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Published: August 14th 2006
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Rickety old bridge
Fortunately, we did not have to cross over this bridge. I took this photo from the new non-rickety bridge. After recovering from the post-Everest Marathon festivities, we continued to the Gokyo lakes area. Originally, we were going to cross the Cho La pass, but the Cho La pass would have taken us to an even higher altitude than Gorak Shep, which was not a good idea since I had problems with the altitude there. In addition, other trekkers and Nepali guides reported that the weather conditions were not good and that there might be snow in the pass. That settled the matter, and we decided to go back to Namche for the marathon and take the scenic route to Gokyo.
We left Namche with one other person. We met Jim in Dughla on the way down from Gorak Shep. Jim is an avid trekker from Santa Barbara, CA. In true Aussie tradition, Jim received a nickname, in his case, “Slick” for his smoothness with the ladies.
We stopped in Phortse Tenga (3,675 meters-12,060 feet) on the first night. This is a beautiful little village and I absolutely loved this place. Set along a river with waterfalls, forests, and mossy rocks, it has a peaceful, fairytale-like setting. It was great just to spend the evening chilling on the rocks
and watching the river flow past.
In Phortse Tenga, we ran into this crazy Chinese woman that we met in Dughla. I was hoping not to see her again, but of course we did. She kept trying to hit on her porters and they were very afraid of her. She attached herself to a Dutchman, German woman and Belgian girl. They didn’t know each other before they started trekking. Each started out alone, but they all met on the trail and combined their porters and guides into one very odd group.
Naturally, right when you leave Phortse Tenga, there is a really steep climb up a series of switchbacks. It’s a beautiful walk through the forest and the valley. There are many gorgeous waterfalls and the setting is really peaceful, especially since there are few hikers here. The water levels in the falls are high (almost spilling over the trail in some places) and there are quite a few flowers blooming. It doesn’t feel nearly as cold as the Everest side of the trail. Spring must have finally arrived or else I am becoming immune to the cold.
The next day, we hiked to Dole (pronounced Do-lay,
not like Dole pineapple) for lunch, a really cool village along the river. There were some gorgeous pink, yellow and white rhododendron trees blooming on the banks of the river. We had to cross the river, hop a rock fence and wander through a yak field to get to a teahouse open for lunch.
Most people stop in Dole (4,084 meters-13,400 feet) overnight because they need to acclimatize, but we continued to Machermo. That day, we ascended almost 800 meters, which is usually a recipe for disaster. However, since we had already hiked on the Everest side, we were already acclimatized to the altitude and able to ascend at a faster rate than trekkers who are starting in the Gokyo area.
Between Dole and Machermo, there are large boulders scattered over these fields, which were deposited by the receding glacier. It looks a lot like the Burren in Ireland. It’s not like the glacial areas near Gorak Shep, which are really desolate. Here, it’s still below the tree line, so everything is very green.
We stayed at a great teahouse (not treehouse!) in Machermo (4,470 meters-14,670 feet). Except for the artist who was painting these beautiful mandalas
and Tibetan Buddhist murals on the dining room walls, we were the only guests there. The trekking season is winding down and many teahouses closed on June 1. Unlike the Everest Base Camp trail, there are very few people on the Gokyo trail. It’s great to have such a beautiful place to ourselves.
We managed to get out of Machermo before the crazy Chinese woman made it there. We knew she was staying in Dole the night before. Fortunately, we passed her on the way down as she was coming up, and didn’t have to put up with her being in the same teahouse.
We weren’t planning to stay in Mongla on the way back down, but it would have been dark by the time we reached the next village. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of overnighting in Mongla, but it turned out to be very interesting. We crashed in a guesthouse which seemed to be the local hangout. There were a bunch of Nepalis drunk on the local firewater in the dining area, including “Snow Leopard Man.” He was a wildlife biologist who tracked snow leopards in the mountains. He was a bit loco and definitely
had the mad glint in his eye. He invited us to go with him, but I didn’t really want to run around out in the middle of nowhere with crazy “Snow Leopard Man.” I’m sure it would have been an interesting experience, but it might turn into something like “The Shining.”
On the way down, just below Mongla, something rather scary happened. I was hiking downhill and paying more attention to my conversation instead of where I was walking. The trail was a bit slippery because it rained early that morning, and I slipped and fell. I was very lucky there was a large boulder next to me. Otherwise, I probably would have fallen 20 meters (65 feet) below into a rushing river.
I got a couple of scrapes, but even managed to avoid falling in the piles of yak poo. I didn’t realize how serious it was at the time, but it could have been really bad. I was lucky that this and a touch of altitude sickness were the worst things that happened to me during such a long trek.
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