Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Tuesday, 24 April 2012
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12:00
Well, this is it. It's over, we're going home today, it was definitely an adventure, and despite the challenges we faced, when asked we all said we would do it again. Most likely we will!
Until the next time, Namaste Nepal!
As a last bonus, we were seated on the right side of the plane and presented with some fantastic views of the western Himalayas as we flew towards Delhi. Click below to see:
Despite of all the information from the horse's mouth so to speak i.e. Jet airways, it was possible to check-in our bags at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan airport right through to London; they gave us the boarding passes for the Delhi to London flight so we could just go through transit and miss all the delights of the Indian immigration, check-in and machine-gun guards behind armoured plated stations at the airport entrance.
Delhi was quite nice, went to a 'shop', an oasis of calm in the hectic aiport. Two musicians - one on sitar, the other on a snare drum - were playing nice, calming music. Two passengers were barefoot in a pool of shallow water, some were having a massage; we thought we stepped into Narnia. We nearly missed our flight, the tanoy announcement seemed out of place there.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Monday, 23 April 2012
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13:00
After breakfast we went for a walk to Swayambunath Stupa (Devnagari: स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप; sometimes romanized Swoyambhunath). It is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city and it is also known as the Monkey Temple, as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west.
We wanted to walk to the temple, but, quite often people would ask us if we wanted a taxi or rickshaw. The weather was warm and we were happy to walk with the help of the map on our phone.
We saw cows in the middle of the road, but the saddest thing we noticed was the amount of rubbish in the river and the smell of it.
We started climbing the steps to the top of the hill - it is said that there are 365 steps. On the side of the steps many vendors set up their stalls selling carved stones, jewelleries, embroideries, etc. Some children were collecting mullberries from the trees nearby.
Arriving at the top of the hill, we really enjoyed the walk around the stupa - with a nice background music from a CD selling stall - and the views of the capital. Apart from the other tourists, there were also local people, who were getting their blessings, and many, many vendors, trying to sell antiquities, books, paintings.
After a few times going around the stupa, trying to take pictures from different angles, we happily returned to the hotel, looking forward to a nice Mexican lunch.
Inspired by Ron Fricke's non-narative film Baraka we set off bright and early (c. 5:30) to Kathmandu's famous Durbar Square to catch the first light and perhaps avoid the late madness. Alas when we arrived in the square, at 6 am, things were far from quiet. Nevertheless, we observed people's early morning routine and the changing light. It looked like most people had already set up their stalls, mostly with vegetables, but clothing and other miscellaneous items too. Others came specifically prepared to go to the temples and receive blessings. Many were lighting candles, some were ringing bells hanging near the temples. In one place, a cow and later a bull, were standing absolutely still among hundreds of pigeons fed by the locals. One cow was being fed near a vegetable stall, an other one (perhaps a bull, cannot remember) started licking the candles, and when discovered, a man started hitting it and chasing it away.
There must have been a police station nearby, as their presence was felt by the continuous coming and going of police and army vehicles.
After a while we decided to head back to the hotel to have breakfast, but on a different route. First, we watched vendors unpacking their goods in an antiques market and then we arrived at Indrachowk square and temple. This was the epitome of the hustle and bustle. Vendors, cars, rickshaws, rubbish, customers, tourists, horns, candles - absolutely incredible!
Not far from this, just down the road, we found a much quieter place - Katheshimbu stupa. This looked very similar to Swayambunath, much smaller.
Lukla to Kathmandu flight and some pictures from Kathmandu, including Kathesimbu Stupa.
In Kathmandu we stayed at Asmita's Bed and Breakfast, a nice, clean place, where we were happy to find very welcoming people. The first night we enjoyed a nice paella for dinner. Thank you Asmita and Dharma for your hospitality and help while staying in Kathmandu!
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Sunday, 22 April 2012
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06:03
As planned, we turned up for breakfast at 5:30, the kitchen and dinning room was deserted. All times around here are approximate of course, not to worry. By 6 we finished breakfast and the call came that we should turn up at the airport "pronto". By 6:15 we were checked in, cleared security and were waiting for the plane to land. Within 20 minutes 5 planes landed, two from Agni Air , two from Tara Air and one from Sita Air and they were all promptly turned around without even stopping the propellers.
