Nepal Trek Day Fourteen: Namche - Lukla

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

Today marked the final day of our trek -- well, at least the final day of actual trekking, anyway. Today we would walk from Namche all the way back to Lukla. Following breakfast, we hit the trail around 9a. The coolest sight of the day was spotting an impeyan pheasant - the brightly-plumaged national bird of Nepal. A second interesting sight of the day was watching porters carrying HUGE loads of empty plastic bottles up to a bottled-water facility in Namche -- particularly as they attempted to navigate the steep turn to get up on a suspension bridge. At one point, a few people helped to push one porter along as his giant load got caught in the rocks. Craziness! 

We stopped for lunch around 1p at the same lodge in Phakding where we had spent our first night. While the trail from Namche to Phakding had been mostly downhill, the trail to Lukla featured a slow slog upward. We finally arrived in Lukla around 4:45p. On our way back through town I took a photo of the Lukla "Starbucks" -- really just an Internet cafe, I think. (It was closed for the season.) We wound our way through town to our lodge for the evening, which was located near the airport. This evening our fully-furnished room featured a private bathroom with a hot shower! D opted to shower while I decided to hold off one more day until our arrival back in Kathmandu (the lack of towels and cold air being the deciding factor for me). 

During dinner, the lodge owner showed a vintage 1950s-era documentary about Edmund Hillary's expedition to summit Mt. Everest. All of my travails during our trek paled in comparison to what those porters and climbers faced!

{leaving Namche}

{impeyan pheasant - national bird of Nepal}

{last view of Mt Everest}

{porter loaded down with a huge load of water bottles}

{agrarian view on our back to Lukla}

{Lukla Starbucks -- not really}

{our lodge in Lukla}

Nepal Trek Day Thirteen: Debuche - Khumjung - Namche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

We made our breakfast order the previous evening, with the stipulation that we'd like to eat at 6:30a. Typically, we would order our meal in the morning, and then wait around in the cold (since the woodstove was usually not lit in the morning) until our food arrived. Given the cold mornings of late, we hoped that we would arrive just in time for our food. Alas, our food arrived in the dining room 15 minutes after we did. Luckily, we were bundled up in our down jackets, hats, and gloves anyway, so we didn't freeze too much.

After downing our breakfasts, we packed up our stuff, and headed back on the trail around 7:30a. Day thirteen featured two highlights: seeing several musk deer and even more exciting, seeing a purported yeti scalp! We had heard that the Khumjung Monastery was home to a yeti scalp, and we couldn't leave the area without seeing it for ourselves. Thus, we made a quick detour on our way to Namche with a stop in Khumjung to see the yeti scalp with our own eyes. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our morning hike took as back up to Tengboche, and we stopped for a moment at the monastery. After taking off our shoes and making a donation, we entered the monastery, and quietly walked around the sanctuary as the young monks completed their morning prayers. Soon after we were back on the trail, which included a lot of hiking down-down-down to the river, and then hiking back up-up-up the other side of the mountain. On our way down to the riverside, we were lucky enough to spot several musk deer. What cool-looking creatures! Both male and female deer have upper canines that extend out of their mouth and look like fangs. (If you look closely, you can kind of see them in the picture below.) Musk deer are often the target of poachers as their musk is used in a number of different Chinese and Korean traditional medicines.

After a long-haul of upward hiking, we made it to Khumjung around 11a. We stopped in at Bharat's friend's house, where his friend's wife served us black tea and offered to also cook us lunch. While she cooked, Bharat, D, and I headed over to the Khumjung Monastery to check out the yeti skull. After paying our 100 rupee donation, the lockbox was opened, and voila, the yeti skull! It was definitely an interesting sight to behold.

After eating lunch, we headed back on the trail to Namche, taking the roundabout way to get there, as I wanted a few last pictures of Mt Everest before we headed into town. Poor Bharat was tasked with taking a zillion photos of us. He was a good sport about it, though. After having my fill of Kodak moments, we headed down into Namche, arriving around 3p.

D and I dropped our stuff in our room, which this time featured its own private bathroom with sink and flush toilet. (Oh, how I had missed flush toilets! Though, I suppose my quads did get an excellent workout from all the squat toilets.) Our first priority was heading down into town to do a little souvenir shopping. We ended up purchasing a few yak bells (my favorite sound from the trek), a couple necklaces, and some prayer flags. After getting our fill of souvenir purchases, we headed to the Namche Bakery. During our first visit to the bakery, we decided that our return visit to Namche would include a "day of gluttony" at the bakery. I opted for a slice of chocolate cake while D got an apple strudel. We both sipped on espressos, too. For round two, D got a cup of coffee and I got a Sprite. Pretty delicious. As we were paying, D asked the shopkeeper if he knew where we could find a tokma, a T-shaped walking stick used by porters to rest on while carrying their heavy loads on their backs. The shopkeeper ended up taking us right to the tokma dealer, and D chose his favorite one from the bunch to purchase. Our purchases finally complete, we headed back up to our lodge for dinner.

