Around 9.30 we landed. Going through border control and customs was easy and then the waiting for our luggage started. A lot came off the belt, but not ours... At some point, Arjen went to check if the manager of the offloading knew more. He said that still luggage was being loaded off the plane. But when he arrived back at the belt, some Nepali told him that now only luggage that was supposed to arrive the day before was arriving. And indeed, 20 minutes later no new luggage arrived. When we went to the Lost Luggage counter there were about 15 people trying to get attention from the lady in charge. Being a (compared to the Nepali) tall person, Arjen quickly learned that all luggage would arrive the next day and that we would have to come back then. Arjen passed on this news to the others in the group (only 1 did receive his luggage). So it was wait and see and hope we would not have to buy stuff the next day when the luggage would not arrive, because the day after we would fly to Lukla at 7 A.M..
We went to the hotel (the Holy Himalaya) and took a nap. As Arjen had one set of clothes in his daypak, he could change before we went shopping for a trekking map of the Everest region, antibiotics and such. At 6 we gathered in the lobby before going to a restaurant. Turned out that due to a border blockage, there was limited supply of fuel to cook and food in general in the Kathmandu valley. The Gaia restaurant which is close to the Holy Himalaya indeed had a limited menu, but something tasty for everyone. After dinner we went to bed.
Around 7.30 we got up and had breakfast. We met our head guide (Kam Dawa Sherpa, brother of Kaji who joined us in 2012 on our Saribung trip) who joined us to the airport. Patricia found our luggage almost immediately (probably it had arrived on the afternoon flight the day before) and the other bags except one were found quickly too (there was a LOT of luggage in the hall). Finally, Arjen found the bag of someone else in the group as that just came off the belt. So we all had our stuff and no need to buy replacements. By 11.15 we were back at the hotel. Patricia changed clothes and then we went for a walk through the city - to see the standard sights, hoping they had not been damaged too bad in the Earthquakes earlier that year.
We got up at 5 as we needed to be ready to drive to the airport at 6. The bus was ready and so was another group that would take the same bus and the rest of our group, except 1. He'd overslept. By the time he arrived, the bus had already left to drive the other group to the airport. There was a small traffic jam we learned from our guide who was in almost constant contact with the driver of the bus. The airport was notified we were running a bit late (an advantage of a domestic flight and making more than half of the people on board the plane is taht you can influence things...). We eventually arrived at the airport, weighed our luggage (slightly overweight for the group as a whole, but the person who overslept paid for the costs) and went through security. The plane actually was a bit late so we had to wait at the gate for about 15 minutes before we could take the bus to the plane.
During the night, Patricia got sick, but after vomitting felt weak, but better. This was till the case after breakfast (a very heavy banana pancake). Just before 8 we started walking. We went through several small villages. The damage by the earthquakes varied: some were hit harder than others. We did see quite a few collapsed houses and cracked walls. Around 1 we arrived at Phakdingwhre we had lunch. Patricia just had some white rice, but at least something to eat. Afetr an hour we continued. Patricia got the choice: we could stay in Phakding and have a longer day the next day, or we could continue to Monjo as planned. She chose the latter. The last stretch to Monjo was a steep climb, but by 4 we arrived (the lodge was called Mount Kailash). We had tea and then rested in our room for a while before dinner. When we arrived in the dining room, the furnace was burning so it was warm there. After dinner we quickly went to bed.
Patricia was feeling much better. After breakfast (toast and jam for Patricia, an apple pancake for Arjen) we started walking - mostly upstream along the Dudh Khosi. At some point, just after another river had joined the Dudh Khosi, we crossed the suspension bridge to the other side of the river, where the steep climb to Namche begins. About halfway up, there is aviewpoint where you can catch a glimpse of the Everest for the first time on the trek. Luckly we had good weather, so we indeed had a good view. We stopped at the checkpost for the Sagarmatha National Park where we registered we were entering it. By 11.20 we arrived at the Moonlight Lodge. We got (after a switch) a large room with our own toilet en suite. After lunch we relaxed in our room for a while and after that we went to the Everest Bakery. We had cappuccino/tea with a slice of black forrest pie and chocolate cake. On the way back to the lodge, we each bought a pair of thin gloves.
