned for part 3 as this is getting long again!!

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Comments

[Cindy]

Trekking-Part 2
Carla, Carla, Carla! How do you manage to be so funny and inspiring all in the same note?! I am thoroughly loving to read about your awesome adventures (dung or no dung! :) Hee hee!) And the pictures seem like something out of a movie...I am still finding it hard to believe how much of life you are actually living right now! That is fantastic! The Sherpa people sound so unbelievable! The part about the extra Aveoli sacs blew my mind...how crazy! Now onto Part 3...