The flight was awesome, take off was akin to going down a slide over the edge of the cliff, it takes your breath away for a moment. (Check it out in 3D in Google Earth) The air cleared after yesterday's rain and the view was magnificent. We landed at 7:25 and got to the hotel by 8:00.
Did a quick tour in Thamel to replace the broken duffel bags and had a good shower.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Saturday, 21 April 2012
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16:00
Today we did a bit of planespotting; in fact our lodge is very close to the airstrip, we can see the planes landing and taking off from our room. The lodge owner has some strong connections with the airport, he seems to be organising air tickets, re-scheduling flights, we have seen him moving quite freely in the airport, being quite familiar with the staff. It would appear he's got a helicopter that he rents out. He's also got a radio tuned in to the control tower, he then tells his customers when their flight is due, listening in to the control tower radio chatter.
Below is one fine landing example: the SitaAir plane 9N-AHA. Note to self: don't book SitaAir in future!
****************** Update 28/09/2012 this aircraft has crashed during initial ascent, just outside Kathmandu, en route to Lukla . Details of accident click here *****************
And the take off wasn't that much better, it overran the marker by a bit.
Here is a slightly better landing, Agni Air 9N-AIE
There are 3 Tara Air, 2 Agni Air and 1 Sita Air planes doing the KTM-Lukla route and they fly back and forth as many times as needed, weather permitting. We were due to fly out at 9:30 on the third flight on a Agni Air plane. Unfortunately, the control tower in Kathmandu had a technical problem and the planes were delayed out of Kathmandu. By the time it was our turn, it started to rain heavily in Kathmandu and they suspended the flights. It cleared at around 2 pm in Kahmandu but by then a thunderstorm in Lukla closed the airport and the last two flights were cancelled. So it was back to our lodge, oficially called the Khumbu resort - I just call it the control tower - for another night. We are now due to fly out on an early flight, 7am or 8am, so it's an early start: 5:30 breakfast for 6am to the airport. The weather is expected to be good first thing in the morning so fingers crossed.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Friday, 20 April 2012
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21:00
On our last trekking day we finally managed to leave, as planned, at 7:30 in the morning. We had Spanish omelette with Tibetan bread and hot lemon, the same as on the way up.
We had a nice walk through the little villages dotted on our way. The birds were singing and the sun started to warm and lighten up the valley gradually. We admired the gardens and the green terraces some people had. We passed a place with a chorten (like a little stupa) and many prayer wheels and Many stones (the carved ones). We saw children walking to school and, later, tourists starting their treks. The weather must have been nice in Kathmandu too, we thought, because the planes arrived early.
Towards Chaurikarka, where the trail started to climb towards Lukla, the weather became warm and we felt quite tired and thirsty, as we run out of water. As soon as we arrived in Lukla we stopped at the first little shop to drink water. And surprise! We met the Italian couple that Eugen met at Dole. They had to come down by helicopter because Alfredo had bronchitis and was not feeling well.
After we promised to keep in touch with them Eugen rushed to the airport hoping to see some airplanes taking off. Eddie and I, we went to our lodge, Khumbu resort, as we felt tired. We had a nice Roesti for lunch.
Later that evening we took a nice walk to the airport and then through the village.
The evening was a bit noisy at the lodge: an Australian group were celebrating their last night with the guides and porters.
We went to bed with the hope of flying to Kathmandu the next day.
Another beautiful morning! We woke up at 6 for an early start of the descend. After packing and having breakfast we took the pictures which we wanted to retake - same old t-shirts, but slightly different place - and went to say our good byes to the lodge owner and his family. We were pleasantly surprised When we were given "katas" (beautiful silk scarfs, offered by buddhists to show respect or to wish good luck) by him. After a few more pictures with them we started our descend.
It was a really enjoyable day; the blue sky and beautiful landscape around us - mountains, river, forest - lifted our spirits. We arrived at another spot from where Mt. Everest can be seen usually in the mornings, before the clouds start to form. And there it was, as if it was just waiting for us! It really made our day!