We could start the day quite relaxed - no need to pack up as we would spend the enxt night here as well. We had breakfast at 7 and then went for a day trip to acclimatize. We started walking at 8. The path went up quickly. We passed a landing strip that is nowadays only used by helicopters. From there the path went slowly up to the Everest View Hotel. We had a fantastic view of the Everest range: Cholatse, Taboche, Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. We had a very expensive tea and then continued to Kumjung - the village where many of the Sherpa's guiding in the region come from. We visited the Gompa (it also holds a Yeti skull). Patricia lighted a butter candle on behalf of the group. In the village itself a lot of reconstruction was going ona fter the quakes earlier that year. Many buildings had been restored already, but a lot were still badly damaged. The mani wall and stupa at the Namche side of the town were particularly damaged. On the way down we went to the Sherpa museum, looking at tools they used to work the land, a movie about the area, a house monastery and any things about the climbing history in the region. From there it was a short walk to the hotel where we had lunch.
After breakfast (just some stock for Arjen), we started walking shortly before 8. The path went slowly up and down and with every turn we had a great view of the same mountain range again. The weather was perfect. In Sanasa we had a tea break. When we started again, we walked down to the river at Phunke Tenga (3.330m / 11,100ft.). We crossed the river and had lunch. As Arjen was not feeling well, he just had a coca cola and took a short nap. Just outside the village they have a series of water-driven prayer wheels. Unfortunately only one of them was working. The rest was damaged by the earthquakes. From there on, the only way was up. Arjen had handed over his daypack to a porter and together with the effect of the coca cola, he started to feel a bit more energetic. Shortly after 2pm we arrived in Tengboche (3.860m / 12,866ft.). We stayed in the Tengboche Lodge, next to the monastery. Arjen decided to take some more rest and the rest of the group went to a puja in the monastery. Patricia had brought some roles with prayer flags, but unfortunately the monks were too busy to bless them.
After breakfast (we both had a cheese sandwhich) we started walking. We had a fleece sweater on top of our tees and when the sun came out from behind the peaks, we could walk just in our tees. Another beautiful sunny day so we had spectacular views of the mountains again. The path went gently up, passing several small stupas which made for great pictures with Ama Dablam (very near) in the background. Ama Dablam is a beautiful mountain. We passed through Pangboche and Shomare (4.055m / 13,517ft.) where we paused for tea and noodle soup. Using bioculars, we were able to spot some climbers coming down near the top of Ama Dablam.
Arjen wasn't feeling too good, but managed the last ascent to Dingboche (4.344m / 14,480ft.) where we arrived around 1.30. Arjen was there in March 2009 too and was surprised to see how big the village had become: it had at least trippled in size. We had some tea and hot lemon and some more lunch, We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in our room as you could definately tell we were getting higher because of the temperature becoming lower. After dinner on the way to our room we enjoyed the views of the mountains under the stars and nearly full moon.
As we would spend another night in this lodge,w e didn't need to pack up and could start the day a bit later. We had breakafst around 6.30 and started walking around 7.15, wearing a fleece sweater, a hat and gloves as it was still rather chilly. Once the sun came out, it quickly became warm enough to loose the winter gear again, but as of this day, we had long sleeved shirts. Two hours later we arrived in Chhukhung (4.735m / 15,783ft.). After tea we decided our little acclimisation trip would not be a success if we wouldn't reach at least 5.000m / 16,667ft., so we started walking up the ridge. Around that altitude we walked towards a point (5.038m / 16,793ft.) where we had great views of Nuptse, Lhotse, Island Peak, Makalu, the Chhukhung glacier and Ama Dablam. Wow! At the wind was really cold up there, we decided to go back to Chukhung. We had lunch and after that walked back to Dingboche. We had hot lemon and spent the afternoon reading again. After dinner we were presented two options for the next day, a low route or via Kongma La. Arjen immediately decided to take the low route to be sure to spend the enrgy wisely. Eventually no-one went for the high route as it would be an 11 hour walk and a tough day the day after that too.
We had breakafst around 7 and started walking around 7.45, like the day before, wearing a fleece sweater, a hat and gloves. We went quickly up to a small pass with a stupa and some prayer flags. From there we had great views of Dingboche, Chhukhung and the mountains behind it. Shortly after, Lobuche and a bit later Pumori and Nuptse came into view. After a bit of Nepali flat across a small plain, we went down to the river and then up again to Thukla (4.620m / 15,400) to have tea. Using the zoom of the camera, we were able to spot a group of climbers on Lobuche Peak. Around 10.30 we started walking again, a steep climb to the Thukla pass (4.827m / 16.090ft.) where many memorials are for people that have died on Everest (Scott Fisher who died in the tragic events of 1996 being one of them). We added some prayer flags and then walked to Lobuche (going up slowely but surely). Lobuche (4.914m / 16,380ft.) was just three small lodges in 2009, but had become a small village. After lunch we walked to the edge of the Khumbu glacier (you could hardly see the ice because of the rocks on top of it). After tea we did a bit of reading and Patricia patched her trousers. Inside the main room the phurnace was turned on which made it warm. After a good meal we went to bed. Outside the temperature had just dropped below freezing point.
