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Published: December 6th 2008
Sept. 9 2008 DAY 1 Our guide picked us up at our hotel at the crack of dawn to head to airport in Kathmandu. It was chaos, organized in it's own Nepali fashion. There were bags of trekking gear everywhere and people with their own packs. They threw our bags onto a massive retro scale and onto a tiny little cart that went out to our plane. The planes have an estimated time of departure, we went between 6:30 and 7:00.
Once standing next to the plane for a few minutes and watched our bags get shoved into tiny compartments in the front and the back of the plane we hopped on and tried to sit on the left with hopes of seeing Everest as we flew in. It was a bit too overcast to see, but this tiny 18 passenger pane with two propellers was no question the smallest plane I've ever been on!
It was a great flight and landing in Lukla is something I won't forget! You come around the corner of a mountain and there is your runway, nestled into the side of the mountain- going up hill. Yes, we landed up hill. It
was the ride of a life time!
There were people pressed against the fence of the airport just hoping to get a porter job. That is where we found Shree, our porter for the next 15 days. He was from the area, with a new wife and a baby on the way!
So right after breakfast we left Lukla (2800m) and began our trek to Phakding (2646m). A good way to start- seeing as we were going downhill! It was about 10km and took around 2.5hours. Had to get used to the trekking boots, they kinda were making blisters on my heel (more info to come on this topic!)
Checked into our first tea house, Sam and I together because we were sharing a backpack- and clearly we didn't want a boy in our room!
Since we arrived so early we went for an afternoon walk down near the river, and then relaxed! We started our routine of early bedtimes too. 7:30pm is late enough!
Sept. 10. 2008 DAY 2 We left Phakding at 8:30 and every step was painful for me! Those blisters I'd gotten on the first day had actually been a
lot more serious than I'd thought! We had taped up my heels, but I couldn't even take a step, the skin of the blister had slid down so I had new exposed skin. My guide carried my boots and I wore his plastic thong sandals.
Yes, I trekked 15km, up 800m, breathing like an 85 year old woman with asthma, in plastic sandals. I kept thinking how I don't really enjoy hiking- why did I want to do this trek again? These feelings quickly passed in the next day- but Day 2 wasn't really good to me!
We arrived at Namche Bazar (3440m) pleasantly surprised by this huge town carved into the side of the mountain. It is the commercial centre for the region. There is a weekly Saturday Market that people from all around come to trade, buy and sell everything imaginable.
I was too exhausted to walk around the village, and our guide CB, let me call my grandfather on his cell phone. It was great to call home from the Himalayas!
Dale had gotten bitten or something when we were on our last train in India, and this spot on his neck was
now all infected and quite painful. In Kathmandu he went to a Natural Doctor and he suggested this plant we could find on the trek. CB found it easily, Tae Tae Pahtay and applied it to Dale's neck and it was healing before we knew it.
Sept. 11th, 2008 DAY 3 We went for an acclimatization hike to The Everest View Hotel- a 5 star hotel. It was a really tough, steep climb. Along the way there was the highest airstrip in the world where lots of helicopters land, mostly supplies but also people who don't want to trek up to the hotel. (lazy....)
Our first stop was the Sagarmatha Museum that had tonnes of great info on the region and the life of the Sherpa people. Had our first view of some snowy peaks! Exciting!
I changed my trekking mantra from "I hate hiking" to "I love mountains" and it really worked! I felt much better and enjoyed everyday from there on out!
It was not a race to the top, we really took our time. But at the top of the hill I thought I would be spectacular and sprint up the hill!
Took me about 5 minutes to recover from that one! Finally arrive at the hotel, and get a really expensive juice. Taxed 30%.
At the hotel a guy that we'd seen at the airport and trekking a long the way showed up with his gang. We had named him Hansel because of his flowing blonde hair and trim build. Turns out that he is the star of a Spanish Adventure TV programme. He summited Everest in 2006 and Lhotse in 2007. Plans to summit again from the Tibetan side in 2010. He was doing stuff in the Khumbu Valley then summiting some other mountain. He'll go to Canada next year to swim with the Beluga Whales and then into the Arctic. I was totally amazed by this guy! I'd never met anyone who'd summited Everest and never thought I would. Amazing.
For the route back from the hotel we went to a little town called Khumju for lunch. I had my first Yak meat. It was nice, just a bit greasy. Went back down to Namche Bazar a different route that was hard on my knees. I couldn't decide which I prefer- up and panting or down and
bad knees. Maybe flat is best.
