Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Everest Base Camp Trek: Second Week

Note: I swear, I’m still working on uploading EBC trek pictures. Should get a link up tonight or tomorrow, promise!

 

23 April 2011

IMG_5292 Short hike today, but we climbed 300 meters! Up and back took around two hours. We just climbed up the switchbacks (dusty and rocky) behind Dingboche. We saw many memorial rockpiles, a few gumpas and flapping prayer flags. Jan commented a few times about how she was so slow and weak and out of breath (eyeroll). All in all, a good, if chilly with a brisk wind, walk. IMG_5307 After lunch I’ll hopefully go explore a bit with Rimu, and at 3pm we’ll learn about something called a PAC, which I think is a kind of pressure or altitude chamber. Next few days will be tough but rewarding, I think!

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IMG_5313  It’s after dinner now and I’m warm (in the common area). I went out and bought some prayer flags – for me and for gifts – and toilet paper. When I came out of the small store, Rimu was there walking by. I asked if I could join him and we walked up to a gompa. It was windy and cold, though, so the walk didn’t last long. Later, Jan and I learned about the PAC (Portable Altitude Chamber) and watched how they inflated it and IMG_5316listened to why it would be used and the rules surrounding it. This got Jan worrying. Later, she and I went to get her a hat at the shop and still later, I went back to buy playing cards. Pasang and I played a few different games. All in all, a good day. The next three will be interesting…

Hotel: Sonam Friendship Lodge in Dingboche

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24 April 2011

IMG_5332 In my room at our lodge in Lobuche, absolutely freezing. Outside it’s snowing pretty steadily, small flakes that are now sticking. We trekked for about five hours today, with around one hour for lunch in Tukla. I’m in my hiking clothes, minus the windbreaker: black leggings, silk long underwear, pants, poly-pro under shirt, fleece, hiking socks, mittens, hat and a scarf. I’m in a fleece liner, inside IMG_5357 a down sleeping bag. Starting to warm up but face and hands are ice blocks.

Trek wasn’t hard, although I had a hard time getting deep breaths. Slowing to a snail’s pace helped some. Amazing scenery for the first half. We climbed around 1,800 feet today. On arrival at Lobuche, a minor headache bloomed IMG_5358 into a doozy. Was also in a crappy mood… Rimu gave me a painkiller for the headache, which is starting to kick in, I think. It’s 3pm. Time to huddle in my bag and get warm!

Hotel: Sherpa Lodge in Lobuche

 

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26 April 2011

IMG_5359 Whew! Yesterday was a doozy! We got up at 6:15am and left Lobuche around 7:05am. It was a tough trek to Gorak Shep, arrived around 10:40am. We had lunch there, then set off for Base Camp around 11:45am. That was an amazing, if rocky, trek, along what I think was a glacial moraine. We arrived at the lookout point for the “new” base camp around 2pm-ish. We spent some time there, taking pictures, admiring the IMG_5374 view, etc. All along the trek there we could see the Khumbu Glacier, which was just awesome. At the Base Camp lookout, you can see amazing ice formations, of that icy blue hue that almost eludes the eyes. My only two points of disappointment were that 1) you couldn’t see Mt Everest! and 2) we didn’t go down into or nearer to Base Camp itself. I’m not sure how close you can actually get if you’re not a IMG_5383 researcher or on an expedition, but definitely closer than we got.

Anyway, Base Camp is a multi-colored tent city situated at the corner, I think, of Khumbu Glacier and near the ice fall that summit-attempters have to cross before heading up.

***

IMG_5464 Ok, so that last was written from Gorak Shep, where we spent the night at the Buddha Lodge. I’m now in snow-covered Pheriche.

