I Did It!

Before we left for our trek most people thought that I couldn't do it.  They either incorrectly thought that altitude affects kids more or that I would not be able to get over the passes because they are too physically challenging.  This made it feel especially good to have successfully completed all three 18,000 foot passes.  The passes truly were quite hard and a couple of times I ran out of energy.  By then I was already on the way down and I didn't have a choice but to keep going.

Some highlights of the trek for me were the view of Everest at sunset and standing at the top of Renjo La, our third and last pass.  From Renjo La you could see many of the world's highest peaks at one time.  For the first time during our trek, it was clear that Everest is the highest peak around.  At the top of Renjo La, I felt fulfilled and proud that I had made it to the top of all three passes.

Two of the most challenging things I did were going over Kongma La our first pass and getting up Kala Pattar at four in the morning to get a good view of Everest at sunrise.  Kongma La was hard because of the exertion but Kala Pattar was hard because it is higher and there is very little oxygen.  One of the things I will remember most about our trek in Nepal was how thrilling it was to have our first view of a big snow capped Himalayan mountain.
- Brook

Returning "Home"

Yesterday we walked from Namche to Lukla in one very long day.  We were moving fast but it still took more time than we expected.  Mom was able to keep a fast pace.  Her knee seems to be doing far better than it was at the beginning of the trek.


Tanka’s “brother cousin” works for the airline that flies between Lukla and Kathmandu.  He was able to get us tickets for one of the first flights this morning.  We were back at Hotel Courtyard in time to have French toast for breakfast.  Coming back to Hotel Courtyard feels like coming home after a month in the mountains!
- Brook

Back to Namche

Last night we stayed in Maralung in a very simple lodge with dirt floors.  We were the only guests.  It was a nice way to remind us of the more intimate places that we stayed in on the first segment of this journey.  We enjoyed a non-menu item of fried potatoes with yogurt and timbur pepper sauce.  Timbur peppers have the unique after effect of creating a tingling feeling that circulates around your mouth and into the back of your head.

We had a most enjoyable walk into the lower elevations.  There is nothing more dazzling than the snow covered peaks of the high Himalayas.  But it was delightful to return below tree line, walking through pine and juniper forests with rhododendron patches interspersed, seeing waterfalls and savoring the fresh vegetables that were growing on every available level spot.  We were reminded how pleased we were that we chose to walk in instead of fly in.

- Eydie

Walking to Lukla instead of flying turned out to be a great move.  During this section of our trek, the lodges were smaller and quieter.  We talked to the owners more and could hang out in their kitchens.

 

Our guide and porter, Tanka and Dilli, were also treated better.  They had dinner at a more reasonable time, ate better food, had better sleeping accommodations, and the lodge owners were friendlier with them.  At the lower elevations, the lodges had vegetable gardens.  When you order something to eat, they would go often pick the ingredients fresh for your meal.  Once you get up higher the mountains get bigger and more beautiful but the valleys are mostly just glacial and it gets less interesting when it's all gray.  The food also gets worse the higher you get because nothing but potato grows at high altitude.

- Brook

Once in Namche, we celebrated our successful trek with two of the three couples that we befriended on the Jiri portion of our journey.  Although we still have tomorrow’s walk to Lukla ahead of us, the rustic part of the adventure is over.

Renjo La: Our Final and Favorite Pass

Today we reaped the benefits of trekking for 27 days and being properly acclimatized with a relatively easy walk over Renjo La.  We ate lunch at the top of the pass enjoying spectacular views of Everest, Lhotse and more.  Once again the descent proved more challenging for Brook than the climb up.  He wanted to call it a day in the first village that we came upon, Lungden.  We really wanted to go 40 more minutes to Maralung.  Getting to Maralung would give us a chance of making Namche the next day and Lukla the day after.  With five weeks in country thus far, we are starting to think about how each additional day we spend in Nepal will take away from our travels in India.  We talked Brook into having a snack in Lungden to see if it would fuel him to Maralung.  Low and behold we discovered the amazing properties of green chili sauce and off to Maralung we went.
- John and Eydie