I used the internet to let my mom know that I was still alive, but it was 14$/hr. I used 15 minutes! I couldn't afford anymore. Our guide taught us a Nepali card game and our porter kicked our butts. Dale still had what I liked to call Leprosy, but was slowly healing.
Sept. 12, 2008 DAY 4 I had the greatest hiking day of all! I really enjoyed going up hill! The first part was flat around the side of the mountain with amazing views of the valley and some peaks too.
After lunch I met my new friend the Nepalese/Indian with an Irish accent who I like to call Mountain Man. He has trekked almost every area of Nepal and India. He knows his stuff and was the organizer for their group. There was about 15 of them with HOPE- an organization to get kids off the streets in Calcutta. They were a mix of Indians and Irish folks. But Mountain Man was taking up the rear with this lady Sharon who is 54. She schooled me on pace! I wasn't huffing or puffing at
all! Each step was slow and we'd only take a tiny short break. I loved it.
We got to Tengboche (3860m) just before the rain started. Across from our guest house was the highest monastery. We met some really cool girls who were doing a guiding course and got to know the other group that were trekking with the same company as we were. It was the first place where there were actually some other people staying! Since we began trekking just before the busy season things were pretty quiet!
Sept. 13, 2008 DAY 5 Went to the monestary at 7am and watched the monks praying and chanting. So interesting to see and once they were finished one who spoke English really well talked to the group and gave us some info on life as a monk in the Himalayas.
After breakfast we were off to Dingboche (4400m). It was a pretty barren hike, because we were now above the tree line. There were lots of bushes and rocks.
At lunch we met our new Swedish friend, Christofer aka the Swedish Meatball. We trekked together for the rest of the day and arrived after 4.5
hours total for the day. Our hour and a half lunches make the day seem a lot longer!
Once at our guest house in Dingboche we had our first "Yak Shit fire". That stuff gives off some good heat! Also the other group from our company was at the same place, so now may be a good time to introduce them.
Aaron- the American lawyer who just wrote the BAR. Had been doing volunteer work for women's rights, writing a law regarding abortions in Kathmandu.
Elron- Canadian who is posted in Victoria with the Coast Guard.
Alex- her dad wrote the song Downtown for Petula Clark. Volunteer teacher in Chitwan. SHe is from the UK and a music engineer.
Peter- also a Brit, he didn't say a whole lot but was pretty funny when he did. He was volunteering with Alex.
Kimmy- she's from Toronto and had been a nanny in Australia for the last year. She has a film degree.
Stewart- a former mortgage advisor from Plymouth England, he plans to travel for the next few years.
and of course, Sweedish Meatball- he can't wait to learn how to surf and
the Khumbu Glacier
this is what we trekked on close to base camplay on a beach for the next year.
So from here on out we decided to trek together and be one group! We are all about the same age in our mid twenties and had a fantastic time together!
Sept. 14, 2008 DAY 6 This is another acclimatization day! I had been taking Diamox- to help with acclimatization and the making of red blood cells. I actually didn't get a headache for the entire trek and truly believe in this drug. Although it was strange when my hands and feet would tingle right after taking it!
For our day hike we went up the ridge right behind our hotel. It was an exhausting 600-700m straight up.
We definitely took our time, but seriously- it was all up hill.
Amazingly we reached the peak at 5100m, the highest any of us had been before. The peak was called Nangkartshang (5100m). It took a long time to get up and down though because of our constant slowness!
Unfortunately we couldn't see a damn thing from the peak, barely could see my hand infront of my face. We were in a cloud.
Had lunch once
we got back at 3pm and just hung around the hotel getting to know each other in the group.
Sept. 15, 2008 DAY 7 We left at 8:30 for Labuche (4910m) which was relatively flat at first. We crossed the sketchiest bridge of my life- two logs over the fast moving river. I guess after rainy season you have to replace the bridges, well some of them. But there were a few men who were there to help! They had ropes at least!
After lunch it was straight uphill- a huge rock valley that looked like it used to be a river. It got really cold, but i was the first of the group to reach the top! I was so happy that I was finally getting into the groove of trekking. Once at the top there were many chortons, like memorials for people who had died attempting the summit.
It was seriously starting to look like we were on the moon. No bushes, only rocks.
Had more "yak poo fires" at our hotel and some time for reading and writing in our journals!
Sept. 16, 2008 DAY 8 This is the day I like to call "Hell Day". Although, at the start, we were in a great mood! We'd seen some more peaks and had a relatively easy hike to Gorak Shep (5140m). Everyone was feeling well and were excited to get to higher elevation.
