Clouds With Rocks In Them

PHOTO ALBUM - Trekking Jiri-Gokyo-Lukla-Jiri

For our final trek in Nepal we planned a 19-day trek in the Everest region, which, due to a bit of logistical challenges, turned into a 25-day endurance marathon. We encountered rain, sleet, snow, hail, fog, sunshine;  beautiful mountain vistas and idyllic farmland in rural Nepal; cancelled airline flights and one hell of a long walk.  It was amazing, breathtaking, and jaw-dropping gorgeous.  We are now many pounds lighter, thoroughly exhausted, and glad to be back in Kathmandu.

Our trek in the Solo and Khumbu Regions of Nepal started with a bus ride to Shivalaya.  Most people on shorter timeframes fly directly into the Khumbu region to Lukla to start their trek to Everest Base Camp, Gokyo, or wherever their trekking or climbing plans are to take them.  However, we heard that the six additional days from Shivalaya to Lukla were very nice and a good experience with the real rural Nepal.  Since we had the time and it makes a great altitude acclimatization trek – and since there can be hassles associated with flights to/from Lukla often due to weather (a point we would later painfully learn the hard way when we tried to get a flight out of there) – we decided to include this in our itinerary.

Until relatively recently, the trek to the Everest region started in a village called Jiri but now the road goes all the way to Shivalaya cutting about 3 hours of walking off.  Here is what the guidebook says:  “Now that buses run directly to Shivalaya, most trekkers skip Jiri.”  So we booked a bus to Shivalaya.  Here is what the guidebook should say:  “The road now goes all the way to Shivalaya and you can book a bus directly there.  However, do this at your own risk because the rickety Nepali bus has no business driving on the poor quality road that is not fit for most 4WD vehicles.  You will find yourself on an overloaded bus, top heavy because it is overloaded on top with too much stuff and people, precariously wobbling over boulders and streams and leaning way too far off the side of several cliffs while you hold on white-knuckled while peering over the edge to a river many feet below.  Besides, it takes a minimum of 2-hours for the Jiri to Shivalaya portion of the journey (it took us 3 because we had to wait for another broken down bus) and you can walk the trail in 3 hours.  Walking is better and safer.”   Needless to say this bus ride was a brutal 11-hour ride.  The bus itself wasn’t the worse we have experienced in our travels but even the paved road from Kathmandu to Jiri was so bumpy that Elise couldn’t even read a book (and she can read in the most reading-unfriendly conditions).

The trail from Jiri/Shivalaya to Lukla heads generally east at first.  Since the Himalayas are formed because the Indian subcontinent is pushing up the Tibetan Plateau, the river valleys generally run from north to south.  So that means that to go east, we had to go up over passes and down to numerous river valleys on this first part of the trek.  It turns out that we climbed and descended over 6000m/20,000 ft. by the time we finished the first six days over about five mountain passes arriving in Cheplung (near the airport in Lukla).  It was exhausting but well worth it.  The first six days did not provide the snow-capped, icy Himalayan views, but rather beautiful rural Nepal with terraced farm lands and nice villages.  In fact, it felt like there were more locals on the trail in this part of Nepal than foreign tourists.  In one guesthouse we stayed at we were the only foreign tenants – there was a Nepali family and several other Nepalis who were staying there as well while on their way somewhere.

After Lukla things change.  Since this is the Mount Everest region, and Mount Everest seems to attract every yahoo on the planet to its vicinity, the trail here (easily accessible by the Lukla airport flying in up to 700 people per day) is now full of mule and yak trains hauling gear, food,  and supplies up the mountain and package tourists in large tour groups – most of the “mid-to-late-life-crisis-must-check-this-off-my-bucket-list” variety.   We were very surprised how many white-haired people there were trekking now and we felt well below the average age of trekkers which had to be between 50 and 60 years old.  More power to them and glad to see them doing something like this, but the size of the tour groups is out of control.  Sometimes up to 20 people seem to be hiking nuts-to-butts very slowly up the mountain – along with all of the yak and mule trains jam-packing this car-less highway in the sky.  If the large slow group was a group of older Europeans (which most were) they also were likely very grumpy and did not like to let anyone pass.  After tailgating for a while grunting, humming, or otherwise making sure they knew you were there wanting to pass, it seemed like we were forced to move over into the “median” (off of the trail) and gun the engines to get by while also receiving a look that meant those who were being passed felt rather inconvenienced.    Just a minor observation of our experience…

Everyone eventually arrives in Namche Bazaar (elev 11,220 ft) for a rest and acclimatization day.  Historically, Namche was the center of trade with Tibet via the 19,000-foot Nangba pass a four day walk north.  Namche is now a bustling tourist center for the region packed with hotels and guesthouses as well as all of the modern conveniences such as internet, bakeries, coffee houses, and bars.  We enjoyed the pizza and chocolate cake.  It still has a Saturday market where goods from India or China are hauled in (all by foot) and traded.  We were there on a Saturday so we were able to tour the market.  It is amazing that everything in this metropolis in the sky – from building materials to food and drink to everything sold at the market – must be hauled in by foot from at least the airport located a day or two walk away. 