We continued to walk until we reached Monjo, where we stopped for lunch. We had the traditional Nepali dish, daal bhat, which consists of a lentil soup, served with rice and vegetable curry.
We reached Phakding at around 4:30pm and we stayed at the "Tibetan Guesthouse", same lodge as before. We went to bed quite early, in preparation for an early start the next day.
Having abandoned Wanda and Eddie in the pretty market town of Namche Bazaar on the 14 April, we (my guide and me) left pretty late at 9:10 after having made sure that they are right.
We got to Kyumjuma ( 3600m) at 10:10, a pretty good time from Namche, we had a cup of tea and left at 10:30. This is where the trails split, the Tengboche trail carries on downhill whereas our trail starts the steady climb towards the Mong La Pass. By now the weather started to cloud over and by the time we got to Mong La pass (3975m) the visibility was not too great. Still saw a golden eagle circling the pass. We didn't stop but started the descent towards Phortse Thanga at 3670m, on the other side of the pass. The descent was quite steep with switchbacks and we were stuck behind a group of yaks until we took a shortcut to get past them.
We got to Phortse Thanga at 12:30 and we had lunch there. We sure needed the fuel as we had to climb back to 4080m at Dole were we planned to spend the night. This is also were the solar charger packed up, the DC/DC converter broke, this is the second one, lost my faith completely in this charger.
After lunch started the climb through a beautiful forest of rhododendron and what looked like silver birch but with the bark reddish. Sadly the rhododendron was not in bloom, we later found that they are late by about a month. A few waterfalls were covered by permanent ice, the first permanent ice we found on the trail.
We arrived at Dole at 15:00 and stayed in the Yeti Lodge were we had a lovely dhal bhat. I managed to call Wanda from the landline to check upon on them and was relieved to hear that Eddie was getting better slowly. Apart from us there was a group of german trekkers from Hauser Expeditions with a guide who just seemed to talk a tad too much. It was fun, up to a certain point, but when he started to tell the story of Ganesh in exquisite detail we decided we had enough and went to bed. This is when we noticed that it snowed outside, about half an inch. The owner, who participated in expeditions from 1953 to 1970 had made a nice fire in the dining room and the atmosphere was nice but as soon as we went to the rooms the -3 , -4 deg C cold really started to bite. Well, we wrapped up well and went to bed.
We had a pretty good night, with only the occasional tourist slamming the door in the night, as if he owned the place. The walls were paper thin, single sheet of ply, so every noise carried through. Had breakfast at 6:30, after having packed our bags, and left at 7:00.
This was to become our routine for the next few days, as the mornings were absolutely stunning, crystal clear weather, not a could in the sky. It also had the benefit of being less crowded, we were normally the first on the trek - that was easy to see that morning in the 1/2" fresh snow. The trail started with a steep ascent from the Dole valley to the ridge where we got our first glimpse of Cho Oyu and Gatungkhang: both peaks are fantastic! We also saw, looking back, Kusum Kangaru, Thamserku and Kantenga. Breathtaking views!
Passed a placed called Lhafarma - it seemed deserted - this, we later found out, was also the last place for mobile phone connection, as there are no masts in the Gokyo valley and this was the last place the signal from the Tengboche tower reached. At 8:10 we arrived at Luza, 4360m, where we decided to stop for a cup of tea to warm us up. We ended up staying for 30 minutes on the terrace, in the sun, watching the cloud start to gather again on the top of the mountains. This is when we realised that we need to maximise the golden hours between 7 and 9 for the clear views. We got to Machermo at 9:30, the usual stopping place for the day at 4470m altitude, and decided to sit down for 45min and watch Cho Lhatse I and II with the clouds swirling at their top. As it was so early we decided to push on to the next possible stop at Phanga (4480m) where we arrived at 11:00. We couldn't go any further that day as the trails started to climb and that would have been above the recommended 300-400m altitude difference between the height of the rest stops for consecutive nights.
