Day 1: Monday, November 28, 2011
Kathmandu-Phakding (2610m)
We flew from Kathmandu to Lukla at 7:00am and then walked about two hours to Phakding at 2610 meters. There was only one other couple - a British guy and a French girl - staying at the lodge with us. I paid 200 rupees to take a hot shower (in an outdoor stall) because I hadn't showered in three days. I don't really consider myself "princessy" but there is no way I could have taken a cold shower when it was so freezing outside. Just washing my hands and dirty clothes in the cold tap water was bad enough. My guide told me it was the last time I would have a toilet inside my room. The lodge rooms weren't heated, but it wasn't too bad once I was inside my rented sleeping bag under a blanket. I started to get a runny nose, which had me worried that I was coming down with a cold.
Day 2: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Phakding-Namche Bazar (3440m)
It was a tough climb. We walked uphill (and across some crazy bridges) for most of the way from Phakding to Namche Bazar, the Sherpa capital of Nepal, at 3440 meters. I had to hand wash some more clothes (mostly socks) in freezing cold water. We arrived just after noon and planned to stay for two nights to acclimatize to the altitude. We were the only ones at our lodge. It was another freezing cold night without heat.
Day 3: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Namche Bazar (rest day)
It was cloudy for most of the morning. We stayed in Namche, but hiked up to the highest airport in the world, which was really just a landing strip. Since the weather wasn't great there wasn't much of a view and we didn't go up any higher. The clouds cleared a bit in the afternoon so I painted a mountain scene with watercolors. I also went down into "town" to change some money and buy a neck wrap in the Tibetan market. We were the only ones at our lodge once again.
Day 4: Thursday, December 1, 2011
Namche Bazar-Pangboche (3930m)
We walked about six hours from Namche Bazar to Pangboche at 3930 meters, stopping for lunch in the village of Tengboche with its famous monastery. It was about one and a half hours of uphill climbing before we made it to Tengboche. It was pretty brutal. At our lodge in Pangboche I met a British mother and daughter, Shirl and Flo, who were on their way back down. They scared me with tales of medical centers and oxygen treatments in Gorak Shep. I paid for another hot shower, my first shower in three days (and last for five days.) My cold had morphed not only into just a stuffy nose, but also a hacking cough. I started to worry that if I didn't get much better soon I would have trouble getting enough oxygen at higher elevations.
Day 5: Friday, December 2, 2011
Pangboche-Dingboche (4410m)
It was only about a two-and-a-half hour walk from Pangboche to Dingboche. On the way, we watched runners from the Everest Marathon come down along the path from Gorak Shep en route to the finish line in Namche Bazar. The first runners were Nepalese (who are obviously able to train in the mountains) and all of the Westerners trailed behind. I made sure to cheer for every single one of the runners we passed whether they wanted me to not because I knew exactly what they were going through and there were no other spectators along the course aside from the trekkers. I admit I did feel kind of lame huffing and puffing just walking along the path while they were all running the same route, though obviously in the opposite direction. I suppose I had my cold partially to blame since I was still going through about a packet of tissues a day. Once we arrived in Dingboche, I washed some clothes in a stream in front of our lodge because there was no running water up that high. I met Donna from New Zealand who was finishing up a seven-month trip through South America and Southeast Asia. I recognized Donna from our flight up to Lukla so she was on the same pace as us, but was forgoing a second "acclimatization day" and heading up higher the following day.
Day 6: Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dingboche (rest day)
We had a second rest day in Dingboche to acclimatize, but spent the morning walking up and down a nearby "hill." We never made it to the top, if there was a top, but after my guide told me the view didn't get any better if we went any higher, we just arbitrarily decided to head back down after about two hours of climbing to 4800 meters. That night we met a group of four Australian medical students - three guys and one woman - who had just arrived at our lodge and were thus one day behind our schedule.
My hands are now freezing cold (that whole "no heat" thing) and it's about time to order dinner. I will finish up the second half of the trek once I make it down to Kathmandu in another day or two. Plus I will post pictures at that time once I'm back on my own computer (I only took about 300 or 400... haha - half kidding).
Kathmandu-Phakding (2610m)
 |
| Walking across a deep ravine |
Day 2: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Phakding-Namche Bazar (3440m)
 |
| The Sherpa capital of Namche Bazar |
Day 3: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Namche Bazar (rest day)
It was cloudy for most of the morning. We stayed in Namche, but hiked up to the highest airport in the world, which was really just a landing strip. Since the weather wasn't great there wasn't much of a view and we didn't go up any higher. The clouds cleared a bit in the afternoon so I painted a mountain scene with watercolors. I also went down into "town" to change some money and buy a neck wrap in the Tibetan market. We were the only ones at our lodge once again.
 |
| The "world's highest airport" shrouded in fog |
Namche Bazar-Pangboche (3930m)
We walked about six hours from Namche Bazar to Pangboche at 3930 meters, stopping for lunch in the village of Tengboche with its famous monastery. It was about one and a half hours of uphill climbing before we made it to Tengboche. It was pretty brutal. At our lodge in Pangboche I met a British mother and daughter, Shirl and Flo, who were on their way back down. They scared me with tales of medical centers and oxygen treatments in Gorak Shep. I paid for another hot shower, my first shower in three days (and last for five days.) My cold had morphed not only into just a stuffy nose, but also a hacking cough. I started to worry that if I didn't get much better soon I would have trouble getting enough oxygen at higher elevations.
 |
| Taking a breather |
Pangboche-Dingboche (4410m)
 |
| A runner in the Everest Marathon |
Day 6: Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dingboche (rest day)
 |
| Hiking with yaks near Dingboche |
My hands are now freezing cold (that whole "no heat" thing) and it's about time to order dinner. I will finish up the second half of the trek once I make it down to Kathmandu in another day or two. Plus I will post pictures at that time once I'm back on my own computer (I only took about 300 or 400... haha - half kidding).
No comments:
Post a Comment