September 9th, 2010

Tangnag to Labuche via Cho La. That’s not a glacier. THIS is a glaier.

Holy shit.

I hit my wall today. I think we all did. And surprisingly it wasn’t the climb up Cho La that did it.

We set out at 6.45 am. And in the first hour were headed right up into the 3,000 vertical feet of the pass. The path is all loose rock and boulders. Beautiful stones to be stepping on, although it’s hard to focus on that when you’re having a tough time breathing. The day is made more difficult as I’m well on my way to a bronchial infection and Lisa woke up with a digestive bug.

But despite that illness. And the clouds. And the vertical climb. And lack of oxygen. We are on top of Cho La pass by 11 am. And we’re in pretty good shape. The entire team of guys has waited on the top for us and when we hit the top they give us a resounding cheer of ‘Stronger than a Yak!’

On the other side of the pass is the glacier I’d imagined. Snow covered ice stretches out in front of us, and a pool of blue water is at the base of our feet. We hang out at the top for a bit, and then head out, slipping and sliding on the ice.

After we cross the glacier and head partway down the slope, we stop for an easy picnic lunch. 12.45. Feeling good. In good spirits. It’s the next 4 or so unexpected hours to Labuche that do us in. I think we figured the hard stuff was over. And then it was hill after hill after hill, that all look the same and never seems to stop. Crossing each rise with hope only to see another rise with despair.

We all get quiet. No singing. Tired. I’ve got a knife in my lungs and Lisa hasn’t really eaten today. Anita is the only one keeping up any kind of attempt at jollity (does that make her sound like Santa Claus? Too ‘Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night?’).

Tsering has told us we’d be there by three. Three rolls around and we’re still in the Himalayan Hall of Mirrors. We’re beginning to crack. I’m holding back obscenities, and Anita is getting punchy.

We finally pull in around 4.30 or so, not too far behind our guys. And pretty much clean up, eat and collapse into bed wondering if our decision to walk through the Himalayas has turned from meditation to madness.

Pictures

Tsering with Cho La Pass behind him

Our team on top of Cho La

Ngawa getting ready to go

Azhi Melwa 'Stronger than a Yak!'

Glacier at Cho La, Tsering in corner for scale

Crossing the glacier

September 8th, 2010

Gokyo to Tangnag. Cards are conversational currency.

Wake to sun. A scratchy throat. A tight chest. One out of three ain’t bad. Today will be a relatively short day. The plan is to cross a glacier to Tangnag. Then rest up for Cho La. The dzos leave us this morning to go around Cho La and meet us in Labuche.

We’re rather excited about crossing the glacier. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Then head out. To my surprise, we return to the same ridge I had wandered up the day before. This time it’s sunny and Pala points out all the mountains and we just enjoy the view.

Pala points right in front of us. ‘That’s the glacier we’re crossing.’

‘Where?’

‘There.’

I don’t see a glacier. I see a weird moonscape. But no ice.

‘There. That is the glacier.’

It doesn’t look like the glacier in my head. The glacier in my head is white and blue and beautiful, maybe even topped with snow. What I see is a long valley filled with grey gravel. Just gravel as far as you can see, with occasional small ponds. Pala insists that is the glacier. Apparently it’s under all the rock. Our walk across a glacier seems much less exciting than we had initially anticipated.

So we start moving across the gravel field. As we walk, cracks and and patters betray the hidden ice, and little rockslides happen every few minutes. We hit a few spots where the melted pools make it possible to see the ice of the glacier. So. This is the glacier. At least it’s sunny and warm. Ni and I strip down to tank tops and even Lisa, shock of shocks, takes off a few layers.

After three short hours we come to Tagnag—a town that consists of 2 or 3 teahouses curled at the base of a cliff. After lunch, the three of us wander up the valley on side trail to see what there is to see. Which is not much. Except for massive fields of drying yak dung, the primary fuel for the region. It’s almost remarkable how much they have. Truly. And it doesn’t stink. Odd.

We head out of ‘town’. The clouds have returned and won’t lift. I do manage to see a pika (a mountain rodent that looks like a cuter version of a hamster), but can’t seem to take a picture.

