I'm going ahead to finish the last few days in one entry.
DAY 11
We are having breakfast at 6:30 am to leave by 7am. It is again going to be a very long day, as we are doing double stages on the way down. We will reach Namche Bazaar today which is about 20 km away with a lot of up and down during the trek. It is going to be a tough one we know. The sun is shining bright but there is no heat in its light and it is very cold even in the sun. The water outside is totally frozen due to night temperatures dipping down below zero I guess. We are going down to cross the river and then it is quite an uphill early in the morning. The water is white as anything and is flowing at enormous speed through the rocks producing thundering sound and great rapids. We are done with the steep climb and are on an open space with some more memorials. The trek goes through some villages here and the up and down continues as usual. We have seen a lot of trekkers going up today and faced a few road blocks due to Yaks and Buffalos. Now we are crossing the river yet another time to start our ascent to Tengboche and it is really killing us. I let all the groups go further to have the trek to myself and to enjoy the greenery and trees and we have come below the Tree line again and the vegetation and trees are bigger in size now. I am dragging myself towards Tengboche to have another view of the Everest from there. I feel lethargic as I'm extremely exhausted, we had hiked about 25 km yesterday to cover two stages and it is slightly less than that today but there are some grueling steeps on the way to Namche. The trek just crossed to river and it is now on my right hand side, there are trees and shrubs covering the trek. The temperature has increased now and I need to remove some layers including my thermals. As I am just by myself so I just went behind a tree to remove my thermal layers, now I am quite comfortable and light. However this has increased weight in my back pack. There is a small stream that has icy cold water flowing through it heading towards the river to join in.
I?m clicking some last photos of Everest from Tengboche and are going to descend sharply to the river far below as the trek goes all the way down for about 200-300 meters and then climbs more than that to reach Namche Bazar. We are having a break next to the river and are having some food also to gain some energy before starting the steep uphill visible behind the trees from where we are sitting. It is scary but there is no other choice and we have to take this trek anyhow. It has started to climb immediately after crossing the river. This part of the trek has too many stairs kind of rocks and those really take toll on our legs and stamina. It is taking forever to go up. Finally we have completed most of the difficult climb and now it?s much gentler. Here we see a Pheasant (the national bird of Nepal) not too far on the hill on our right hand side. This is going to make my day and I?m able to click some nice photos of this pretty bird. Then a little further down we see another one with different colors and I?m able to go so close to this bird, the distance between me and the bird could not be more than 5 feet when the bird realized and flew away.
It is almost evening now we have still not reached Namche though we could recall from our going up that it was not too far from here. We are entering our tea house when it is already dark, it was a grueling 11 hours hike for today and we covered some 22 kilometers in the mountains. Overall we lost about 3000 feet in altitude. It was quite a task.
Our tea house is fully booked and that?s where a senior guide would have made a difference. Ours is young chap and now we are in a limbo without any place to sleep. So much tired that we could not move around and now we need to go out and find another tea house for the night. No choice but this, so we are in the bazaar again looking for a shelter to stay. Finally found one.
We are sitting in the dining room of this place that we found and there is a club right across the small street and there is very loud music going on there. I?ve no idea what time they?ll shut it off as it is quite loud and annoying. I don?t feel hungry so I opted coming back to the room to refresh myself. This was the closest we could find another accommodation so we didn?t give much thought on the downsides of it. We have to prepare ourselves for tomorrows long day and I've to try and get some sleep.
DAY 12
My sun glasses broke yesterday so I?m buying a new pair of goggles before we start our trek from Namche to Phakding. First couple of hours is all downhill and then it is up and down as usual. We also said good bye to Everest from the last view point and clicked a few more pictures of the Beauty on the way. I?m not sure that I?ll be able to see it with my own eyes again.
We are coming across so many trekkers and Yaks today. I could imagine how busy the tea houses will be as the season is really heating up. I think the majority remained the non English speaking Europeans in these groups. Once we are down from the very steep trek we are crossing the river through the long hanging bridge. The trek is quite rough from here for some time. The river has become quite big now as many small streams have already joined this water body. It remains very white like milk. The trek crosses this river a few times before we reach Phakding. There are a few pretty villages on the way and the vegetation consists of the usual crops of cauliflowers, potatoes, Chinese spinach etc.
Everest base camp clicked while going up Kala Pathar
We are crossing the first of the two waterfalls that we saw on the way up. Water is flowing fast through these waterfalls and it creates a pond where these fall before joining the river flowing way down. The trek continues with a few road blocks and finally we make it to Phakding which is supposed to be our stop for today. However it is 2pm and we could continue to Lukla after our lunch. It is a gain of 200 meters ascent from here so it is going to be a long and tiring hike yet again. However we decided to take this option to have a couple of days spared and we could go to Chitwan National Park to see some animals and to enjoy the warm weather before we fly out of Nepal. Therefore after our lunch we continue to hike towards Lukla for the night stay. We already called and requested for our tickets to be adjusted for one day in advance.