It started to snow again at 2:00 and it was really windy too. There is a single lodge at Phanga, with the owner and his 14 year old boy trying to run the show. This, of course, is way past the tree line so there is no wood for fire and the stove burned yak dung - but even that was precious commodity. The fire was therefore to be lit at 5 pm only in preparation for dinner. It was freezing cold and there were only a couple more trekkers - two Aussies who walked from Jiri rather than fly in to Lukla. That added 7 days to their approach and made them quite the experienced travellers in the area. We soon exhausted topics of conversation; some talk of a bit of politics about the olden days back in Romania, but inevitably returned to the freezing cold. I couldn't call from there as they had no phone there and there was no mobile reception. To pass the time we decided to take a nap. This was easier said than done; I had to put on thermal underwear, a t-shirt, a fleece, a down jacket and a down sleeping bag. Wrapped up like this I managed a good kip from 1:30 to 16:30. I woke up in anticipation of the fire but that was a bit of a disappointment as it barely managed to raise the temperature above freezing. We decided to give the vegetable potatoes a go after good reviews from the Aussies but they weren't boiled enough. Oh well, went to bed again in anticipation of the next day trek to Gokyo. Woke up at 12:30 to see the sky cleared up again but that there was again a layer of snow on the ground.
I was the first out in the morning. The loo of course is a basic affair; flushing is from a drum of water using a jug. In this particular place the jug was made of some heavy gauge aluminium and a good thing it was too as to my surprise the water froze over to a thickness of about 1 cm! I had to smash it three times with the jug to break through. This was by far the coldest night - we estimated the temperature to about -7 deg C. This isn't a problem normally, only that in these places there is no heating so what's outside is also inside.
Breakfast at 6:30 all packed and ready to go, had a couple of Tibetan breads with fried eggs, but too much sugar in the dough for the Tibetan bread didn't let me enjoy that too much.
Left at 7:00, again a brilliant morning, very cold but clear blue skies with no cloud anywhere to see. Just out of Phanga we crossed through a "gate" made of prayer flags streched between two pillars, which was to prevent evil spirits that might follow trekkers to gain entrance to the Gokyo upper reaches. Passed a strong spring gushing out of a rock and adorned with prayer flags and scarfs - a sure sign of the respect people have for natural resources, water in particular.
Reached the first lake at 8:00, it being a small lake of only 1.4 ha surface and only 1m max depth, situated at 4710m altitude, but there were hundreds of "spirit houses" on its shores. Tibetans believe that after death the spirits roam free and need a place to rest and live so they build columns out of rocks for the spirits to live in. An eerie place, very quiet at that time of the morning and very beautiful too!
The second lake we reached at 9:00, this was much bigger at 17ha surface and situated at 4721m altitude. This was 95% frozen over, the little part not frozen was used by a couple of wild ducks. Again very quiet; the only noise heard was an occasional low thud that stumped us for a while until we realised it was the ice breaking under the pressure of the sun and light wind. Very strange indeed.
Arrived at the third lake, Gokyo lake, also called Dudh Pokhari (milk lake) at 10:00. This was also 95% frozen over but was a lot bigger: 43 ha surface and situated at 4740m altitude. Gokyo village is on the shores of this lake, slightly above the lake at 4800m. We stayed at Gokyo resort Lodge. First things first, I called Wanda again, this time from a satellite phone and learned that Eddie is doing much better; then had lunch and went out to look at the Gokyo glacier from the ridge behind the lodges. The glacier is almost entirely covered by the moraine left behind by the original glacier - you can hardly see the ice beneath. 15 years ago it was still all ice but with the climate change the ice has all but disappeared. The morraine though is still immense, hard to describe really. What was also surprising is the rapid erosion of the ridge between Gokyo and the glacier - in the two hours that we were there we saw three rock slides - soon enough the whole ridge will be gone.