One of the things that D and I immediately noticed about the Namche lodge was how bright it was compared to all the places we had recently stayed at. Given Namche's hydropower, the lodge was lit by a number of fluorescent lights, including ones in our room. Most lodges up at higher elevations had solar-powered or small LED lights that emitted little light, so being in such a bright place was a welcome change. Our day of gluttony continued with veggie cheese pizzas for each of us and a shared plate of "fingerchips." After listening to a few more podcasts of This American Life, D and I called it a night. Our stay in the Everest region was quickly coming to a close.

Here are a few pictures from day thirteen of our trek:

{me and D leaving Tengboche Monastery}

{morning light}

{more mountain views . . . and me}

 {musk deer}

 {save the musk deer!}

 {yeti skull/scalp in Khumjung}

{the story of the yeti skull}

{me and D with Mt Everest in the background}

{loving it}

{slice of chocolate cake in Namche}

{D enjoying an espresso}

Nepal Trek Day Four: Namche - Dole

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

1. Leaving Namche, 2. A view of the trail yet to come, 3. Donation to maintain EBC trekking trails, 4. D giving our donation and signing the book, 5. Along the trail, 6. Mountain view, 7. Along the trail, 8. Along the trail, 9. Along the trail, 10. Village view, 11. Along the trail, 12. Lunch menu, 13. View outside dining room window, 14. Cloud-shrouded mountains, 15. Along the trail, 16. Frozen waterfall, 17. Along the trail, 18. Moss-covered trees, 19. Moss up close, 20. Yak!, 21. Trail view, 22. Welcome to Dole, 23. Dole yak, 24. Dilip striking a pose, 25. Dole lodge dining room, 26. Squat toilet (slightly frozen), 27. Dole lodge room, 28. Foggy view, 29. Lodge menu, 30. Dusk

After a breakfast of lemon pancakes with honey for me and porridge with apples for D, we packed up our gear and were on the trail around 8a. Today was the first day that I really met my nemesis -- trails along steep ledges. I think it's not so much a fear of heights as it is a fear of falling. (Seems to me there's a difference there; I don't particularly mind being somewhere high so long as I have stable footing.) It didn't help that most of the trails are covered in gravel, meaning it's quite easy to lose one's footing. By the end of the day I had a deep pain in my back, I think mainly due to stress tension and being so "on" in my alertness to avoid tripping over loose gravel.

After a lunch break in Phortse Thanga, we continued on our way to Dole. The walk there (though treacherous at times for me) was absolutely stunning. Part of the trail meandered through a shady copse with moss hanging from the trees' branches. As our trail climbed in elevation we passed by several frozen waterfalls. Near one such waterfall we stepped to the side as a family (mom, dad, child, and yak) made there way past us across the small bridge. They were headed down to spend the winter months with family members living in lower elevations.

We arrived in Dole around 3p. At the lodge here, our room featured two twin beds with delightfully-thick comforters and the bathroom was a private squat toilet (our first, and I was rather nervous to give it a go) located down the outside hallway. I took a short nap before heading into the dining room, which already had a roaring fire in the stove. D and I both read a bit and I warmed up with a satisfying mug of hot chocolate. I also spent a good portion of the afternoon staring out the window watching the clouds roll in, obscuring the view of the mountains surrounding Dole.

At Bharat's suggestion, D and I both ordered the veggie sherpa stew (thick vegetarian soup with tubular pasta, carrots, leafy greens, and potatoes), steamed potato momo (dumplings), and popcorn (!) for dinner. All the food definitely hit the spot. D and I both called it a night around 7p. Due to the lack of lighting aside from solar-powered lightbulbs, which aren't particularly bright, there wasn't much reason to stay up any later. 

Nepal Trek Day Three: Namche - Khumjung - Namche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

1. Mountains and prayer flags above Namche, 2. Me and D and the mountains, 3. Along the trail, 4. Along the trail, 5. Khumjung, 6. Closer view of Khumjung, 7. Carved stones, 8. Me and D in Khumjung, 9. Khumjung stupa, 10. Prayer wheels, 11. Khumjung Monastery, 12. Stone carvings, 13. D and stupa, 14. Heading back to Namche, 15. Airstrip above Namche, 16. D on the trail, 17. Namche from above, 18. Namche Bazaar, 19. Yak bells, 20. Apple strudel, 21. Espresso, 22. Cow-yak hybrid peeking out, 23. Mountains looking over Namche, 24. Namche lodge menu

Day Three was a fairly low-key one. We stayed in Namche two nights to acclimatize to the rising elevation. (Namche is at an elevation of 11,286 feet.) After a leisurely breakfast, we packed up our daypacks, and Bharat led us on a short journey to Khumjung, located just over the ridge from Namche. On the way there, we stopped off at the Everest View Hotel, "the highest-placed hotel in the world." There we enjoyed the views on the back terrace before heading down the hill into Khumjung. Once in Khumjung, we stopped at the home of one of Bharat's friends. Though Bharat's friend (who apparently has summited Everest four times as part of various climbing expeditions) was away guiding a trek, his friend's wife invited us into their home for a warm cup of tea.

After enjoying a small snack, we headed along through the town. We attempted to visit the village's monastery, but unfortunately no one was around as many of the monks (as well as many villagers) were in nearby Tengboche to honor a 93-year-old nun who had recently died.