We were trekking during high season and had heard horror stories about Everest Base Camp such as crowded trails, booked guest houses, higher prices, etc.  So we decided we were going to visit Gokyo which has a similar and at least equally impressive view of the mountain, but is a little less crowded given most of the large trekking groups are attracted to Mount Everest like moths to a flame.  So when we veered off up above Namche towards Gokyo instead of Everest Base Camp, things took a turn for the better.  At least we were doing a little less inconveniencing the grumpy middle-aged Europeans.    We also heard stories of independent trekkers being turned away or served behind the large trekking-agency provided groups, which we didn’t experience on the Gokyo side.

Gokyo was spectacular.  Period.  Probably the most beautiful place Elise or I have ever seen and would boldly state that it has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  It is surrounded by some of the highest mountains on the planet next to a picturesque turquoise lake set aside one of the longest glaciers in Nepal.  We acclimatized very well travelling slowly to Gokyo and felt surprisingly well.  We stayed two nights (in hindsight we should have stayed three, but the only drawback with the place is that at 15,584 feet above sea level, it is rather cold…especially for Elise).  Our layover day was spent hiking up to the view point – Gokyo peak at 17,585 ft for an incredible view of Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyo – the 1^st, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th highest on the planet.  After Gokyo Ri, we wandered farther up the glacier to view the fourth sacred lake, Thonak Tsho against the dramatic back-drop of Cho Oyo.  This was the only time we felt the effects of the altitude (minor headaches) so we turned back to rest the remainder of the day in the warm sun-room of the Cho Oyo View Lodge.  The headaches went away and we slept very well that second night in Gokyo even despite the fact that it was so cold that our water bottles froze inside of our room and our 20 degree Fahrenheit sleeping bags while wearing long underwear were not warm enough – we needed the extra blanket our guesthouse provided.      

  

We decided to then head west over the Renjo La, a 17,503 ft pass that leads down another valley connecting with the village of Lungden and Thame, and eventually looping back to Namche.  We thought Gokyo Ri was nice, but the Renjo La then trumped it.  As icing on the cake, the scenery down the valley towards Lungden and Thame provided for the most amazing walk we have ever taken as we passed yak herding pastures and Sherpa villages perched beneath dramatic snow and sun-drenched arid mountains basically on the Tibetan plateau.  It was in Lungden that we encountered our first and only full guesthouses.  This was more because this valley is not as developed for trekking and does not yet have enough lodges for the people coming the opposite directly towards the Renjo La.  However, we were still frustrated with the large tour groups because they book the guesthouses in advance which of course we, as independent trekkers, have no way of doing.  At least the groups on this side tended to be less of the cranky old Euro type. 

From Lungden we took our time getting back to Lukla as our filght out was scheduled for November 2^nd.  We spent another night in Namche (with a stop at the Everest Bakery and Pizza Hut for pizza and cake of course) and woke up in the morning to find clouds in the sky.  With the exception of only one other morning all of our mornings were crystal clear and beautiful to this point in our trek.  The typical weather pattern this time of year is morning sunshine followed by afternoon clouds.  But this cloudy morning we had a feeling something was up with the weather and our flight out of Lukla was heavily dependent on it. 

We arrived in Lukla on November 1^st to find that flights had not gone out on the 31^st and would not likely the rest of that day.  So there was already a backlog of people “stranded” (though we’ll define “stranded” later).   The weather forecast was dismal:  rain, snow, fog for the entire upcoming week.  These planes are small bush-pilot type airplanes that really need to be able to see the runway while flying in up a valley with mountains higher than their flight altitude, so fog is not a good thing.  The saying goes that in Nepal you don’t fly in the clouds because the clouds have rocks in them.  We showed up at the airport for our flight (as we were asked to do even though we could see it was likely not going to go) to find the airport deserted.  They just shut the place down and had no one there stationed to explain to people what the next step would be.  It was odd.  But the process was that it was now time to wait.  So we just hung around at a restaurant overlooking the runway with all of the other “stranded” passengers hoping for a break in the weather.   Rumor had it was that helicopter flights out from the village of Serke (an hour away) were going for $500 the day before but were now up to $700.  But it also sounded like the fog was bad enough that the helicopters were having trouble too.