Anyway, back to Base Camp and the associated hikes. All along the hike from Gorak Shep to Base Camp, I had a minor but insistent headache. Rimu had said this was a normal effect of the altitude, so I focused my IMG_5451 attention on the incredible views: looming mountains, the never-ending Khumbu Glacier, clouds moving, dissipating, reforming. Faces and voices of fellow trekkers started to become familiar, as we leap-frog hiked, rested, and continued. Several people hugged Jan or expressed admiration for her.

It got markedly colder on the return trip to Gorak Shep, IMG_5481 and eventually Jan suggested, then insisted, that I go ahead with someone and stop waiting for her. I had no energy … left so I went ahead with Nuru. This turned out to be a bad idea. He raced ahead and I did my damnedest to keep up, my headache increasing in pressure and pain all the way. He never says much anyway and this was no exception. In fact he didn’t say a word. We made it back to our lodge about an hour ahead of the others, but as I sat sipping my tea alone, Nuru having gone to chat with some people he knew, I started to tear up. Honestly, half of it was my by-then blinding headache. The other half was feeling so absolutely alone. Sure, I was trekking with Jan and our trio of hired help, but I felt utterly alone anyway. Nuru is a typical teenager and so … self-absorbed; Pasang is nice but (so I felt at that moment) just tolerated me; and Rimu was just push (again, that was how I felt at the moment).

Anyway, I managed to barely hold myself together until I got to our room. I laid out Jan’s sleeping bag and liner, then curled up… on my bed, still fully dressed… and began to bawl. I know Nuru saw me, too, but he closed the door. Awhile later, Jan bustled in. I heard Rimu ask if I was sleeping and she said yes. Head pounding, I managed to ask her to tell Rimu I needed a painkiller for my head. At that point the bustle began: it seemed our entire group was in the tiny room. The light hurt my eyes so I mostly stayed huddled as Rimu took of my socks and stuffed me into my sleeping gear, looked at my (puffy and red) eyes, and made me drink water with some pills. Then he tucked me in tight and the left, except for Jan. I napped on and off until they brought dinner, which was roasted potatoes and sherpa stew. I was feeling a bit better then, especially since Rimu said many others had gotten sick too. We decided to attempt Khalapattar the next morning, meaning a 4:30am wakeup call. Our room had a light switch but no light fixture, and the bathroom was outside. We requested a pan to pee in for the room. I changed clothes, huddled in and tried to sleep, as another headache was coming on. The walls, like many of the lodges thus far, were ply-board, and this lodge in particular was crowded to the gills. There were several bunk beds just outside our door in what was labeled a “dormitory” and several folks slept in the common area on the benches. All shared a single outdoor, tin-covered and horse-guarded squatter toilet. Throughout the night, voices, slamming doors, coughs, snores and the odd door-rattling accompanied with “Sorry, wrong room,” echoed the entire place. I slept rather well, considering!

***

IMG_5482 So, this morning after several false wakeups, Nuru knocked on our door and I peeled off my sleeping bag, shivering immediately. Jan grumbled … and decided not to do Khalapattar, so it was just me and Rimu. It was very pretty out at 5am, clear and crisp with the mountains all around becoming visible. I was tired and sore from the day before, as well as slightly nauseous and VERY cold. We only made it about halfway up, but I got to see the sun touching some of the peaks, as well as a more impressive view of Everest, so it was enough for me. Once back at the lodge, I settled in for another hour or so of sleep. Then, it was up for breakfast and off IMG_5500 to Pheriche! It was a long day, made longer by the snow that began falling early on and still hasn’t stopped. We stopped in Lobuche for lunch and Duggla for tea and biscuits. I think we left Gorak Shep around 8:30am and arrived in Pheriche at 5:15pm. It was also pretty rocky which made my feet sore and legs tired. I’m talking all sizes of rocks, from pebbles to golf ball to football to soccer ball to beach ball sized! IMG_5521The snow was mostly dry until the last hour or so, so it was not slippery ice to walk on… thank goodness! I did get Nuru to talk a little at the end, too. Now we’re in a lovely warm common room, snow falling outside. Our room has a light and supposedly there’s an indoor toilet (squatter or Western, unknown). Yahoo!