The lodge was packed, they had at least 65 guests in the dining room and the locals are not served until the last tourist finished having his meal. Add to this a single over-worked waiter and an inefficient ordering system, and the result is that the guides and porters only had their dinner at 9pm. A bit like the racial segregation of the deep south in America, not at all fair. I'm told this is better than it used to be, Nepali guides and porters were not even allowed in the same lodge as tourists until a few years back. The wheels of progress turn quite slowly in Nepal it seems. With the next day being an early start - 5am being the norm for the start of the climb to Gokyo Ri - this late dinner was not what we planned.
We woke up at 4:50 having had our things prepared for the climb. Haven't had a good night sleep, hardly getting enough air to breath. The thin air does start to take its toll. We decided to take a single bag (Ratna's) with just a pack of biscuits, some cereal bars and water. We had torches but had to use them only for 5 minutes until we crossed the stream on some rocks; after that the natural light was enough. We started the climb at 5:10 and realised that it will be harder that initially thought. Every step takes extra effort and extra air that just doesn't seem to exist in sufficient quantity. The only consolation was that I was not the only one struggling - we overtook two large groups, one German, the other English, who also seemed to find it hard. The higher we got the harder it was to extract the necessary oxygen from the air. The cereal bars and biscuits didn't help of course, as it was not energy we lacked, but air. A bottle of oxygen, hmmm how nice would that be!
I took a lot of pictures, but I realised it is hard to concentrate in the composition when a) you have barely enough oxygen not to black out and b) you wear ski gloves that you really don't want to take off. In the end the 580m climb took 2:35h and we got to the top the third group of the day at 7:45. I got some prayer flags in Kathmandu before we left and laid them on the shrine on top in memory of relatives who passed away.
Took lots of photos before the place became too crowded, had great views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Cho-Oyu, Gathungkhang, Pumo Ri, Makalu (proper name shoud be Maha Kalu - black rock), Cho Lhatse, Peak 38, Kantenga, Tamserku, Kusum Kangaru, Ama Dablam, Henjola, Nirekha, Nangpai Gotaya, two famous passes: Cho La pass and Renjo La pass, and of course the Gokyo lakes and glacier.
Couldn't get enough but we still had to descend to Dole the same say so at 8:53 we started our descent from the peak - it took just 50 minutes to get back to Gokyo where we had our breakfast. Had omelette with chapatti and lots and lots of lemon tea!
We left Gokyo at 10:45 and arrived at Machermo at 12:25 but decided to go further to Luza, where we arrived at 1pm. Had lunch and charged my phone to keep the GPS log going as the phone's battery was running low. We left Luza at 14:15 and arrived at Dole at 15:15. We stayed at the same lodge only this time they had only a couple from Italy who could speak no English, an Indian who was very particular about his schedule and wanted to leave at 6:00 after breakfast to only go as far as Machermo - 2 hours away from us. The Italians had a guide who not only didn't speak Italian, but was also quite clearly out of his depth and was doing this job just to fund his studies. The scene was set for a very interesting evening. In the end, glued together by the warm fire and the love of mountains, we spent a lovely evening with 4 way translation between Nepali, English, Italian and Indian, talking about the Himalayas, Nepal, Hillary, the 1996 tragedy with the book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer, Reinhold Messner, and loads of things I can hardly remember. These open fires are all well and good, but the carbon monoxide from the open fire and the poor draught from the old stoves made us all a bit light headed and it brings you in a state not dislike a slight inebriation.
Taking advantage of the early start of the kitchen to cater for the Indian gentleman who had to have his breakfast before 6, we arrived a bit early to breakfast too and gulped down the tasteless porridge pretty quickly. We left at 6:35 and started towards the valley down at 3600m at Phortse Tanga. Starting this early has its advantages: we saw in total three very rare Musk deer - a species threatened with extinction in Nepal - and managed to get a few pictures too! We also got very close to the national bird of Nepal: the Himalayan Monal ,commonly known as 'lophophorus'. The male is very colourful - a beautiful bird!
Fun over, it was now back up the Mong La pass from down the valley at 3600m to the 3975m altitude of the pass. This side is a lot steeper and it took from 8:00 to 9:10 to get to the top. Magnificent views of Ama Dablam, if somewhat hazy against the sun. Started the descent towards Kyumjuma at 9:30 and finally reached Namche Bazaar at 11:30 slightly before schedule and in desperate need of a hot shower.