We enjoy the walk, and the silence. And the moment to just be. We sit, silently, looking out at the architecture of fallen stone. The river rushes.

Anita simply says ‘We are in the Nepal Himalaya’. And all I can say is ‘Yeah.’

When we go back, we still have lots of time, so I pull out the deck of cards I brought. After dinner, we ask to learn a Nepali card game. Pala says, ‘OK, wait here.’ In a few minutes he’s back with the entire team.

It is magic. The cards cut through all language barriers and shyness. Pala pairs each of us up with a member of the team, me and Dawa, Anita and Tsonky, and Lisa and Gara. And they teach us their game, Call Break. Its closest relation to a game I’ve played is Pinochle. We have a blast learning with our partners and then they cut us loose.

We end up playing cards for three hours, laughing and enjoying ourselves. By the end, we’re not winning on our own, but we are holding our own and have figured out the rules.

Then we head off to bed, and leave the guys to play ‘til dawn.

Pictures

Gokyo Lake in the morning

The Glacier

Crossing the Glacier

Sign at the Teahouse in Tangnag

'Firewood' drying

Lisa

September 7th, 2010

Lungden to Gokyo—over Renjo La. Snowcocks.



Our luck doesn’t hold. We wake to rain. Cloudy and grey. So much for sun and an early start. We try waiting it out for a bit, but give up and head out by 7 am. One of the Aussies has a bad headache and their guide is debating the wisdom of going higher.



Today is our first big day. We’re combining what had been two separate days on our itinerary. We’ll head from Lungden over Renjo La (Renjo pass, app. 17,600 feet) and on to Gokyo Lake. So we’ve got about 4,000 vertical feet up and then back down.



So off we go. Up, at a fairly steady pace and grade. When we reach our first major rise we run into a group of 12 Aussie trekkers, pass them, and head on. There are small alpine lakes everywhere and the hills are populated with yak herds. We also flush two Tibetan Snowcock, beautiful birds about the size of pheasant, which run ahead of us.



We continue on. I’m starting to get nauseous, as I did on Kili, and am expecting to vomit. But since I’ve done this before it’s far less alarming. The higher we go, the shorter our breath is, but we pace ourselves and keep moving steadily. The path has turned into a stairway, built with large rocks and boulders by the Sherpas. Ni and I are sucking wind and resort to the old, walk 30 steps, stop and breathe. Rinse and repeat. Lisa forges a bit ahead. The rain turns to sleet. We put our heads down and keep on. And then, we’re there. Atop the pass.



We’re surrounded by prayer flags, but can see nothing but clouds from the top, and a steep drop is our only true sign we’ve made it. I have not thrown up. And surprisingly we’re all ready to eat some of the lunch that was packed for us, and Dawa pulls out a thermos of hot lemonade, a welcome treat.



We share our lunches with the porters, take a break and then head on down.



The trail down takes more concentration than up. It’s steep and built of loose scree. The sleet makes steps tricky. We pretty much stare at our feet for an hour, so it’s a surprise to look up and see a huge green-blue lake in front of us—Gokyo. It’s fed by glacial melt and has that peculiar and special color of a glacial lake.



We flush a huge covey of snowcock, at least 15, but I have yet to time a good picture. Dawa tries to convince me that Tibetan Snowcock are omnivorous and will, in fact, scavenge a dead yak. Since they look like pheasants, I’m not buying it, but who knows. Maybe things are different in Nepal.



So our entire hike has taken us 6 ½ hours. We’ve made very good time and surprised Pala I think—certainly surprised ourselves.



We have soup and tea, and Ni and Lisa go to lie down. The weather is clear, so I take off and wander, eventually heading up to a small ridge. And the clouds lift for a bit. Long enough to see the mountains around, though I don’t know what I’m looking at.



Tonight for dinner, Gara has prepared a special treat. Banana pie. Not a cream pie, but a baked banana pie. The crust is not like ours, it’s not as sweet, and it’s drier and thicker. And it’s awesome.