Our lunch took way too long at our guest house and we ended up leaving an hour later for Base Camp than planned. We left at 12:30, that was our first mistake. It was a really tedious walk through what seemed like a quarry then over the Khumbu Glacier that was covered in loose rock and was constant up and down. It honestly seemed like we would never get there and it wasn't getting any closer.
I was super tired at this point and was on the verge of tears because I just kept thinking of the equal 3 hours it would take us to get back to the hotel. We finally made it though and was really glad I got there.
We met the Korean Expedition Team who plan to summit in November. A few of them had already summited a few times before and I just don't understand
why you would climb Everest more than once.
The gave us some popcorn, swiss cheese and salt tea. It was so kind of them and they even offered us to stay in their tents for the night because not all of their team members had arrived yet. I used the really cool toilet tent that they had set up and can now say i've peed at EBC.
We snapped a few photos and had to hurry back before it got dark. It was 4:00 when we left. We took no breaks on the way back and were trying to move as quickly as possible on this rough terrain. Kimmy wasn't feeling well so she had gone ahead of us with her guide and Elron realized that she didn't have her jacket so he ran to catch up to her- which left him sick that night because the lack of oxygen.
We finally staggered back into the hotel right when it got dark at 6:30 looking like death. All the other groups in the lodge were looking at us so worried. I could only eat 5 bites of my spaghetti and couldn't even make sentences out of sheer
exhaustion. I was in bed by 7:15. 9 hours of trekking was hard with only 50%!o(MISSING)xygen.
Sept. 17, 2008 DAY 9 The group was up at 5am to leave for Kala Patthar (5545m). My breakfast was my first snickers bar of the trip. It was another straight up hike, fortunately we weren't carrying much, but it was a challenge to take a step and had to take a rest after every few minutes. I mean rest stops for photos...
We got soooo lucky this day- unbelievable view of Everest and all the other mountains surrounding! I still can't believe that I made it up to that elevation and that I was looking directly across at the tallest mountain in the world. Beautiful blue skies and snow capped mountains were all around and I was so happy!
I stayed about 15 minutes at the top before heading back down for breakfast.
We were then on to Pheriche (4270m), down 1000m. We felt so much better and had more ease of breath. Even though we were descending, it was still hard on the body and our trekking time for the day totaled another 8-9
hours.
We celebrated Alex's birthday, well her Nepalese birthday which is 11 days before her actual one! The guest house had made a delicious cake and we shared it with all the other trekkers.
Sept. 18, 2008 Day 10 Had a good start from Pheriche, and we decided not to do Chola Pass and over to Gokyo Lakes. Dale's cough had gotten really serious and needed rest and lower elevation. Also after two really rough days Sam and I just weren't up to it either. It was a good thing we had changed our plan because we heard from a couple that it had been closed due to bad conditions.
After lunch we went to a terrible monastary that was a waste of time! Just didn't compare to the one in Tengboche. When we left it started a light rain which lasted the entire 2.5 hours of our afternoon trek to Phortse (3810m). We totally got drenched but the hotel started up a nice wood and "yak poo fire" for us to try and dry our stuff.
They had a TV and DVD player so we watched National Geographics documentary on Everest and
Hanzel- the spanish adventure guy
i think his name is acutally Jose the IMAX movie on Everest too. We loved the NG one, so informative and interesting. I didn't like the IMAX one at all, thought it was too dumbed down.
The man who owned the guest house was a Head Climbing Sherpa that had been to Everest on 21 Expeditions and summited 6 times. He plans to go again in May and usually goes with American Teams. He also runs the Everest Marathon, from Base Camp to Namche Bazar every year. He was just amazing and we had so many questions for him.
Sept. 19, 2008 DAY 11 Our clothes were still wet but it was beautiful sunny morning so we hung some laundry outside. It was a really nice walk down to Namche Bazar, got to be back in the trees again. We had to go down to the river and then back up the mountain. Aaron and I killed this other hill and from there on out it was pretty flat.
We didn't stay in the same hotel in Namche but we guilted our guides into making sure we stay at the same hotel the other nights! We hung around though on the
streets of Namche and used the internet again and ate chocolate bars. We know how to have a wild time at 3440m.
At our guest house we met Mylinh and Thor from San Fransisco. They were a super cool couple who had done the Annapurna Mountain Range right before doing this trek. Had my first beer with my worst dinner of the trek, nasty lasagna.
