We didn't sleep very well. Around 8 we had breakfast. In the hotel is a little shop where it's possible to rent trekking gear. We didn't bring dawn jackets so we rented them there. After that we and some others from the group went to see Durbar Square. It looked much better than 8 years ago (see our Around Annapurna page). There's an admission fee (200 NPR) now for tourists of which many of the locals disapprove since they feel it goes directly into the wallet of the guy to which you pay it. Officially you have to pay it each time you cross the square or get a pass (for 200 NPR and a photo), but you can also explain where you're heading if you just need to cross the square to get where you want to go. We looked at the temples and of course the house of the living godess.
After a good night's sleep and breakfast we headed for Pashupatinath. Apparently there's an admission fee there too, but because this day was a festive day (as is almost every day in October) we didn't have to pay. Pashupatinath is one of the places where Nepali burn their dead and let the ashes float in the river - very impressive. Downstream (and that's just a few feet downstream) there are people searching for gold and other valuables that end up in the river...
After the last night in a proper bed for the next three weeks we got up around 7. After breakfast we headed for the airport around 8. In a "Yeti Airlines" Twin Otter for 20 people we headed for Paphlu. The stewardess offers sweets and wadden against the noise. The flight and landing went very well and after only 30 minutes we arrived at the airstrip of Paphlu.
Here we met some of our porters. We had lunch (Dal Bhaat) and then the trek really started. Our first camp site would be in Ringmo, next to the "Numbur Lodge".
We slept reasonably well. It's light quite early (around 5.40). The tent was quite wet. Unfortunately there was no time to dry it before we start walking. We had breakfast outside. It was dry, but very cloudy. Around 8.30 we started walking. First we headed up to Trakshindo La (3071 m. / 10,235 ft.). There's a gate at this pass where you have a good view of the Mera Peak when the sky is clear, but not today. We visited the Trakshindo gompa where we witnessed a ceremony and drank Yak tea. Then we descended to Nuntala where we arrived around 12.30. Fortunately the tent dried quickly. After lunch it started to rain, which it would continue to do all through the rest of the day. We went to bed early (around 8.30).
Every time we were awake during the night we heard rain, but by the time we had to get up it was dry. During breakfast a group of 5 children performed a song and dance. Around 8.30 we started walking and descended to the Dudh Kosi river (1550 m. / 5,165 ft.). This river is fed by the glaciers of the Everest and Cho Oyu. From there the path went up to Kharikola through corn fields. We had a bit of sun and when the sun was there, it was immediately quite warm. We had tea at the "Quiet View lodge" on the way up. After that there's a pass. Here the weather changed and just as we arrived in Kharikola, it started to rain. Our tent arrived late, but fortunately the weather improved again so it could be put up dry. A few leeches were spotted. The campsite was next to the "Tashi Delek" lodge. In the lodge we had lunch and dinner. In the evening the staff was introduced: 5 guides, the cook and 4 guys helping him and 43 porters.
The sun was shining so everybody was up early. Before 8 we started walking. It was warm, but we rather had sun than rain. At first we were walking through fields of corn and later through woods. At the Namdoling gompa we had Yak tea. Around noon we arrived at Pangkongma. Again we had a very nice camp site (next to the Himalayan Trekkers Lodge). It was decided that we would stay the next day too. Some people decided to wash their laundry. This day we left the Everest Trail. That is supposed to be a touristic route, but we hardly saw any tourists. Probably that is caused by the Maoist actions earlier this year. Sometime during the day Patricia was bitten by 2 leeches.
Arjen wasn't feeling well (diarrhea), so he decided not to join Patricia and the group for the walk up to the Pangkongma La pass which would also be on the route the next day. Two others also stayed behind. On the way back the group would stop at the Gompa (20 minutes from Pangkongma) and Arjen and Peter and René decided to join them there. They arrived exactly when the group arrived there too. Back at the campsite we washed our hair. After lunch the staff had bought a live goat which they were going to prepare for dinner. They asked if we would want to watch - no thanks... Two other groups arrived today. With the next campsite being very small that was not a very nice idea.