After breakfast we (Eddie and I) decided to take some pictures on the lodge's terrace while the weather was still nice. After a while we brought our little portable reflector, just to help with the shadows on the face. As we were setting everything up Eugen arrived! And it was just 11:30 in the morning! We were so happy that we cancelled our "photo shoot" session and just sat and listened to the stories and looked at the pictures. We've never seen him with a week old beard!
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Tuesday, 17 April 2012
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13:43
Today we woke up to another beautiful morning!
The lodge owner and his family were outside, on the little terrace, getting on with the daily activities around the lodge. The cute little girl gave me the right opportunity to bring out my camera and take a few pictures.
After that I decided it was time to take a stroll on the village "promenade", a.k.a. the "killing steps". Walking down is not bad at all!
Most shops specialise in trekking equipment, but there are several grocery stores as well. They mostly have canned or dry food though, but all sorts of cosmetics, second-hand books, medicines and even alcohol can be found.
There are stalls with hand-made woollen hats, gloves, jumpers. Some have fine pashmina scarfs, nicely embroidered handbags and numerous jewelleries.
I also found some Tibetan antique items.
There are a few bakeries, coffee shops, several restaurants, money exchangers and even a massage parlour!
Now, after all this sightseeing - going back to where I came from! Slowly, with a few stops and without anything to carry, apart from my camera, I got back to the lodge, quite pleased.
We went to the dining room for lunch, and guess what, we met a couple we befriended more than a week ago, when we arrived here for the first time. They just returned from Everest Base Camp. They said it was cold and very demanding, but they had a good time. They also showed me the pictures they took and promised to keep in touch.
After lunch we had a phone call from Eugen; he was just returning from Gokyo. It was a hard day for him: a lot to climb up and now he came back down to Dole. He thinks he might be here tomorrow after lunch.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Monday, 16 April 2012
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11:32
It's 3pm already, the sun is still shining and the clouds haven't filled the valley yet. What a glorious day! We are sitting in the lodge's dining room, listening occasionally to some traditional Nepali music.
As soon as I woke up this morning, I decided to walk to my favourite place to make sure that I got the best possible view. I grabbed a cereal bar and ... off I went! The little climb always makes me breathe quite rapidly, but when I got there, it became almost normal again.
I was so pleased to see my beautiful peaks again: Everest, the black pyramid, "smoking" as always, the Nuptse ridge, Lothse and Ama-Dablam! I could spend here the whole day! I sat on a bench with this view in front of me, with birds chirping happily in the pine and fir forest; two birds of prey also flew nearby, too quick for me to take a picture. I would have liked to climb slightly higher, but the warning sign and the sight of the nearby army people stopped me in the end.
I started my return journey very happily though and decided to have a look at the view from the other side of the ampitheatre, where the helipad is. I didn't fancy the idea of going to the lodge first for breakfast, as this meant climbing down and up again. I continued straight (relatively) towards the helipad. I passed the little hospital, which we visited a few days ago, and then the monastery, with lots and lots of prayer wheels on a nearby wall.
The trail was dotted with many "Mani" stones and walls, inscribed with Tibetan prayers. Some of them were carved; others were painted in white or other colours.
As I reached the helipad, young men were coming down the path with three huge stones each, dropping them off just a little distance down the trail and then going back again. I read about a quarry somewhere nearby, towards the village of Khunde, where Edmund Hillary's school and hospital are.
On the way back I decided I take the long way round again, to avoid the "killing steps", as I call them, through the village. I joined Eddie (who is recovering nicely) for a very nice breakfast.
Just as we were finishing our breakfast, Eugen called. He reached the lodge at Gokyo and hopefully, tomorrow he'll get to the ridge above the lakes. He's very well and has no altitude problems. He'll start to descend tomorrrow and might get to Dole by the end of tomorrow.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Sunday, 15 April 2012
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11:08
It started as a beautiful, sunny day, just a few clouds here and there. Helicopters were buzzing around, quite a lot of activity happening in this little village.
