This is the 1st of a few blogs on Nepal - originally intended to be written out there, but lack of signal and poor technology choices on my part scuppered that one!
This blog covers the first stage of a long break, a 2 week trek upto and back from, Gokyo. My wife was with me for this stage only, hence the return to Lukla. As well as being a record of our stay, it may provide potential visitors with some useful background information. Subsequent stages include some solo trekking over the high passess of the Khumbu and an attempt on Ama Dablam, unsuccessful due to an accident caused by rope breaking on an abseil descent - more on the that to come.
I'm also planning to put up a trekking kit list ranked by what I used and what I actually found useful.
The bulk of pictures from this stage are collected in a youtube video, so I haven't repeated them here. This is the same one as posted on my website and facebook page so you can save yourself the pleasure of a repeat if you've seen it :-)
For those who want to see the pics they are: http://youtu.be/m0yNqbj4-IY
For those who haven't been, there is description of a lodge at the end.
Nepal Stage 1:Kathmandu - Lukla-Namche-Gokyo-Namche-Lukla-Kathmandu
Like most developing world cities a shocking mixture of modern and old, wealth & abject poverty. Overall a very busy, very dirty city which may have been quite special a few hundred years ago!
Day 2:
flight to Lukla, walk to Benkar
A chaotic check in at KTM airport (really glad we had an
agent here) followed by a really cool half hour flight on a 16 seat Dornier
STOL plane and first view of the
mountains!
Then an exciting landing at Lukla's very short airstrip - even these
STOL planes have to do a sharp right at the end to avoid the wall.
Short walk over to Paradise Lodge for a hearty breakfast, finalise kit
leaving arrangements with the owner and hire a porter. Finally started on our
trek!
We aimed to get to Phakding at least and if all well continue on towards Monjo. Despite the number of people on the trail (a
lot) we started to enjoy it immediately. Lots of new sights and then our first
suspension bridge over the Dudh Khosi! Despite
a leisurely pace and a coffee stop we made Phakding in good time and after a
hearty lunch decided to carry on.
The fascinating thing about this trail is that from Lukla, there is no
transport other than by foot.
Admittedly, some of the feet aren’t
human – as in they are donkey, horse, Dzopkio or Yak - but there is nothing motorised or wheel
based , no cars, jeeps, tractors, bikes. There are helicopters, but they are
primarily for emergency and transport very little of the region’s provisions or
people.
With afternoon drawing on and tiredness setting in we came across a
charming lodge at Benkar called Waterfall View Lodge - aptly named for the
waterfall right next to it - and decided to call it a day. After settling in and a cosy few hours
wrapped in a blanket in the main room and dinner, we decided to call it a day
and went to bed - at 7.30pm!
Day 3: Benkar - Namche Bazaar
(3400m)
The extra 2 hours gained the previous day meant we could have a
relatively leisurely start, but our porter looked horrified when we suggest an
8am breakfast, so we settled on 7.30am and were underway before 8.30.
The day followed a similar pattern to yesterday to begin with; leisurely,
undulating walking and a number of suspension bridges before lunch. Afternoon brought
the steep climb up to Namche which included a very high suspension bridge and
our first view of Everest and Lohtse. It
was a much better view than expected and we both felt quite emotional.
We
arrived mid afternoon and were ushered into the Kamel Lodge by our porter who
seemed very keen we stay there - I'm sure they have some arrangement going with
lodge owners. Still, after a brief
check it seemed a reasonable place, so we decided to stay. After lemon tea and
getting gear sorted, we hot footed it to the Everest Bakery for a very pleasant
cappuccino, apple pie and wifi - not very wilderness but nice!
Namche is clearly geared up for the trekking tourist trade but manages
to retain its charm. The buildings are fairly traditional Sherpa stone
buildings even if the billboards and tin roofs aren't! The narrow cobbled/mud
streets are frequently blocked by Dzopio trains and random Dzopio cows and
calves wander the streets at will. The place is pretty clean - much more so
than KTM - and the Sherpa people are infectiously friendly and smiley. Their
English is superb and it's common to get very small, incredibly cute children
engaging you in conversation, English now being the main teaching language.
There is electricity most of the time and better mobile reception than I get at
my house!