Hotel: Khumbu Lodge in Pheriche

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27 April 2011

IMG_5529  Trekked from Pheriche to Lawishasa today, stopping in Tengboshe for lunch and a look at the monastery there. It was actually a tough walk there, taking almost five hours! It was another two hours from Tangboshe to Lawishasa, with lots of steep downhill. Surprisingly, considering that we are DEscending from EBC to Lukla, there was quite a bit of uphill today. My left foot is bruised under the pinky toe and it really aches with every step. I talked a lot with Nuru today, mostly about life in the US. He thinks if he could just get there, he’d make “lots” of money fast. And for his standards, it would be true, but it would not let him IMG_5555live comfortably in the US. It’s hard to explain that to him. I started learning how difficult Nepali grammar is today too!

Found out today that Pasang is 38 years old (which I knew) and that his wife Santi is 19! And they married two years ago! Pasang is a real sweetheart so I’m glad he found his girl, young as she is. They have a 3-month old baby boy.

Hotel: Green Valley Lodge

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28 April 2011

IMG_5620 So, last night at Neima’s recommendation I had a veggie pizza for dinner. It tasted great but less than an hour later, in the midst of having a cozy chat around the furnace, my stomach twisted. I calmly excused myself, walked out of the dining area, then raced blindly up the rough-hewn, uneven steps to my room. Nuru was getting Jan into bed and they stared at me as I leapt across a bag and my bed to grab my daypack (and, thus, the TP). I heard Nuru kind of chuckling, “Oooooh…..” when I ran out of the room again. Somehow managing not to kill myself, I got to the shit pit outhouse before realizing there were no lights. Too late: I dropped trou and let loose, hoping my aim was good … [Note: I’m leaving out some details here that you really don’t want to know.] Once I got back to the room, I felt nauseous and awful. As I dozed off with an empty pan nearby in case I got sick in the night, Rimu came in and gave me some medicine and I then slept like a rock.

IMG_5631 This morning I felt ok, then better and better. Nuru and Pasang went ahead to Namch and Jan, Rimu and I followed awhile later. We took our time, about three and a half hours, and are now back at the same lodge [in Namche] as on the way up. I just took a hot shower, my first in two weeks: heaven!

Earlier, Rimu, Nuru, Pasang and I went to Namche Bazaar to get Pasang a pair of shoes. We split up for some reason and Pasang took me to what I guess is the local’s market. [Note: I later found out it was a local Tibetan market.] We looked at some shoes but then stood in a narrow alleyway waiting for the others. Three guys came up and started talking to Pasang, who seemed a bit tense. They were all (except Pasang) staring at me. When I asked, Pasang said that they liked my hat. IMG_5649 I took it off to show them and told them my mom had made it, which seemed to interest them for a minute. Then they asked how old I was and continued muttering to Pasang in Nepali and staring at me. Pasang didn’t look at them or seem happy and eventually walked up the alleyway, me tagging along behind him, relieved. He said, when I asked, that they asked if I had a husband, and that he told them yes. I wonder what else was said… it was very uncomfortable.

Awhile later, we found Rimu and went shoe shopping.

Well, the trek is over in two days…

Hotel: Tashi Delek in Namche Bazaar

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29 April 2011

IMG_5666 It’s just lunch time now and we’ve stopped at the same place in Jorsale to eat. It’s a lovely day out, although I miss the mountain views. The river is close and the smell of pines and soil is all around. Nuru is off and on chatty (when I prod him). Another 3-4 hours to Phakding! Last night I was playing cards with Nuru and Pasang and they mentioned going out to a disco in Phakding. On the one hand it sounds IMG_5697 fun; on the other, not sure surrounding myself with Nepali’s, probably mostly male, is a good idea. We’ll see I guess. Jan still can’t eat!

Hotel: Prince of Everest Hotel in Phakding

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