Sept. 20 DAY 12 We were excited because it was market day in Namche! The locals come from all around! We went up the hill to get pushed around and see the things being sold. In the Sherpa Meat Store there were huge chunks of Yak meat hanging from hooks or just lying on the ground.
Later in the day we saw a guy carrying a huge shoulder blade of a yak uncovered in his basket going uphill to Namche.
It was a lot of downhill, but my knees were fine! We had lunch in Jorsalle, then on for another 2 hours. We ran into our guide'ss brother on the trail... so weird! He looks just like CB!
Arrived back in Phakding at about 4:30 and we
the group at base camp
with the Korean Expedition Team, planning to summit in November were all back together as a happy family in our hotel there. Stewart cracked open a bottle of Nepal's "finest" whiskey brand- Overcoat. We had many laughs... well mostly directed at Stewart!
Sept. 21 DAY 13 We left Phakding early to get to Lukla before 12:00 to adjust our plane tickets. We were hoping to leave a day early since we hadn't done the Cho La Pass. In my stupidity, early in the morning, I'd realized that I hadn't taken my Malaria pill from the night before and without thinking popped it into my mouth before I'd eaten. I felt instantly nauseous and was sitting outside next to a bush thinking I was going to puke at any moment. I got some chapati into me and I wasn't sick.
I had no energy for our easy 2.5 hour trek back to Lukla and found it quite a challenge because I hadn't eatten enough. Stewart had given me some glucose powder, so I was taking hits of that like a true sugar addict. We got to Lukla at 11:30 and had a disgusting pizza- the crust tasted like glue. I had a nap in the afternoon
for a couple of hours which I would later regret!
Sept. 22 DAY 14 I woke up at 3am, thanks to my nap. We went to the airport for 6am to check in and fingers crossed, get on a flight.
Only four flights came into Tenzing Hillary Airport that morning, and one of which was not ours. Most of the group got out on Yeti Airlines but 7 of the group still remained in Lukla waiting and hoping that the clouds would clear and our plane would land. We entertained ourselves by playing cards and acting silly in the airport.
Finally the flight was canceled at 12:00. Went back to the hotel to wait until the next day for our flight. I had the most expensive Yak Sizzler lunch, although I needed something better than a butter knife to cut it.
The remaining gang and I went to barter for Mars bars, Beer and Whiskey then drank it in the backroom of a shop while watching Animal Planet all afternoon. We missed the dinner we had planned in Kathmandu with the guides and the rest of the group, but we tried to make
the best of being stuck in the mountains.
We tried Roxy (a homebrew of disgustingness) the traditional Napalese alcohol. It is kinda like a rice wine that they make- and let me tell you- it smells like nothing I've ever smelled. The guides who were still with us, CB, Monis, and Santosh loved it... so at least someone drank it!
Sept. 23 DAY 15 We got on a flight! Second time around we went to the airport at 6am and the sky was clear. You can hear the plane coming but you can't see it because of the sloped runway. The plane comes around the corner at the top of the runway, where we see that it is a Sita plane. Everyone goes running for the tarmac to hop on the plane before the weather changes.
When we took off the woman next to me was crying and kinda freaking out. I try not to think of the worst when I'm in a plane, but she made me wonder, "Should I be freaking out too?" but then I thought, "no, these pilots do this everyday- it's totally safe."
It was definitely the scariest
take off I've ever been on because there is only one shot at a take off. You are rolling down the side of the mountain and the plane lifts off and we're in the air. From my window I could see so many villages and waterfalls coming out of no where. It is an unbelievable flight because you can see so much below.
Now, with all that said. On October 8, 2008 a Twin Ottor Yeti Airlines flight carrying 19 people crashed when attempting a landing at Lukla Airport, killing 18 of the people on board. This was only two weeks after our flight, and I can't believe that I had wanted the pilot to try and land when the weather wasn't ideal.
I also found out that one of the Nepalese aboard was Stewart and Hannah's guide Santosh. He was 20 years old and had been a guide for 5 years. I won't forget how patient he was with Hannah and taking the route slowly. The three of them trekked for 21 days together in September from Jiri to Base Camp. He was a fantastic guide and will truly be missed.
Overall this trek was a highlight of my travels. I saw unbelievable scenery, peaked at the tallest mountain in the world, trekked to 5545m, met amazing people and laughed a lot. I would totally recommend this adventure to anyone who is up to the challenge. It was not easy but so worth it.
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