Let the fun begin

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Phakding, Nepal

Altitude at beginning of trek (Lukla): 2,860 meters / 9,380 feet

4:20 am - Ryan wakes up
4:25 am - hotel wakeup call
4:30 am - watch alarm goes off
4:31 am - both of us roll out of bed
4:40 am - backup watch alarm goes off
4:45 am - downstairs and ready to go

After only a few hours of sleep - about eight total for me over two nights - we managed to head off to the airport on time (as we should have with three alarms set), though we were certainly dragging. What’s more, I actually could have gone back to sleep and got my first good night’s sleep since this trip began.

We caught a taxi to the airport and waited outside for about 15 minutes at the front of a lengthy line until it opened. Just inside the doors, we went through security, which is much less strict than in the United States. Water is allowed. Our hiking boots stayed on. I even walked through with a hat and sunglasses on. They frisked pretty much everybody and sent us on our way.

We weighed in - for the purpose of tracking our before and after weight on the trek - and I was a little surprised how much I weighed. Either I put on almost 20 pounds in a week or the scale is a bit off. Dave’s weight was very high, too. In any event, we should at least be able to check a comparison if we use that same scale.

On our way out to the flight we went through baggage screening - separated by sex - and then towards a doorway in a separate area that showed “Gents” on one side and “Ladies” on another. I stopped to wait outside since I didn’t need to go. I then discovered this was how we would get to the plane, with me and women separated in case additional inspection was needed.

We caught a small shuttle to the plane, passing by a few helicopters, including one marked as belonging to the UN and another one with green paint, a red star and a very Russian design. It looked like a Soviet chopper straight out of a James Bond movie. Past the choppers were all the parked planes. Most were prop planes and some were pretty tiny. We joked about taking the smallest one which of course turned out to be ours.

This plane was marginally larger than the second one from which I jumped. It did move fairly quick as we made the trip to Lukla in about 45 minutes. Along the way we traveled through mostly overcast skies until we began our descent through a mountain range. The landing was rough but no one noticed as the picturesque mountains mesmerized us.

Once we got to Lukla and left the tiny airport we walked for a few minutes to a small hotel where we grabbed breakfast. I had chipati (a flat bread that looks something like naan) with peanut butter while Dave dined on vegetable momos. We both had milk tea and each of us had no problem claiming this is the best tea we’ve had, by far.

While we dined Ram talked a bit about his background. He, like most guides, started as a porter and worked in that capacity for about seven years. He started out 29 years ago in 1981, the same year both Dave and I were born. After that he worked in various capacities, including as a cook on tent treks and then an assistant guide before becoming a full time guide.

We also talked about how he came to be our guide. Jeff, who I met in Berlin, and I got to talking one night about trekking and I found out he had done a trek to base camp. Dave and I had talked about a similar trek numerous times before then. Jeff was the first person I met who had done this trek. We kept in touch and he referred me to Third Pole Treks and told me to make sure I request Ram for my guide.

Ram added that Jeff and Luke, who I think is Jeff’s brother, were also referred to him. Some time before he guided Jeff and Luke, he had guided a group of three Canadian girls. The girls had started off on a 21 day trek with a different guide who must have been more concerned with supporting his whiskey drinking habit than he was with doing his job. They met Ram about a week into the trek and hired him as a replacement for the final 14 days. They then recommended Ram to Jeff and Luke. So it appears that Dave and I are generation three in this recommendation tree. So far, Ram has been excellent through this first day, giving us no reason not to recommend him to generation four.

Hari is much quieter than Ram. He appears to be a bit older than us and doesn’t say a whole lot, but he is able to converse in basic English. He communicates more non-verbally, especially through his boyish smile. He also has atypical trekking gear, including jeans and K Swiss sneakers. He has portered for a few years but this will be his first time trekking to Kalapattar and Everest Base Camp.

After breakfast, we got Hari geared up, requiring a couple new ropes and a special rope with a headband that would be used to place some of the stress from the load on Hari’s neck. We asked if we had too much in our bags that he would carry and it sounded like they were a little heavier than usual. Tomorrow we will have to see if we can take on some more weight in our daypacks to lighten his load.

We commenced our trek by spinning a number of wheels - large and small - for good luck on our adventure. We set out just before nine on what we expected to be around a three hour walk to Phakding, where we would spend the night. Most of the trek we rolled up and down but netted a descent of about 60 meters. We walked exclusively on a path consisting mostly of rocky terrain, as well as a few rickety suspension bridges. Every so often we would have to dodge other trekkers and porters, as well as yaks, donkeys and horses that were transporting large quantities of gear and merchandise. We kept a fairly slow pace, having to be disciplined not to overexert or rise too quickly at altitude.