This is the last leg of our trek and the last eight kilometers that we are going to hike to gain 200m. We are coming across a number of bulls and yaks carrying weight. There was a big land slide in the last earth quake in Nepal and that swept away a big part of one mountain damaging a big suspension bridge. We had to hike an extra hour on the way up but it is being temporarily fixed and we?ll be saved from an extra hike.
This broken bridge is quite long and is offering to see the real damage caused and to realize the power of nature. We are crossing a number of small villages while going to Lukla. The walk remains very slow as it?s been a number of hours since we started this morning and now it?s towards evening. We are hoping to make it before the dark as we are not carrying our head lamps in our day packs today. There are a lot of stairs to climb in today?s hike and I hate to climb the stairs and feel more comfortable on the hiking trails rather than stairs. We are passing a lot of streams, greenery and fields.
Weather is not as cold either and a shirt with a liner is good enough on the trek. I decided not to use the hiking stick either for today and am just walking without them. Those had become part of my body and I feel something?s missing today. I don?t forget to fill in my water bottle whenever I get a chance followed by two chlorine based drops to purify that, because every time I put these drops I have to wait for half an hour before I could drink my water. Water has been the most essential thing for us during the whole trip and this is the only thing that we kept having despite having problems eating or drinking anything. First few days we were extra careful and bought bottled water but then decided against it. The plastic bottles have a very heavy footprint on the environment and these are difficult to dispose off. I?ve been using my metal one liter bottle that I?ve been using the whole trip with the purifying drops with a slight compromise on taste.
As we are trying to get closer to Lukla it seems to be moving further away, as it has been 7 hours since we started this morning. The trek is going through lush valleys one after another. The streams are carrying crystal clear water down to the larger river snaking through the mountains. We are tired but making good progress to finish our hike and are excited to start the next adventure. It is getting dark now and we are in closer proximity of Lukla. But the remaining distance is all uphill therefore taking time to finish. The trek is not visible from far as it is totally covered with trees. The air is extremely fresh and we are breathing full to have as much as possible because tomorrow we?ll be back in the polluted city life.
Finally I could see the arch entrance to the village and am happy that we made it not too late in the dark. Our tea house is just next to the interesting airport of Lukla. It is just a slope that is called as runway and there a place to park four small twin otters. These planes carry 18 passengers, two pilots one hostess. From our room?s window we could see the planes landing and taking off.
Tonight is the night everyone coming back from the trek celebrates and gives tips to their staff including guides and porters. We are taking some rest in our room and our guide is arranging for our tickets for tomorrow morning flight. The room has three beds and it is completely wooden room with basic stuff in it. The window is the most prominent item as it is opening towards the airport. There is no flight at this time and we will be able to see landings and take offs starting early morning. That is the best time for the flights to come and go as weather gives better window starting early morning and all the flights come and go before 11am.
We?ve just finished paying to our porter and guide and they are extremely happy about it. Our porter just left after meeting us and our guide is efficiently taking order for the diner. There are other groups involved in similar sort of business. There are two big groups in our dining room and they are having a dance party with their staff with loud music. The dining room has a magical feeling and environment at this time. All the people going up have already gone to their rooms and the remaining are celebrating as they are done with their hike. Lukla is a place where most people stay on the way back there are hardly any people who stay while going up though. It is quite a vibrant small village with a row of shops selling everything trekkers need from water to jacket replicas, from groceries to hiking bags etc. Food is just ok and I could only eat a few bites but the Marinda has done the magic and I feel energetic. After we are done with tipping and our diner we are out in the bazaar that has only a couple of shops open now. It seems to be fairytale bazaar in a thin street on either side. It is full moon so there is a lot of moon light and everything is bright. There are a few snow capped mountains visible and the clouds are about to cover them. We are hoping that tomorrow morning there is no hiccup for our flight and the weather remains clear cause only then we?ll be able to go to Kathmandu to start the other leg of our trip. After a short walk we are going back and would like to have the last story telling session before we sleep. It?s chilly so we got into our cozy beds.
Switchbacks from Tengboche down to the river
DAY 13
As usual early start and the planes have already started to come and the landings are so amazing, the take offs are even better on this small strip leaving no room of error for the pilots. This is a small sloped down runway falling into the valley. The planes start with full throttle and just take off as they are hitting the last few feet of the strip. The valley depression help them to fly but then there is a bigger challenge to go steep to cross the mountain range not from there this point and the planes roar and climb to the left to cross the mountains and get into a mountain crack that is the lowest place to do so. After our breakfast we came to the airport and now we are making videos and taking pictures of the airport and the planes coming in and going out. This is very interesting to watch. Our luggage is already at the airport and we are standing there with a number of other tourists going to Kathmandu. Many flights have come and gone but we?ll be going in the last few flights as we have changed our flight and are taking a chance to go back today. Finally we make it to the plane door but are stopped there in a queue, and upon inquiry we got to know that the pilot has gone for breakfast. He is coming while using a toothpick I think straight towards the aeroplane and then we are also allowed to get in. This flight is amazing as we could see some amazing mountain views during flight. I?m making a video of the complete flight and now we are landing in Kathmandu.
Note:- I'm not covering the Chitwan Jungles trip in this blog and will cover it in another thread later sometime.
