Blogs from Himalayas, Nepal, Asia - page 7

The guides use Kerosene as fuel to provide us with boiling water for night time water bottles, morning time bowl washes and day time safe drinking water. Whilst I am hugely appreciative of this essential service, the fact they were doing this directly under my bunk room last night was less than appreciated. Trying to sleep with the overwhelming smell of Kerosene was difficult, so I had to endure yet another night of fitfull sleep. There was little point in complaining – it was just part of the experience. Today was the first of the big trekking days, with a 4 hour trek to Namche Bazaar ahead of us, most of which was up very steep slopes. We criss-crossed over several suspension bridges which traversed the Dudh Koshi River. I should at this point give 3 ... read more

Despite being the first up this morning I am the last to be ready to leave for the start of todays trek, and keep my companions waiting for a minute or two. That is twice now that has happened and I promise myself to get better organised in the morning so it doesn’t happen again. I suspect having a room to myself means I have the luxury of spreading out all my stuff, which then necessitates putting it all back together in my various bags the next morning. The walk from Phakding to Monjo continued much as it had yesterday, through pine forests, dusty trails and with glimpses of distant snow capped peaks. This time, however, the gradient was definitely more uphill. On the journey we passed several impressive waterfalls, lots of donkeys that always kicked ... read more

I had run out of water at the top of this climb, and I suspect I was somewhat dehydrated given the headaches I was still having, which couldn’t have been altitude sickness as I was not high enough. I made a mental note that I needed to take more water each day on my treks. It was time to head back down through the forest and to our lodge. Given the steep descent I used my walking poles for the first time so far on this trek. They descent was manageable but the dusty trail gave me a slight cough, something our guide leader had forewarned us about and recommend we get some kind of face mask to avoid this being a persistent cough. I make a mental note to get one in Namche when we ... read more

My thoughts were broken by the gentle swaying of the bridge as three young porters with their empty wicker baskets began to traverse the bridge, and I guessed on their way to Lukla to restock with supplies for the journey back to some destination upstream. I wondered if they would pass me in the days to come, and concluded if they did I probably wouldn’t recognise them, nor them me. I greet them with a cheery “Namesty” as they pass and each in turn response with the same hearty greeting and beaming smiles that light up their dark faces. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, it lighted up the top of the peak Kongde Ri like a lighthouse beacon. More Nepalese people crossed over the bridge heading to wherever they needed to go to ... read more

Preparations for bed are no quick and easy thing anymore – they require pre-planning and some effort. Whilst day time temperatures are a nice 20c, nightime temps drop below freezing. The nightime temperatures will only get lower as we sleep at higher altitudes, with a highest nights sleep at Gorak Shep expected to be -8c or lower in the room. All water to drink from is provided by our porters and guides from boiled water. At dinner time I hand over my camelback water bag (now empty) and my two 500ml drinking bottles (also empty) to the porters, and they return them some 30 minutes later. I take these to my room, lay out my sleeping bag and insert the sleeping liner. The now very warm camelback and drinking bottles are placed in my sleeping bag ... read more