For the first time we had used our fleece inner bags inside our sleeping bags, so we hadn't felt the cold. We had been awake for quite a while, but that was probably due to the altitude. We started walking shortly after 7. It was still a few degrees below 0 then, so we wore the usual gear (gloves, hat, fleece). After about half an hour we could walk in direct sunlight so we could take the winter gear off again. The path went up gradually but it seemed to be for ages until we finally reached Gorak Shep (5.173m /17,243ft.) aroun 9.20. The lodge were we stayed was the same as the one Arjen camped outside in 2009, but it had been extended enormously. After some soup, we already unpacked in our room before heading off to EBC around 10.25. We mostly walked on the morene side, but eventually on the glacier itself as well, to reach base camp. As there were no expiditions, there was only a bunch of rocks with prayer flags and a sign stating we were at Base Camp at 5.360m (17,867ft.), but our GPS said it was only (5.267m / 17,557ft.). We took some pictures and then quickly returned to Gorak Shep. The wind was picking up and getting colder and the clouds were moving in too. A sign the weather was changing. At 1.45 we arrived back at the lodge. After a light meal and tea we sent some texts home so they knew we had reached EBC. We went to bed shortly after dinner as we would have to get up early to head for Kala Pattar.
We got up at 4.30. Arjen had a peek outside the window and noticed a lot of white. We heard when the group gathered at 5 that there had been quite a bit of snow already, that it was still snowing plus there were strong winds. It was decided to wait a while longer. We started packing our stuff already and eventually did start walking, as the snow nearly had stopped, wind had laid down a bit and it looked a bit less grey, around 6.15. As we got higher, the wind started picking up again and visibility became worse. Around 7, at 5.260m / 17,533ft. we decided to turn around. After tea and breakfast, we started walking to Dzongla around 8.30. We had light snow and poor visibilty all the way to Lobuche. We had hot cocoa in one of the lodges and shortly after 11.30 continued on our way. We took mostly the same route back as we had come up two days before, but only to take the high rout to Dzongla where the low route went down to Thukla. We had a good view of Chola Thso lake. The mountsians behind it only briefly came into view as there were a lot of low clouds. At some point Patricia slipped and twisted here knee. She managed to continue walking (sort of) and we reached Dzong La (4.852m / 16,173ft.) shortly after 2.30. We had tea and soup and after that arranged our stuff in our room. Hoping the dinner room would be warmer, we went there to read. Around 6.30 we had dinner. Shortly after we went to bed. It wasn't snowing anymore, but we were kind of hoping it would start again as Patricias knee was still hurting and we would like to head back the same way, rather than cross Cho La.
After a cold night, we packed our things and after breakfast we headed for Cho La. Patricias' knee wasn't feeling too bad and the clouds had gone away, so we could go for it. Around 6.45 we started walking. At first the terrain was nearly flat, but after that, the path went up very steep. On quite some occasions we had to go up on all fours. Then there was a small stretch across the glacier and then a short but very steep climb to the pass (5.378m / 17,927ft.) where we arrvied at 10.15. It was very windy and snow was falling - not the best of circumstances to enjoy a pass. We quickly put up some prayer flags, took the group picture and then went downhill. Shortly after the sun came out and wind dropped - it quickly became warm. It was a very steep descent and we slipped on more than one occasion, fortunately without any consequences. On a relatively flat area we had lunch and after that we had to go up again (to above 5.100m / 17,000ft.) before the long descent into Dragnag (4.709m / 15,697ft.). By that time it had started to hail and snow again. We were exhausted when we arrived. Fortunately our guide had decided the day before to not follow the original program but to cut the day short and stop in Dragnag, otherwise we would have had to continue to Gokyo. We had tea and soup and then unpacked and rested for a while. We warmed ourselves near the phurnace (a much better one than that of the day before) and had hot cocoa and coca cola. A 500ml bottle cost 500NPR, the most expensive so far. One of the other guests was a dutch woman who would go the opposite direction together with her friend the next day. After chatting with her for a while, we went to bed around 9 (very late!).