Then we separate our gear. Tsering tells us that tomorrow the dzos will leave us—with the bulk of the gear--as we’re heading into territory that they can’t go into. This thrills us, because for once we’ll be ‘stronger than a yak’. Pala laughs at us for being so excited about this and stronger than a yak quickly catches on among us all as the call to arms.



Tomorrow will be a short day, but the most challenging will be after that. So we crash and get some sleep. Good day.


Pictures


Top of Renjo La, Pala.

Top of Renjo La, The Azhi Melwa

Me on the way up

Wildflower on the way

Gokyo Lake

Our Teahouse in Gokyo

Kungde

Cho Oyu

September 6th, 2010

Thame to Lungden. House of cards.

Awake to sunshine! Thrilling and bright. Thame has treated us very well. We had a fire, we all made calls to family and generally loved it. And then we wake up to sunshine. Thame, we love you! To our south, bathed in sunshine lies Kongde peak. And to the north lies Tibet. Today will be a relatively short hike to Lungden and the day after the really hiking begins.

The morning is spectacular. Shangri la indeed. It is sunny and gorgeous. Today we follow the Bote Kosi today through a long valley. When we stop for lunch at a small teahouse, we meet our first fellow trekkers on our same route, 3 Aussie gentlemen, all well over six feet tall. They’re on the tail end of a three month tour of Asia. Jealous. Me.

After lunch we come to a fairly high stream with no clear crossing, and Pala and Dawa gamely jump in to build us a rock bridge. And then, in what seems no time at all, we’re at Lungden. Since we’re in so early, Anita and I go off wandering the small town and looking at the river before heading back to the teahouse. This one has cute double bunks, like girls camp and little pitched roof additions being built. It starts to rain, hard, just as the three Aussies appear. They were hoping to make it further but the rain is really not messing around, so we all end up in the common room by early afternoon.

The Aussie boys are fun and good-natured, but they have nothing on their guide. These tall young men have hired a Mongolian guide who is well under 5 feet tall and has more energy the you can imagine. He sings, dances, tells stories, and jokes with us about his many wives. He does a credible impression of one of his Japanese clients falling asleep at the table—‘So tired. So tired. So….Tired.’

We spend the evening reading aloud, eating far too much, laughing hysterically and building houses out of a deck of cards the Aussies have brought. The competition is fierce, but Dawa, a future civil engineer (we hope!!!), clearly destroys the competition.

By the time we head off to bed, the rain has stopped. The skies have cleared and the starts are unreal—so close you feel you can touch them. And as we’re well beyond having electricity, no other light to interfere.

We’re hoping for a clear, early start in the morning for our first hard day. Renjo La. Hoping for a 5.30 start if the weather holds.

Pictures

View of Kungde in the morning.
Closer shot of Kungde
A yak, or nak (depends on gender)
Pala and Dawa building us a bridge
An adorable baby cow along the way
Pala, enjoying the sun
Our teahouse at Lungden
The boys outside hanging out. Gara and Pala in forefront in hats, Dawa and Tsonky behind.

September 5th, 2010

Namche Bazaar to Thame. Cowbells are cool.

We head out early in the morning from Namche Bazaar toward Thame. It’s a day mostly spent walking in the clouds. Gorillas in the mist, part dues. It is a day of steady ascent, following the Bote Kosi (Tibetan River). The scenery is reminiscent of Ireland (or at the least the Ireland I’ve seen in pictures). It is shockingly green here. And the parts of the landscape that have been touched by the Sherpas are small green pastures enclosed by low stone walls.

We’re walking fast enough today to catch up to our dzos, so we stop for a tea break along the way. After our tea break we come to the confluence of the Thame and Bote Kose rivers. It is a crashing, violent meeting. The water is high and rages through tiny canyons worn down by years of water. On a rock face above the confluence are three huge murals, Shiva, one of the Tara’s and on old Tibetan king. They guard and bless the suspension bridge above the rivers.

We head across the bridge and then hike more steeply up and into Thame. Here we are staying at a fabulous teahouse, owned and run by the area’s two doctors, a couple. Thame was the childhood home of Tenzing Norgay, who first summitted Everest with Hillary. And is the home of Apa Sherpa, who currently holds the record for most Everest summits--somewhere currently in the ballpark of 20 times to the top.