Day 4: Namche based, walk to
Everest View Hotel
A Steep uphill hike, round a corner led to an unexpected and amazing view
of the mountains! Everest, Lohtse, Nuptse were clear to see but the
view was dominated by the beautiful and solitary form of Ama Dablam. A slightly strenuous onward
walk to the hotel followed, where we sat on the terrace drinking tea and eating cake, whilst
staring at probably the best cafe view in the world!
After a nice chat with an Australian couple we walked back down to a
later than ideal lunch at another cafe/bakery, before back up the lodge for a
hot chocolate and sleep before dinner.
Day5: Namche to Dole (4040m)
This is a big day and we were a bit concerned about how we would do. In the end it was a superb trekking day. The first half is fairly undulating, under
the shadow of AD and Everest until turning off the main Everest Base Camp trail at Sanasa onto a much quieter and steeply rising trail to Mong-La before an equally steep
descent to Phortse Tenga (PT). On the
rising section we were lucky to spot a herd of Tahr (native mountain goats) and
a large raptor circling overhead - not sure if it was a Griffon Vulture or a Lammergeier but we
aren't fussy!
After lunch at PT we started the steep, long drag up to Dole. Despite
the steepness in places, this is a lovely section incorporating rhododendron
forest and numerous waterfalls, where we were lucky to see a couple of Musk
Deer including a male with his characteristic fangs. Beyond the forest, the area opens out to
reveal a superb vista of waterfalls and snow peaks above, with steep river
valley below. Sooner than expected we reached Dole and chose the Himalayan
Lodge, a traditional looking but fairly
new lodge and bagged the last twin room – result!
Dole is small but very pleasant, spanning a stream and small valley,
which provides trees and interesting vegetation to complement the Yak enclosures.
Day 6: Dole to Machermo (4410m)
This is a relatively short day but with 400m of height gain and another
400m to the next village - our destination of Gokyo - Machermo is the obvious and
sensible choice.
We awoke to a fairly heavy frost but with morning sun, it had melted by
the time we set off at 8:30. The day began with a stiff climb out of the side
valley onto the main valley side and then a more reasonable rising traverse in
lovely sunshine towards Luza. We were both feeling the altitude a bit more but
still moving faster than most and this section was illuminated by our first Eidelweiss
and then the magnificent 8000m peak of Cho Oyo came into view, dominating the
head wall at the end of the valley.
By the time we dropped down to Luza after a shade over 2 hours, we
were more than ready for a stop and a reviving hot chocolate basking in the
sun. Reluctantly, we got moving again with
another stiff little climb back onto the valley side, hitting snow for the first time – unusual for this section of trail, but the typhoon about 10 days
previously had left its mark in Nepal as well as India. From then on a mixture
of mud and slush made the going slightly slippy and we were glad to make
Machermo at around 11.30am, check into the very pleasant Namgyal Lodge and
order a delicious lunch of Tibetan bread and vegetable momos - a kind of
Tibetan dumpling.
Following an afternoon nap I headed over to the medical post at 3pm for
a talk on altitude illnesses and porter protection. During the talk I had my
blood saturation measured at 90% - not bad considering our rate of ascent.
After more chilling out back at the lodge and a few rounds of cards it was time for dinner - a
delicious curry - and this blog update!
Machermo was heavily snow covered when we were there, making it
difficult to assess what it would be like normally. It is split by another stream, but unlike
Dole has no other vegetation and came across as a little bleak, albeit with
some superb views.
Day 7: Machermo to Gokyo (4800m)
Another fairly short day with around 400m height gain with a
guidebook time of 3hrs. The day started
with another stiff little climb and then straight into the snowline and an exposed rising traverse until we met the narrow ablation valley at the very
upper end of the river. From then on an increasingly steep climb along
the side of the valley wall on a decent, but in places icey, path saw us
using our Kahtoola spikes for the first time. From here on, congestion with slow moving
organised groups became quite a problem. As we got higher, we observed an interesting
phenomenon in the river - two separate streams flowing down from twin sources, one straight from the glacier was a milky white with glacial debris, whilst the
right hand stream flowing from the first lake was clear, the two streams joined
and mingled only slowly. Shortly
afterwards we reached the first lake, took our chance to pass most of the slow
moving snake and settled into our own pace once more up to the much more
spectacular second lake. Here, we had
the obligatory photo shoots before plodding on tiredly to the third lake and
our destination, Gokyo. We crested the
outflow moraine and were treated to a breathtaking sight - an azure blue lake
nestled in a bowl below some magnificent rocky, snowy spires and Gokyo village
nestled just above the shoreline. As we
entered the village I spotted a guide/porter we had met en route and asked for
a recommendation. He instantly replied
'Gokyo Lodge' and nipped off to get us the last room available - a really nice gesture especially as it was a superb
little twin overlooking the lake and catching the lunchtime sun. After a very pleasant lunch, we sunbathed and drank in the view for a while, then feeling
exhausted had an afternoon kip before dinner - a very nice Spag Bol! Post
dinner we sat and chatted with some fellow guests and played cards until the
heat of the stove and tiredness drove us to bed fairly early - big day for me
tomorrow climbing Gokyo Ri, a height of 5330m and my first time over 5000m.