The scenery was beautiful, comprised mainly of alpine covered hills that fell into the winding grey rivers below, all beneath a vibrant blue sky. Well off in the distance were a few snow capped peaks of the Himalayas that every so often peaked through their cloud cover.

Along the way we talked - about our trek and scenery; about Ram’s three kids, one of whom is 17 years old and is looking to study in US for physics and chemistry; about some of the other treks; about the lack of fish in the rivers below - and joked about Ram’s consumption of whiskey and cigarettes when he‘s not at altitude (this seems to be a common local theme) and a bed that was capsized on some river rocks that was actually where Dave would spend the night, later leading to my shelter being in a small cave..

We reached Phakding by 11:30, after less than three hours of walking, Today’s trek was a nice warmup for what’s to come. At first I was mildly short of breath, needing a deep breath every few minutes probably because of the altitude, but by the end of the day I felt fine. I think the only reason I didn’t feel 100% was because of being so tired. The last few nights have been rough; I’m looking forward to getting some sleep tonight.

We grabbed lunch at our tea house in Phakding. Since we had been warned about meat while on the trek we went with fried noodles. As our food was being prepared, we checked in and went up to our room. It is much nicer than expected, with a lodge feel. There are two single beds, the room has electric and across the hall are a sink and two real toilets but they are BYOTP.

After lunch, we took a stroll down to the nearby river. Along the way we passed a massive heap of trash, which appeared to be the local garbage dump. I'm by no means a tree hugger but this seemed absurdly unnecessary. One of the biggest items in the dump were bottles used for water. The problem is the tap water is unsafe to drink without purification or boiling and then the addition of iodine tablets so bottled water becomes a much more convenient option. There clearly isn't any formal recycling as the town is so far removed and even reusing the bottles would be difficult as there would be no way for the consumer to tell if the water was properly treated or not. This, of course, led to a problem solving conversation between me and Dave.

The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed our down time. I stayed in our room to read, write and relax while Dave went downstairs and read and shot pool. While I was in the room I could overhear techno dance music from outside. I just can’t get away from it - even in one of the remotest of places. After a couple hours I went downstairs to join Dave, where we shot some pool against one another and then against some of the locals. Following our terrible pool play, which was much worse than the competition, we played card games - a bastardized form of rummy since neither of us could remember all the rules and war - in the dining area.

We wrapped up war when dinner came. Tonight we both dined on dal bhat, the dish that Ram and Hari eat exclusively while trekking. It’s a very basic dish consisting or white rice, potatoes, carrots and spinach with a soupy sauce on the side. The staff generally comes around with seconds so no one leaves hungry, though, if they’re like me, they could go for some more flavor. It wasn’t bad; it’s just blah - which is good for trekking so no one ends up with stomach issues on the trail. We washed our dinner down with some more delicious milk tea.

After dinner, I wrote a bit more and did some reading while Dave read. At one point Dave grew sick of the moths in the room and began swatting at them. I thought he was gonna pull a David Spayd and suck them up with a vacuum like in Tommy Boy.

A bit later, Dave went to use the bathroom. While he was out I could hear the guy from the room next door groaning loudly as he puked his guts out. I felt pretty bad for him, thinking he must either be suffering from altitude sickness or some form of food poisoning. This is not the place you want to be sick. Later Dave came back and was laughing hysterically as he heard the colorful sounds, too.

As rain poured outside again - it seems to mostly rain at night here - we headed off to bed and were each asleep around 9:00.

Altitude at end of day: 2,800 meters / 9,184 feet

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Photos

Room
Our room at the tea house.

At the airport
Waiting to catch our flight. The stands in the background are the equivalent of check-in counters at normal airports.

Plane
Our plane looked a but shoddy but it did its job.

Edgy
Dave wasn't too sure about the plane.

Views
With the wings above us we saw some spectacular views on our descent into Lukla.

Spin the wheel
Dave spins the big wheel for good luck.

Peak
One of the peaks in the area. Apparently this peak's altitude is about the same as Everest Base Camp. We have our work cut out for us.

Hari
Hari, our porter, carries a lot of gear.

Yaks
Yaks are commonly used to haul large amounts of cargo. These are crossing a suspension bridge.

River
Down by the river when we went on a brief walk after lunch.

Pool
Shooting pool at the tea house.