The sun was shining beautifully on the village monastery, just under the helipad.
After breakfast I climbed slowly, but enthusiastically, to my panorama spot. By this time (about 10 o'clock), the clouds started to gather already around the great peaks. Occasionally, I could still see the beautiful Ama-Dablam and Thamserku (if I remember correctly). The Thengboche monastery, on the ridge, just across the valley in front of me, was almost calling me to try to visit it again. I was so near to it, and yet so far...
The plateau I was standing on was very different from 14 years ago, when it was an empty space, like a photo studio with the background provided by nature. This time there is an army post with a helipad, all sorts of quirky buildings, rubbish bins, posts, dog, bull, etc. You could hardly find a spot to take a picture without any man-made object in it.
The wind started to blow and I left the place quite disappointed. But still with the hope that one of these days we'll be able to take a similar picture to the one we've taken all those years ago.
On the way back to the lodge, there was a lot of activity in the school playground. Children were walking home (I guess) and ladies in their traditional Sherpa dresses were leaving the playground too.
After lunch the valley filled quickly with clouds and then the rain started. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have another bright morning.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Saturday, 14 April 2012
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13:16
As Eddie had a very good night sleep and was feeling much better, we decided that Eddie and I shall stay at the "Namche resort" (in fact the lodge is called Tashi Delek, Welcome in the local Sherpa language). Eugen continued to walk with our guide Ratna towards the Gokyo lakes, hopefully he'll have some nice weather for pictures all the way up.
About 2 hours ago (4pm local time) we received a phone call from him with the news that they reached Dole (about 4090m) around an hour before and he was feeling very well. The weather was cloudy on the way up and now it started to snow a little bit.
Eddie had a good rest day, listening to music, reading the news, etc. on the phone.
As the weather was a bit cloudy and windy in Namche Bazaar, we spent most of the day in the lodge's dining room (it's a bit warmer than in our room). I mostly watched life going by in Namche: porters going up and down the trails, one helicopter and a little plane taking off nearby, daily activities in the lodge, talking to other people in the lodge, exchanging travel experiences.
Hopefully the sun will shine on us tomorrow: I plan to walk to the panorama spot where we took our picture 14 years ago with the snow-capped mountains in the background.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Friday, 13 April 2012
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14:36
Taking advantage of the sunny weather, we sat outside on the terrace and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. We took several pictures of the lodge owner's daughter being doted upon and generally enjoying life along with us.
Dad today took it upon himself to help out with computer troubles that the lodge owner was experiencing. He did this because they helped quite a bit while we were trying to get back from Tengboche with medicines sent by porters, enquiring with the doctor before we got there, etc. I guess he just can't really get away from it, no matter how remote the place he goes! It started with cleaning out the keyboard, which led to a full-scale reconstruction of some of the power supply wires in the computer, and seemingly ending right now with copying an image of said computer to the lodge owner's sister's computer.
Back to serious business, the general plan of action now is that Dad will go back to ascending via a different path, to Gokyo Ri, with the guide. Hopefully the weather will be nice and that he will not suffer more than the path demands. If things do go badly, there are alternative plans even to that, depending on how bad it is. But again, Mum and I wish him all the best on his journey, which will start tomorrow and end in about 6 - 7 days.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Thursday, 12 April 2012
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15:24
This morning Eddie hasn't improved much, so after evaluating our options we decided he must see a doctor. Closest two are the Sir Edmund Hilary hospital in Kunde at 3850m and the smaller one in Namche Bazaar at 3450m. Since climbing isn't advised, we chose the lesser evil and went for the one in Namche, staffed by a single doctor local to the village - a bit like Doc Martin of the Himalayas. The walk is under normal conditions 3.5 hours.
We got Eddie on a horse again, as we didn't think he'll manage the intial 450 m climb, and off we went. Wanda was showing signs of AMS too, so it wasn't easy.
Eddie managed to walk the rest of the route after the steep climb, but very slowly, it took us all in all 5 hours, including the lunch break.
