We barely squeezed onto the Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu and were originally seated apart. I asked the nice Nepali gentleman beside me whether he would mind switching with Vivian. He kindly obliged and spent the entire flight squashed among three portly westerners who used him as their pillow holder. Poor guy!
The next five days were spent getting trekking permits, buying supplies and gifts and yet another lens to replace the one that conked out in Australia (EF 50mm f1.4 for anyone interested - R20,000=C$420), registering at the Canadian Embassy (in case we were kidnapped by the abominable snowman), inquiring about Indian and Pakistani visas (always get your info as early as possible to avoid surprises), getting some extra padding sewn onto the hipbelt of my pack to save my bony hips and some new velcro for my Tevas (both for a grand total of C$7).
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Thus began our trek to the Everest region: four weeks of humping our backpacks from below 2000m to over 5000m with lots of ups and downs in between. It started with a so-called 'express bus' from Kathmandu to Jiri which ended up taking over 12 hours. Starting from Jiri is closer to doing the original approach to Everest than flying to Lukla, though it takes an extra week or so. It also allows you to get used to the environment and get into shape (which we weren't in!).
The trail followed rivers and streams and crossed ridges and passes, taking us through rhododendron forests and terraced fields being prepared for planting. The 'tea houses' (lodges and restaurants really) were plentiful and you could stop almost anywhere you pleased for a drink, a meal, or a night's sleep. The locals were really friendly and the children especially cute and adorable, even with thick snot running from their noses and dirt all over their faces.
We stretched the recommended 7-day walk to Namche Bazaar out to 10 with a few half-days and rest days. Old Jack's knees started to give out so a porter was hired for a few days to take some of the edge off the repeated ups and downs. Day 6 rewarded us with our first view of Everest (the smallest peak on the horizon) and the best yak cheese we were to have on the whole trip. It was almost as good as the apple pie with hot custard we'd had the night before in Junbesi.
On our 10th day, we made the final approach to Namche Bazaar (3500m), the staging point for expeditions into the Khumbu Valley. Situated on the edge of a small plateau high above the Dudh Kosi (a milky river fed by the melt waters of Everest), Namche is a bustling town filled with Sherpa-owned lodges,
restaurants, and trekking/expedition outfitters. Also evident are porters selling the 80-odd kilos of wares they've carried for nearly a week, Tibetan refugees with the Chinese-made goodies they've carried over the high mountain passes, and of course the hundreds of trekkers who've either walked in from Jiri as we did or flown into Lukla and walked a day to Namche. We spent three days there to make sure we were well acclimatised to the altitude and to replenish our bodies with pizzas and apple pie.
The air was so dry we didn't feel the need to shower so we headed on to the next village of Tengboche, well known for it's monastery and views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam. Vivian decided to share the cold she caught earlier on our trek with me so I was feeling pretty shitty when we got to 3900m. An extra night there helped clear my head so we continued up past Pangboche, the highest year-round settlement in the Khumbu region. During our lunch break, we met an American couple who had just gotten married at the monastery in Tengboche. At least I didn't make Vivian walk all that way for our wedding ceremony!
Pheriche at 4400m. The nights were getting pretty (my altimeter/thermometer watch registering negative numbers in degrees Celcius), but the lodges were usually well-heated with yak shit burning stoves. What can you say about the smell of yak shit smoke? There's nothing else like it in the world. The next day we hiked up the ridge to see the view beyond the village of Dingboche, up the Chukung Valley. Glaciers from the N face of Ama Dablam and Island Peak (the most popular and easiest of the trekking peaks) could be seen to the east, but we continued north in our quest for the ultimate close-up view of Everest from Kala Patar.
A night in Thukla at the Yak Hotel (4600m) brought Vivian's second sighting of fresh snow falling from the sky (and more yak shit smoke). We ran into some trekkers who'd passed us earlier (Swiss, Australian, Canadian, and American) and it was a nice reunion in a cosy lodge.
March 25
Clear skies the next morning urged us on to Lobuche (4900m) which had been described as a shithole by other trekkers but wasn't all that bad really. I had gotten used to sleeping in fits and starts and getting up 5 or 6 times a night to pee (all part of the joys of high altititude), but Vivian suffered her first symptoms in Lobuche. To avoid sleeping even higher at Gorak Shep (5100m), the last settlement before Everest Basecamp, we hiked to Kala Patar and back from Lobuche - a very long, hard day.