Day 8: Gokyo (4800m) + Gokyo Ri
(5330m)
Today was an acclimatisation/rest day after gaining over 1000m in height
since Namche, but with the walk up Gokyo Ri, with its famed views of Everest,
Lohtse, Makalu, Cho Oyo as an activity for me.
I decided to test myself a bit by trying to set a reasonable pace and
keep going all the way if possible. The guide book time is 1.25 - 3 hrs to the
summit and I hoped to get somewhere near the fast time. I set off fairly steadily at 8:30 am exactly
and found a good rhythm with hard but controlled breathing, though I quickly found was overdressed, so
stopped after about 5 mins to strip a layer. From then on it was non-stop to
the top, my rhythm only interrupted when catching up slower moving groups. I
didn't look at my watch again until the top - 9:18am a total time of 48 mins
... I was amazed! I'm clearly in reasonable shape and fairly well adapted at
this altitude which bodes well for Ama Dablam.
I then concentrated for the next 40 mins on the breathtaking views from
this viewpoint, becoming quite emotional as I looked at the north col of
Everest and Mallory's 1924 route above it. Mallory is a climbing hero of mine and I
found myself hoping more fervently than ever that he did make it, even though
he didn't live to tell the tale. I have no issues with Hillary/Tenzing being
the first ascensionists - to my mind you have to come back to claim a
successful ascent - but it would be a fitting tribute to a climber ahead of his
time and obsessed with Everest, if it were ever proven that he stood on the
summit.
Back to the present, mission accomplished I wandered back down in more relaxed
fashion, staying clear of the main track to enjoy the snow and meeting Julie at
the bottom. We then settled down to a relaxed day of drinking coffee and
eating, which was slightly interrupted when I discovered that there is a leaders
ladder for the ascent of Gokyo Ri and the lead time is 46:25! Being the
competitive soul I am, I immediately started pondering 'what ifs' - if I'd
known there was a leader board, if I had started 'cool', eliminating the layer
stop, etc. Maybe I'd have got close to, or beaten that time. I reckon I could
have but I'm not going back to try again! We spent a very good afternoon sunbathing and buying some artwork from the 'Highest art gallery in the World' but
it was clear that potential weather changes could be on the way as high cloud moved
in and took away the heat of the sun. We retreated inside to play cards and
write this blog. Tomorrow we aim to leave by 7:15am and get as far back down
the valley as we can, ideally to Kyanjuma, so long as the weather doesn't have
other ideas!
Day 9: Gokyo – Kyanjuma
We knew we had set an ambitious target and so it proved, although overall
we had a very enjoyable day. We saw quite a few more EIdelweiss – more than I
have ever seen in Europe – and spent quite a while watching Musk Deer and
Danphe (the National bird of Nepal) and enjoyed a couple of coffee/lunch
stops. The long climb up from Phortse
Tenga to Mong-La was tough though and by the time we had descended back to
Kyanjuma it was getting dusk. I sent our
porter, Dawa on ahead of us from Mong-La to ensure we got in a lodge
somewhere. I had hoped for the Ama
Dablam Lodge but it was full. In the end,
we had a newly built lodge all to ourselves complete with our own brand new toilet,
though still with the usual bucket flush. The view
we encountered in the morning at breakfast was superb, with Ama Dablam
dominating the near skyline and pine trees adding some colour and
differentiation.