After lunch we head out above Thame to visit its monastery. This monastery is an old, traditional monastery—one of the oldest in the region--with a fairly small population of monks. It’s used now mainly for larger, important ceremonies. To our surprise, we are invited to remove our shoes and enter the inner sanctum—sadly, no pictures allowed.

Inside the temple is clearly at the ready. Robes are place in such a way that they seem to almost have bodies in them. They sit up, as if curled around a seated monk. At the far end of the room is a throne (not a throne—clearly--as there isn’t a king, but it looks to my Western educated brain like a throne). It has a robe draped on it, candle burning, offering of rice and a picture of a man on it. The man in the photo is the lama of the monastery. He died last year and they will now wait for his reincarnation to be discovered and for him to return to the monastery.

Every inch of the room is painted, brightly and beautifully, with images of gods, dragons, and Buddha. Small wooden cubbyholes line the walls holding silk wrapped objects. We find out that they hold scrolls of sacred books and writs.

As we head down the path back to the lodge, a stray dog that Lisa has befriend darts ahead of Tsering and I. I hear a loud ringing behind me, and turn to see a cow (with horns mind you—big horns—big scary sharp horns), charging full steam ahead about 3 yards away and closing. Anita yells a warning as I throw myself to the side against a stone wall and Tsering does the same. There is clearly a very practical reason that all large animals in Nepal still wear bells. Ding dong.

That night, our hostess builds our first fire. We all hang our wet clothes on the back of chairs and watch them steam by the stove. The room is soon cozy and warm and we’re happily kicking it by the fire until we drag ourselves to bed at the late hour of 7 pm.

Pictures

Murals above the river. Green Tara and Shiva. Lisa and Dawa below.

Bridge over the river with Lisa and Dawa.

The river and prayer flags on the bridge.

The outside of part of the Thame Monastery.

Prayer flags above the Monastery.

Fields and teahouse from above.

Laundry around the stove.

September 4th, 2010

Namche Bazaar. Our famous guide.

Today is an acclimatization day. So we’ll spend the day here and not hike further. Of course that doesn’t mean the day is sitting around doing nothing. Tsering has two short day hikes planned for us, so we can climb high and sleep low.

The first trip is to a museum atop a rise on the edge of Namche. So we set out in the morning, and as we’re walking up the hill, we see a patch of blue sky. Our first. The higher we get, the bigger the blue. And as we reach the top of the hill, the sun finally breaks through the clouds. We turn and get our first glimpse of the big mama, the big kahuna. Everest. Sagarmatha. True it’s far away. And small. But it’s there. Right in front of is Lhotse Shar, a 27,5000 beauty, with the sun breaking behind it. We stand enjoying the sun and snapping pictures. In that moment.

Ten minutes later the sun is gone and clouds obscure the mountain again. Our moment is gone.

We head into the museum, which chronicles the history of Everest attempts and the traditional life of the Sherpa people. We’re thrilled to find out a little more about Buddhism, as we all find our knowledge sorely inadequate faced with the temples, art and monasteries. Religion is such a part of Sherpani every day life. In what they wear, what they eat, and how they interact with others.

After the museum, we head to the Saturday market and talk Tsering into buying us some extra fresh pears and apples for the trip. Then Tsering sets us free in Namche and the ladies go and do what we do well. We shop. We find a little place run by a sweet Sherpa lady. She sells Lisa a hand knit sweater and Ni and I pick up some of her bracelets and jewelry. I’ve also brought a bunch of bracelets my sister, Dianne, made. I’m hoping to find some special people to give them to. So I give three to our shopkeeper friend. She gives us some bananas in return and makes us promise to see her on our way back.

After lunch we head out on our second day hike—to a tiny airstrip at the top of the rise behind Namche. It’s raining, pretty heavily. So we just hike up as quickly as we can. The Shengboche Airstrip (read: muddy track) lies at 12,303 feet and is only long enough for small 6 seater planes. We hit the airstrip and turn back. No pics, no loitering. Just go.