When we got to the hospital they confirmed Eddie's HAPE - found his oxygen level 68% and put him on oxygen feed, gave him dexamethasone and nifedipine and monitored him regularly. Wanda has AMS, they gave her dexamethasone and nifedipine, but no oxygen, as she has no HAPE.
Progress is good, it is likely that Eddie can be discharged at 9 pm, Wanda only stayed to be with him.
So one step back on my snakes and ladders game, I start to feel the game is rigged against us. If the Gods are trying to tell us something, could they be a bit clearer?
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Wednesday, 11 April 2012
at
15:20
We waited to see if Eddie's condition improves, but it did not. All the time we suspected AMS (acute mountain sickness), but as the symptoms started to add up (incresed heart rate, shortness of breath, rattling breathing) we realised it is in fact H.A.P.E. which is dangerous. We came to this conclusion at about 2 pm and we knew that it is imperative to sleep at a lower altitude. Eddie was in no shape to walk so we organised a horse from Pangboche, a neighbouring village an hour and a half walk from where we were, to come and take him down to the bottom of the climb we did yesterday. The last symptom, with blue finger nails, only confirmed 100% the diagnosis. Only about 300m drop is required,h but this is about 550m. At time this seems like a giant game of snakes and ladders, we obviously landed on the wrong square and were sent back to the previous position. All this turning of prayer wheels and circumambulating the mani walls the right way around didn't help. We must have upset some god quite a bit.
We finished packing and getting ready by 16:30 and Wanda and me started our descent, we didn't want to risk to get there in the dark. The guide stayed with Eddie until the horse arrived and they left at 17:00. We all took about an hour to descent, no doubt the horse had to go fairly slowly on the steep switchbacks.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Tuesday, 10 April 2012
at
15:03
We decided to have a go at this leg of the trek despite none of us feeling too well. Wanda has got mild fever, Eddie had 38.3 C and I had 38.1 C in the morning; we left late to try to get some medication from the first aid post, but it was closed.
Eddie seems to have pulled a muscle in the hip and can't walk without painkillers. It was foggy to start with in Namche and, just before the final ascent of 550m, it started to rain.
We arrived very late, at 5:45pm, and again we are running high fevers, Wanda 38.1, Eddie 39.8 and me 39.9C.
Eddie started to develop other symptoms -dizziness, sore eyes and we have to accept it is mild AMS. We hope we won't need to descend to get rid of it, but we are going nowhere in the next 2-3 days.
Not feeling too well, fever, sore legs and feet, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, all in all it's not looking too good. We shall see tomorrow how we feel.
Went up to the Sherpa visitor centre, helipad and army post (all in one) with a panorama spot. By the time we managed to drag ourselves up there the clouds shrouded the peaks so we couldn't see Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Tamserku or Kusunkangaru. Tamserku made a short appearance. Namche was however mostly sunny.
Posted by
Wanda + Eugen on Sunday, 8 April 2012
at
15:21
The morning started well, the sun shone bright and no clouds were to be seen in the sky. Great!
Sadly, it went downhill from there: metaphorically because the iPhone died during charge overnight and would not start at all, and literally because the route took us further downhill, when we knew we had to ascend quite a bit; Namche Bazaar is at 3450m elevation and Phakding is at 2650m.
Without the iPhone, geotagging was down the pan. The backup plan was to run the app on the iPad, but I have not done that before. In any case I walked with the solar panel strapped to my back, I worried before about what I would look like, but compared to some of the weirdos we met - no-one gave me a second glance.
So we got to Jorsale at 2750m, which was the last village before Namche; we still had 3 hours to go and 700m to climb. We had lunch - heeded the warnings on the side of the restaurant (saying that it was the last eating place before Namche Bazaar) - and how glad were we that we did! - and started on the second part of the journey.
I now know why I can't remember this part of the trail from the last time, 14 years ago - because the mind has a wonderful coping mechanism that is forgetting! Let's just say that whoever wants to claim that it is easy should try it first!
This kid is about 13 and carries 7 pieces of 8ft long planks, 12in wide and 1in thick!
In the end we climbed a total of 1400m elevation and descended 600m. Needless to say, the acclimatisation day tomorrow will be most welcome.