At 8 we started walking. It was very cloudy already. Not very promissing as the weather each day seems to get worse during the day. We arrived at the pass around 9.10. From there we walked on the ridge. Because of the clouds and fog we couldn't see much of the supposedly very nice views. The woods were moist, but very nice to see. 12.30 we arrived at the campsite. The best spot was already taken so we (with much help from the porters) had to create a flat area to put the tents on. When the fog was away for a few seconds we had good views of the vally below. In the afternoon it started to rain again.
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Insight Guide Nepal by Zoe Ross and Tom Le Bas |
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Lonely Planet Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, Eighth Edition by Stan Armington |
This day started with fog and after an hour or so we had lots of rain. At lunch time we had hail and after that more rain. It was a long way with a lot of Nepali flat and a very steep climb near Tuli Kharka. We were very tired and unfortunately we had to wait again for our porter to bring the tent. Luckily there was a lodge (Rocky Himalayan) next to the campsite. To make up for us having to wait, the porters put up the tent. The fire place supposedly cost 50 NPR per person, but our tour guide arranged that we would pay 500 NPR for wood and fire the entire evening. We went to bed late after having dried our wet clothes near the fireplace. Back in the tent Arjen wanted to listen to some music, but discovered his MP3 player had died.
The day started promissing with sunshine. Not long after we started walking the sun disappeared, but at least it stayed dry... At first it was Nepali flat again towards two passes. After that it was downhill all the way to the Hinku Drangka river. There we took the path left, upstream next to the river. Around 3.30 p.m. we arrived in Khote. In Khote there are quite a few shops and some lodges. It is also a Maoist town (at the entrance of the village there's a sign that says "The teacher is the key to the reform (C. Mao)". We put up our tents. In the evening we learned that a Maoist had come to our guides to collect our "voluntary" donation. They had negotiated a price of 1600 NPR per tourist. A good price we were told. Last couple of years the price had been much higher and had to be paid for the porters and cooking staff too.
Around 6.20 we had bed tea. We could here people discussing which of the mountains that were visible would be Mera Peak so we quickly got up. Against a clear blue sky there were some beautiful peaks (Mera Peak, Peak 43 and some unnamed peaks). Finally we had some nice views! We shot a lot of pictures - way to many, but then again, this was our first opportunity to see what we came to see. The Maoist showed up to collect his money. In exchange we got a receipt. The receipt was for 2500 NPR, so 1600 was indeed a nice price.
At dawn the temparture inside the tent was -4 degrees Celcius. We stayed at this campsite for a full day to get acclimatised to the altitude. In the morning we walked up Kusum Kang Guru up to the lake at the bottom of the Glacier. It was a very nice climb, especially since we were walking in the sunlight for most of the climb. From the ridge near the glacier we had a great view of Mera La across the valley. Around noon we arrived back at the campsite. After lunch Arjen shaved and Patricia washed her hair (as it turned out, that was the last time before we arrived back in Kathmandu). Later we practiced putting on our crampons and harnesses. After dinner the sky became clear again and by the time we went to bed the temperature was already below 0.
At breakfast the cooking staff gave us a big cake. Unfortunately they presented it after we had eaten... We asked them to keep it until lunchtime.
After about 15 minutes of walking we reached the point in the valley that was exposed to the sun. It quickly warmed up. On our way up to Khare (also known as base camp) we met a lot of people coming down after a succesful ascent of the peak and some who had't reached the top. We walked across some sort of plateau (Dig Kharka) after which there was a steep climb. After that we could see the campsite, which again was quite big.