After a warm night - it had snowed, so the clouds caused it to remain relatively warm - we packed our gear and had breakfast at 6.30. When we started walking we had our thin goretex coats on top of our fleece sweaters and were wearing goretex pants too. After walking alongside the Ngozumba glacier for a while, we crossed it: up, down, around large boulders and small lakes and up and down again. Patricia slipped, managed to keep her balance by using a pole, but bent it in the process. On the other side it was a short but stepp climb and then we could see Gokyo, Gokyo Thso (lake number 3) and Gokyo Ri behind it. Around 10.30 we arrived at our lodge (Gokyo resort). We were glad we hadn't had to do this stretch from Dragnag to Gokyo the day before as planned in the original program... After tea and dropping our stuff in our room, we had soup. Around noon we headed for Gokyo Ri; a climb of 570m / 1,900ft. The sun had cleared the snow off the path, but it was still a steep and difficult climb up. Around 2.10 we arrived. We put up some more prayer flags. Unfortunately we had a lot of clouds and teherfor not the best possible views (we could not see Cho Oyu or Everest), but it was still beautiful. Shortly after 2.30 we headed down again and we arrived back at the lodge at 3.40. We had hot lemon, some nuts, dinner, some more tea and then it was time for bed again. From here on we would sleep lower, so we stopped taking Diamox.
The sky had cleared overnight, but it had still been relatively warm taht night. At 7 we had breakfast. Some people decided they want to go up Gokyo Ri after all. We didn't feel like going up again, so the group split. Around 8 we and one other from the group headed down, regularly looking behind us to enjoy the view of Cho Oyu. We passed Taujung Thso (lake number 2) and Longponga Thso (lake number 1) while quickly going down. You could feel the extra oxygen in the air. Shortly after 10.30 we arrived in Macherma where we had hot cocoa and lunch. Around 11.45 we continued on our way. The lower we got, the more we felt we were entring civilisation again: more and more small houses and yak meadows. Around 1.30 we arrived in Dhole. We had hot lemon and did some reading next to the phurnace. The rest of the group arrived after 5. We had our inner fleece bag in our sleeping bag as it was quite cold here.
A tiny layer of snow had fallen during the night, which made for nice views. After breakfast we started walking around 7.30. The first part of the path went gently down to Phortse Tenga (3.605m / 12,017ft.) where we arrived around 8.45. From there we had to go almost the same altitude difference back up again to Mong at 3.975m / 13,250ft.. From Mong, where we arrived around 10, we had great views of Phortse, Tenboche and Ama Dablam. We had tea in a lodge next to the Stupa, which had been severely damaged by the earthquakes. From Mong we walked to Sanasa - the circle was complete: here we were back on the path we had taken up two weeks before. From there we walked to our lodge in Namche where we arrived at 1 o'clock. For lunch we went back to the Everest Bakery for cappuccino and pies (black forrest and apple pie). We informed our families we were back in Namche. Back in the hotel we took a long hot shower.
We didn't sleep well - maybe we were not tired enough? - and got up early. The whole group was early, so we could already start walking at 6.45, but it would be a long day anyway, so that was fine. Just before we reached the checkpost, we saw some Impeyan or Monal Pheasants, Nepal's "national bird". Unfortunately we weren't able to take a decent picture of it. Further down we ran into a different group from the same organisation. They were doing the same trek, but had started walking from Paphlu rather than Lukla. By 9 we reached Monjo where we stopped for tea. From there the path went down a bit steeper. We passed through TokTok, which had severe earthquake damage and then arrived in Phakding. We had lunch there and by 12.30 we were on our way for the final stretch to Lukla. The last part went quite a bit uphill, but around 3 we finally arrived in Lukla (our lodge being at 2.805m / 9,350ft), ending the trek. We had a beer to celebrate. We handed out tips to our porters as there would not be an opportunity the next day and we had collected some clothes for them that we handed out too. We went to bed early as the plane would be leaving around 7.
We got up, packed our stuff and at 5.30 had breakfast. Just before 6 we walked to the airport. The first plane was already there and ours arrived a bit later. We said goodbye to the porters and before 7 we were in the air. At 7.25 we landed in Kathmandu. Our hotel had been able to arrange some fuel for the shuttle bus in spite of the shortage (as the border with India was still being blocked). In the hotel we unpacked and took a shower. After relaxing a bit, we headed for Pumpernickel for some lunch. After lunch we did a bit of shopping and after a while went back to Pumpernickel for some pie. The rest of the day we relaxed back in our room. We went for dinner - because of the border issues, the selection of dishes was very small, but as it included a veggie dal bhat, we were happy anyway. After dinner we went for drinks at Gaia. Around 10 we went to bed.