After our flight was cancelled (or we assume it was because really there was no one at the airport to tell us that, but as far as we could tell it was cancelled since the place was deserted) we made plans and got ourselves mentally ready to hoof it out back to the nearest bus stop in Jiri.  Last year about this time, the weather went bad for 10 days and Lukla became overcrowded and ran out of lodging and food.  The forecast was for clouds and precipitation for the next 5-6 days, it looked possible that this situation could be repeated.  A stop at the airline office that afternoon provided a receipt to get a full refund in the cost of the airfare so that was nice.  Though this turned our 19-day trek into 25-days, walking out was the best decision we made as many of you have already heard about the “rescues” on international news. 

Let’s now address the “stranded” people and the “rescues” that the news media is talking about because it sounds so dramatic:   First, no one was stranded, they had the option to walk just like we did or pay for an expensive helicopter flight.  The teahouses and lodges were plentiful and the service and food on the way out was much better than in the heavily touristy Everest region anyway.  Yes, it takes 4 to 6 days and is hard, but isn’t that what all of the people are there for:  to walk in the mountains?  Second, these “rescues” were the helicopter flights for which people are bidding up the price so they don’t have to walk.  People were paying $1000 per seat for the helicopter ride to Kathmandu.  It was hilarious because every local on the trail instantly became a commission-based helicopter salesman who “knew a guy.” 

Needless to say, we were not too excited either about retracing our steps while climbing and descending five mountain passes for over 20,000 vertical feet up and down, this time in the rain, fog, snow, sleet, and hail.  It also made us have to miss doing a wildlife safari in Royal Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal.  But – and though it was not without its misery - it actually turned out to be entertaining.  There were many people who did decide to walk like us.  The entertaining part was how many days they thought they could do it in.  Many were scrambling to get their international flight out of Kathmandu so they were trying to do it in 3 or 4 days.  Three days is practically impossible unless you are not carrying your own weight, run some of it, and travel at night.  Four is possible for fit people though it would likely require some walking at night.  But it would be miserable for us, especially since we are carrying our stuff.   So we targeted five days and were still exhausted.  There were numerous people who had lofty goals only to be humbled by this part of the trail and probably fail to get out in the time they want.  What is the rush anyway…to get back to work?  We’d find people who were trying to do in one day what we had planned for two in the same lodge as us for lunch, clearly not going to make it.  An Australian father and son in desperate straits 2.5 days walk/bus from Kathmandu ended up negotiating a motorbike ride on a crude road from Bhandar that ended up driving through a cold rainstorm to catch their flight less than 24-hours away.  We hope they made it!  It was fun commiserating with our fellow trekkers who were travelling at a reasonable speed and people-watching the trekkers scrambling to make some crazy deadline.  We also got to experience the diversity of climate in the Himalayas.  One day we were snowed, rained, sleeted, and hailed on, followed by a little morning sunshine the next morning when we were eating fresh oranges picked right off of the tree. 

The main problem for us was that we didn’t have clean clothes.  Of course we could have washed them, but due to the damp weather, they would have never dried.  So all of our clothes were of a nasty filthy stench that I never want to smell again. It was getting to the point where clothes that were previously deemed too dirty to wear were promoted to wearable when our other clothes were even more dirty or too wet from rain or sweat to put back on. We dropped them off at a Laundromat in Kathmandu this morning and take pity on the poor soul that has to handle them. 

We arrived in Jiri, booked a bus to Kathmandu the following morning, and finally arrived the afternoon of November 8^th.  After 25 straight days on the trail in the Everest Region (38 total days trekking in Nepal if you count the Annapurna Sanctuary also), all of that time eating huge portions of vegetarian dahl bat, rice, noodles, and potatoes, I looked at myself in the mirror without a shirt on.  Holy crap!  I look like I am one of the professional bike riders who just got finished with Le Tour de France.  Though our legs feel heavy on our first day of rest in Kathmandu we feel incredibly well and are primed to return to the USA in prime shape for the holidays. 

We are enjoying a few days of doing absolutely nothing in Kathmandu except enjoying good food and drink, and reading.  November 11^th we fly to Bangkok since we now need a week on the beach. And then to Texas on November 18^th.  It is bitter sweet to suddenly realize this ride is almost over.