We return to the teahouse, and to warm up we all pile into one room and give each other back and foot massages. It’s a veritable Namche spa. Then we curl up and do story time, reading pieces from travelers in Nepal. One being Jimmy Carter’s account of climbing Kala Patthar, which we will climb later in the trip.

When we join Pala for tea, we mention Jimmy Carter, who he met in Namche when he was here. Apparently the teahouse where he stayed also boasts the Jimmy Carter rooms-available for rent.

Then Tsering starts to tell us the story of an avalanche he survived on Mt. Mera. As he gets into the details of the story, I realize I’ve heard this story before. It takes me a moment to place it. Then I realize it’s in the book we’ve just been reading, ‘Traveler’s Tales from Nepal’. So that night at dinner I bring the book down and we read the story aloud and it actually mentions Tsering Tendi by name in the story. Such a fun personal moment. Our guide is in a book. Mentioned by name. He’s famous.

Then off to bed.

Pictures: Lisa getting a back massage

Everest through the clouds

Namche from above

Our teahouse in Namche

Cabbage at the market

Free range chicken

Sign in Namche

Lhotse Shar with sun behind

September 3rd, 2010

Phakding to Namche Bazaar. Farts are Funny.



We wake up early. To the sound of rain again. We all use the shower at this tea house, knowing it may well be our last. We breakfast on ku (queue?)(porridge) and eggs and we’re off. The morning is a fairly easy walk. We cross at least four suspension bridges today, high over the Dudh Kosi (Milk River). The river lives up to its name, in most places an angry white. The water is high and fast from all the rain and run-off. And waterfalls are literally on every rock face.



The last suspension bridge of the day is the highest. It’s covered in prayer flags and scarves that whip in the windy canyon. The bridge soars above the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and Bote Kosi. Two raging rivers. The Dudh starts at the base of Everest from the glacial run-off and the Bote Kosi starts in Tibet.



After crossing the confluence we stop for tea and lunch before heading up the 2,000 foot vertical climb into Namche Bazaar. During the steady uphill climb, Anita and I sing until it gets too hard to breathe and then we all switch to playing games, both activities amuse Tsering and Gara, though they didn't participate.



We arrive in Namche (11,280 feet), the largest Sherpa city at around 2.30 in the afternoon and check into a lodge. Then switch to a better lodge. Anita and I then head out to wander the town. The internet is down here, disappointing since we’d promised RJ a message upon arrival. It seems a repairman got confused and cut a wrong wire-oops. So no interweb for us.



We meet up with another guide and trekker who were on our flight, Krishna and Raymond, a young German doctor. Anita is discussing getting her phone or internet to work with Krishna. As we’re standing and chatting, a loud and prolonged fart sounds. Anita had dropped her hand holding her iPhone and had accidentally started up her fart app (an application for the iPhone that makes various fart noises—it was put on her phone by her brother John—thanks!). We figure out what happened and laughingly explain the application to the two men. Krishna is highly amused as we play a variety of farts. Raymond, not so much. At which point we wrote him off. If you don’t think fart noises are funny, especially at 11,000 feet, you are not destined to be our friend.



Tsering runs into us soon after and takes us over to see the Namche market, open on Friday and Saturday. During the market, neighboring Sherpas hike in miles with wares to sell (yak cheese, rice, veggies and processed goods/clothing knock offs from China or Kathmandu) and others hike in to shop. Tarps are erected and goods are laid out on the ground beneath. Tsering hands both Anita and I cubes of aged yak cheese to try. It’s harder than parmesan and is a rather unpleasant combination of smoky and sour. So after a quick nibble we both surreptitiously feed the rest to the dogs and chickens.



On the way back to the lodge, we tell Pala (papa in Sherpa and Tsering’s new nickname) the story of the fart app and the young German doctor. He thinks it’s hysterical and makes Anita play a number of the farts for him. Clearly, we’ve got the right guide. Forget about knowledge of the mountains, Tsering thinks farts are funny. All is right in the world.



We have a lovely dinner and then off to bed. Tomorrow is an acclimatization day.


Photos: Suspension Bridge

Confluence of Dudh and Bote Kosi

Tsering in Front of the Entrance to Namche

Amy Heading out to Hike

Masons hard at work in Namche Bazaar