Day 10: Kyanjuma – Jorsale
The reward for yesterdays’ haul was a fairly mild day, nearly all
descent and the chance to chill for a while in Namche - cue Everest Bakery and
coffee shop again! We had a recommendation for the evenings lodge, the Nirvana
Lodge at Jorsale - just after the
suspension bridge which follows the descent – so we sent Dawa on ahead to
reserve a room and lingered quite a while, before taking the old trail down as
far as Top Danda. This was narrower, but
still good and very quiet. We arrived at
the suspension bridge as the shadows lengthened and met our trusty porter
waiting for us at the far end. The
lodge, looking a little like an English country cottage, was superb, overall
the nicest one we stayed at.
Day 11: Jorsale – Lukla
Pretty much a repeat of our first trekking day. This time with the climb back to Lukla at the
end, but with better acclimatised lungs!
It felt a long day, though I think some of this was down to the flat
feeling of knowing it was almost over. We arrived at the Paradise Lodge mid
afternoon to discover that many flights had been cancelled and that some people
were backlogged 3 days! We hoped Julie
would get out OK and took comfort from the fact that our agents, Himalayan Guides,
use the Paradise Lodge owners as part of their team. The owner worked with Hillary to build the
runway he and his son also run the airport terminal :-) We settled down and enjoyed our last evening
together with a sizzling steak and a glass of wine!
Day12: Lukla – Kathmandu (Julie)
Well we were lucky, Julie’s flight was first thing and she made it as
one of only 6 flights out that day. It was a sad little parting after such an
amazing 10 days and she now has time to spend in KTM before heading home whilst
I have a rest/wash day here before setting off on stage 2 – the Rhenjo-La (via
Thame) and Cho-La before meeting my Ama Dablam team for stage 3.
Useful info:
A lodge/tea-house typically comprises a granite stone building with tin roof. It usually has a shared room where everybody gathers, socialises and eats. There is a stove which burns wood and (higher up) yak dung and there may have blankets to wrap up in. The rooms seem to be mainly twin rooms these days rather than old style dorms, with a pillow and blankets - you will need a sleeping bag and ideally a pillow case. The rooms have no heating and very thin plywood walls, so they can be cold and if your neighbour snores, noisy. Toilets are shared (except for few lodges where you pay a premium for a private loo) and are often 'french' style (ie a hole!) although there were more 'sit on' toilets than we expected and often lodges had both. In the majority of case there is no flush (or it doesn't work due to the cold) but this is overcome by means of a large container of water ( which occasionally freezes overnight) and a bucket. Overall the toilets are primitive by western standards but better than we expected. Costs for a room are very cheap c. NR200 or $2 so long as you eat breakfast and dinner there. Food is more expensive, with a pot of tea costing more than a room for the night, but overall $30-35 a day for food and lodging is quite achievable.
There a loads of them between Lukla and Namche so deciding as you go is quite easy. In the higher areas, they are generally clustered in small remote villages once off the EBC trail, but seem to be on the increase (certainly more than in our guidebook). As a single or couple you will generally be OK to turn up on spec - we were - but larger groups should definitely look at booking in advance.
Useful info:
A lodge/tea-house typically comprises a granite stone building with tin roof. It usually has a shared room where everybody gathers, socialises and eats. There is a stove which burns wood and (higher up) yak dung and there may have blankets to wrap up in. The rooms seem to be mainly twin rooms these days rather than old style dorms, with a pillow and blankets - you will need a sleeping bag and ideally a pillow case. The rooms have no heating and very thin plywood walls, so they can be cold and if your neighbour snores, noisy. Toilets are shared (except for few lodges where you pay a premium for a private loo) and are often 'french' style (ie a hole!) although there were more 'sit on' toilets than we expected and often lodges had both. In the majority of case there is no flush (or it doesn't work due to the cold) but this is overcome by means of a large container of water ( which occasionally freezes overnight) and a bucket. Overall the toilets are primitive by western standards but better than we expected. Costs for a room are very cheap c. NR200 or $2 so long as you eat breakfast and dinner there. Food is more expensive, with a pot of tea costing more than a room for the night, but overall $30-35 a day for food and lodging is quite achievable.
There a loads of them between Lukla and Namche so deciding as you go is quite easy. In the higher areas, they are generally clustered in small remote villages once off the EBC trail, but seem to be on the increase (certainly more than in our guidebook). As a single or couple you will generally be OK to turn up on spec - we were - but larger groups should definitely look at booking in advance.