This day was again a day to get acclimatised and also to practise walking with crampons. When we woke up it was 
Yesterday Lineke sprained her ancle so she had to stay behind. Just after 8 a.m. we started walking. The steep climb we already had done the day before seemed even longer and more difficult than the day before. Arjen walked in front of Patricia to keep her from walking to fast. Strange because usually it's the other way around. The higher we got, the nicer the views. Around 5300 meters (17,650 ft.) there was a wall of icicles: very nice!
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Trekking and Climbing in Nepal (Trekking & Climbing Guides) by Steve Razzetti |
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Footprint Nepal Handbook : The Travel Guide by Tom Woodhatch |
We woke up at 0.30 a.m.. Arjen had a bad headache and was still feverish so he decided to stay at 
During the night about an inch of snow had fallen. The weather seemed to be nice, but the sky was not as clear as the days before. This day would be a long day. Patricia decided to start with antibiotics that evening. At the start we had a little bit of snow, but closer to Tangnak it was dry. Even walking down the mountains was hard labour for Patricia. Soon we decided it would be best for her to start at lunchtime with the antibiotics as she had trouble breathing and was producing a lot of green/grey sputum. John (the tourguide) came up to us and had one of the guides carry her bag and also said she should start with the antibiotics as he suspected she had pneumonia. At Tangnak we had lunch. During lunch it started to snow. When we were walking down the valley, it started to snow harder and the snow was quite wet. Because Patricia wasn't able to walk as fast as she normally would, it took us a very long time before we reached Khote. The tents had been put up and were already covered with an inch or two of snow. We spent the evening in the same lodge as we did on the way up - pleasantly warm. Some French people were there as well (heading up). Some of their luggage had been stolen from their tents. The rumour was that they hadn't paid the Maoists and this had been their revenge.
The day started of very sunny - even nice enough to have breakfast outside. Peter didn't join us as he was feeling cold. After breakfast we walked through the village to shoot some pictures of the locals and their way of life. They didn't bother at all and the kids loved to see themselves on the LCDs of the digital cameras. Later that morning the clouds came in and by lunchtime it was snowing again. At dinnertime the tents that had been cleared of snow by the sun, were covered in snow again. It turned out that a few people had more or less problems with frostbite. Peter's toes looked the worst, but still not too bad.
We got up early to enjoy walking in the sunshine as long as possible. The sky was completely blue and it seemed as if today would be the first completely dry and sunny day. We walked long the river. The rocks were red and they were covered with green moss - a very nice combination. When we reached the end of the valley we had to turn right. From that point on it would be some Nepali flat at first and only climbing later on. We were overtaken by another group of Dutch people (you'll find us in whatever exotic location you can think of, even though there's only 16 million of us...).
By then the first clouds and the fog was coming in.
Arjen slept very well and Patricia not to bad either. The antibiotics were doing their job as she was feeling a bit better.
A very relaxed day in a warm (certainly compared to the previous days) and sunny Lukla. We watched the planes arrive and depart from Lukla airport - a very short landing strip. After that we walked up and down the main road of Lukla. We had a bite at the German Bakery and later in the afternoon Patricia also had some Dal Bhaat for lunch. Patricia went to see some more of Lukla together with Lineke. Arjen stayed in the tent to listen to some music - his MP3 player was alive again!
We had to get up around 6 as we had an early flight back to Kathmandu. In the end it was around 8 before we left - after a strict security check.
Patricia was feeling much better. Arjen stayed at the hotel to read (State of Fear by Michael Crichton) so he could return it to the bookshop. Patricia went to Kirtipur together with Lineke and René. Around noon Arjen went to the Pumpernickel again for lunch. This time he had a yak cheese sandwich. Just when he left, Patricia, René and Lineke arrived for lunch. By the time Patricia wanted to order, the famous cream cheese sandwiches were available again. Both of us ordered fresh orange juice.
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Lonely Planet Nepal (7th Ed) by Bradley Mathey |
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Trekking in Nepal: A Traveler's Guide by Stephen Bezruchka, Stephen Bezruchka M. D., Robert Kunstaetter |