Everest Base Camp Trek Diaries - Day 12

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Geo: 28.1107, 85.6824

During the night the snow had cleared, so it was good to know that we wouldn't be stuck in Tengbouche for the day. But again the night was cold. For some reason they put me in a room with three beds and there was a total of 15 trekkers plus the porters, guides and owners.
It was a Saturday, but when you trek for a extended time, the day doesn't matter, it's all the same. I realized also that it was exactly 3 weeks till my flight home from Delhi and i kept thinking about my last week in India by going to Varanasi and Agra (Taj Mahal). What a way to end my massive trip.
I got up, ate, semi cleaned myself and we were ready to hit the trail once again by 8am. Heading to Manju which was about 7 Hours away, with a stop in Namche for lunch. The trail heads straight downhill from Tengbouche for about 1.5hrs in which Krishna and myself zoomed down, taking a few shortcuts. The others took their time because of Chelsey's knee and also that Dustin wasn't feeling so well from last nights dinner.
As we were going down, locals were coming up, carrying massive piles of wood. One guy was carrying 16 pieces of timber, 2*4. These locals are amazing with the things they transport up the hills and the weight they endure. Krishna said that one load (2*4 length, maybe 15 pieces) costs about 2500Rs which is about $40, so it's not cheap. And the carrier would get about 1000Rs for transporting the timber from Namche to Lobuche, which is a long distance.
We reached the bottom of the hill and crossed the bridge. From the bridge it's straight back up the hill. As you head down from Tengbouche, you can't help notice the trail leading up the hill and knowing you have to go up to go down.
We walked through the pine trees which gave the typical outdoor smell, I felt relaxed and happy even though I was panting and sweating from the uphill struggle. Dustin struggled with his food poisoning and we stopped frequently for him to rest, but he persisted all the way to Namche where we had to stay the night instead of Manju cause there was no way that Dustin would be able to continue any further.
It was fine staying in Namche though, we could still trek to Lukla in 7 hours and most of it is downhill at the start and a little bit uphill at the end.
I am getting excited as each day passes about getting back to Kathmandu. Don't get me wrong, I love the trekking, Scenary and people, but after you havn't had a shower in 13 days, no clean clothes, sore body joints, cold nights and expensive food, suddenly Kathmandu, a busy, noisy and dirty city compared to the mountains, doesn't sound too bad.
Fortunately i will be heading to Pokhara so i can also do some smaller treks. Also just writing this daily diary has got me thinking of how much writing i will have to do and how many hours will be spent completing blogs, emails and facebook. I still have one Sikkim blog to finish, one Kathmandu blog to start and now 14 everest blogs, not to mention the countless hours to spend uploading the photos. But it will be all worth it and will be a good use of a rest day.
When we finally reached Namche, Dustin headed straight for bed, where as Chelsey and myself headed straight for the Menu. It had taken 5 hrs to get to Namche and we were starving.
A quick top up and we went to checkout the local market where people trek from uphill and downhill to sell mostly food and crops. But it had finished. We managed to get some oranges which was nice to have some fruit for the first time in weeks.
At this point i had run out of money and was lucky to be able to borrow some off Chelsey and Dustin to see me till Kathmandu and to tip Krishna. Krishna has been so amazing.
We found a street selling all kinds of items, like clothing, postcards, gloves etc. We hadn't noticed these shops when we were first in Namche, maybe they were closed before and as it is coming into high season maybe they have opened since we had left.
Within one hour I had bought and eaten 3 Mars bars. I know what a pig, but i have resisted the urge throughout and i couldn't fight my chocolate addiction forever.
We headed back to the lodge to rest, read and soak in some sun.
I met a couple at the lodge from Noosa, Australia who were on their way up. We had a nice chat before they both had a bucket shower. I thought. "Wow" a shower on day two, it's been 13 days since my last shower.
Dustin was feeling much better when it came to dinner time, so we sat around the fire stove and watched the wrestling and aljazeera news. It was nice to see the news and know what's happening on the outside for once. Then it was off to bed and for the first time on the trek i didn't use my sleeping bag. Only three blankets, but i was cold in the middle of the night.

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Comments

[Nicki]

hey =) hope you remember me from good old newcastle ;-)i just wanted to say i love your diaries! makes so much fun to read them!nearly feels like i?m making your experiences too! =)Have funLots of love