After wandering through town, we made our way back up and down the ridge into Namche. Our entertainment on the way back was music played on Bharat's cell phone. (Everyone seems to carry a cell phone and cell coverage is surprisingly good throughout the region.) It was a bit surreal to listen to Akon and Justin Bieber along the trail! Lunch at our lodge was chosen by Bharat, and he ordered us both aloo roti - potato pancakes. During lunch we conversed with a couple from Seattle, who were headed back to Lukla after completing the route we planned to do ourselves. They had a lot of helpful advice and it was great hearing recent firsthand experience of the trails ahead.

Following lunch, I took advantage of the warm sunshine and paid the 300 rupees (about $4) for a hot shower. The shower facilities, which were divided into private stalls, were located outside of the first floor of lodge. Though the water was more "lukewarm" than hot, it was still quite nice to clean off the accumulated muck from the dusty trails and wash my hair. After my shower I headed back to our room for a little reading and relaxation.

Later in the afternoon, D and I ventured down into Namche to explore the shops. This is the place to pick up any forgotten gear. Plenty of fake stuff (North Face seems to be the most popular knock-off), but there are also actual dealers too, including shops for Mountain Hardwear and Sherpa Adventure Gear. I took a peek into several souvenir shops and made a note of things I might want to buy on our way back through Namche at the end of our trek.

Upon the recommendation of the Seattle couple, we stopped in the Namche Bakery for an afternoon snack of apple studel and espresso. (Oh, it was so good!) After cleaning our plates, we headed back up the many steps to our lodge for a little more relaxation before dinnertime. Following a filling dinner of cheese pizza (D opted for the more traditional dal baht), we headed to bed around 8p. One random note of the day was that we found out that the lodge owner had actually been to Casper, Wyoming before -- what a small world! 

Nepal Trek Day Two: Phakding - Namche Bazaar

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The theme of day two was "Up and More Up." As Bharat promised, today involved a lot of steep uphill hiking. Given our early bedtime the previous night, our day started early around 5a. After a 7:30a breakfast of black tea and an apple pancake, we hit the trail.

{early morning village view}

{everywhere you look there's a beautiful scene to behold}

{entryway into Sagarmatha National Park}

{D and I upon entering the park}

We stopped for lunch in Jorsale at 10:45a, surprisingly, though it was only three hours after we had hit the trail, both D and I were starving. I supplemented by traditional platter of dal baht with a slice of apple pie. (I just couldn't resist!) 

Jorsale was the last "village" before the final slog up, up, and up to Namche. Not long after hitting the trail after lunch, we came upon an extremely high suspension bridge. After letting a yak train cross, it was our turn. There was a bit of a steep unprotected step down from the bridge on the other side, and I was glad that Bharat was there to offer a steadying hand. 

{majorly high suspension bridge; I was not a fan}

After a particularly long period of switchbacks of the hillside, we came upon our first view of Mt. Everest. Another bonus of this stopping point was the two villagers selling fresh oranges to eat. The sweet and juicy orange was a refreshing snack after such a long haul uphill.

{Me with the first view of Mt. Everest behind me}

{Me right before that picture was taken}

The trek uphill didn't seem to phase Bharat or Dilip much.

{Bharat and Dilip; just a walk in the park}

Given that there are no roads in this area, the only way to transport items is by carrying them. Needed items are flown to Lukla, and then porters carry them (such as building materials, food, cases of beer, etc.) the rest of the way. After seeing what these porters were carrying, I no longer felt I could complain about the perceived heavy weight of my relatively small daypack.

{all of a sudden our packs feel less heavy after watching these porters pass through}

We arrived in Namche around 2p. The village, which was particularly scenic, was a welcome sight to behold. Unfortunately, we still had about a million (or so it seemed) stairs to climb to make our way through the village up to our lodge for the night.

{Bharat pointing out sights in Namche to D}

As we entered Namche, we passed by a large encampment of Tibetan traders, who had made their way from Tibet to Namche to sell (cheap Chinese) goods to the locals and those passing through town. They stay until their goods are sold before making the ten-day trek back to Tibet.

{a Tibetan yak; Tibetan traders trek into Namche to sell goods in the 
marketplace before making their way back home}

Eventually we arrived at our lodge, and after after reaching our room and dropping my pack, I immediately stripped off several layers and collapsed onto my bed. 

{the entryway to our digs in Namche}

{mountain view from our lodge room window}

After a short nap, D and I headed to the lodge's dining room to relax with a cup of tea and get in some reading. D and I also played a few rounds of Scrabble to entertain ourselves before dinner.

{lodge dining room}

{Tashi (which means "lucky"), the lodge dog, and resident crumb picker-upper}

Tonight's dinner consisted of a cheese sandwich (which was delicious) and more black tea. After dinner we hung out for a little while more with our fellow lodgemates before calling it a night. After an exhausting day of hiking, I was definitely looking forward to hitting the hay. I was also looking forward to not having to pack up all our stuff, as we would be staying in Namche again the following night as we acclimatized to the elevation.