During our trek I discovered the fantastic properties of green chili sauce.  When you're tired, all you have to do is have some green chili sauce on a yummy snack and you will become energized enough to walk at least another hour. This is not good when you have it with dinner and can't sleep.
- Brook

Our Life as Trekkers

Wondering what it is like to sleep, eat, poop, bathe, home school and socialize while trekking?  Here’s what we experienced:

Sleeping
All of the teahouses/lodges are pretty simple and inexpensive.  Typically, we sleep in a room with three single beds and nothing more.  We are excited when there are a few nails or hooks on the wall and an electric bulb that sheds some light.  The rooms are never heated.  We almost always sleep in our rented 3-season sleeping bags.

Sometimes we have a double room plus a single room.  Often there is just enough room for the beds and our stuff.  Our room in Gorak Shep, in the heart of the Everest region, was so small that we had to move the cots to get in and out of bed.  But we felt fortunate to have a room there.

Eating
Guesthouse menus are nearly identical.  Because of this we cycle through the options to maintain variety.  The one dish we tend to have almost every night is dal bhat.  Dal bhat is the national staple that is eaten by the Nepalese every day, sometimes twice.  Dal bhat is rice, curried meat or vegetables, and a bowl of lentil soup to pour over it.  When you order dal bhat they always come around and keep giving you more until you are full.  Brook’s favorite dish is vegetable momos, which are steamed Tibetan dumplings.

Toilets 
Toilets are most often ceramic holes in the ground.  You have to squat over them.  You get better at it over time but you can’t linger long in that position since it hurts your legs.  The toilet paper doesn't go down the hole.  You put it in a separate container next to the toilet hole, such as a plastic jug with the top cut off.  To flush, you have a pitcher and a big container of water.  You fill the pitcher with water and pour it down the hole to flush.

The most basic toilets are wooden shacks with a hole cut in the floor, built on stilts over sloping ground.  You can see everything below and it is not a pleasant site.  In Goyem, we had one of these toilets.  In the middle of the night we had to navigate a rickety set of stairs and make our way down a difficult path to get to it.

More often, we had a shared toilet at the end of the hallway.  At altitude, you have to urinate a lot.  It can be an ordeal since the rooms and the hallways are cold.  You have to put on your down jacket, pants and shoes and sometimes your hat.  You also have to bring toilet paper and a headlamp.  Every once in a while when you come across a western toilet and it is a nice change from the squat toilets.

Bathing
Showers are barebones, generally not that desirable -- often dirty and lacking hot water and water pressure.  The systems used to deliver hot water vary quite a bit, from having a bucket of hot water attached to a hose, to a solar hot water heater with adequate pressure.  The showers are public, in an outdoor shack (imagine outhouse), never in your room. It is always a puzzle to figure out where or how to hang your clothes to keep them dry.

The three of us share one small pack towel so being the third to shower is not very desirable.  We took showers regularly during the first part of the trip.  It was warmer and we sweated more while walking. The higher we went, the colder it got so we only bathed and did laundry when it was absolutely critical.  This was different from Africa, where it was hot enough to enjoy taking cold showers.

Evening Life
In the evenings, trekkers congregate in the common room/dining room of the lodge. This is our major opportunity for conversing with fellow travelers.  We met people from at least the following 19 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, US

We frequently enjoy playing cards with Tanka and Dilli and sometimes others join in. Spades and Oh-Hell are our favorite card games.  Typically we retire immediately after dinner to read in bed and go to sleep early.  It is normal for most people to be in their rooms by 7:30 pm.  The rooms are cold enough that we wear down jackets and sometimes even a hat and gloves to be comfortable reading in bed.

- Brook & Eydie

Pack Animals

We regularly encounter trains of pack animals along the trail. Sometimes we have to wait a good while for them to pass, especially at bridges. Mules are primarily used at lower elevations. Dzopkios, a cross between a cow and a yak, are primarily used in the middle elevations. Yaks are primarily used up high. Yaks and dzopkios carry more than mules. Human porters are used to carry stuff throughout the elevation range. We are in awe at how much even the smallest of the porters can carry up and down steep mountain ridges at altitude, with really wimpy footwear. More than twice as much as their body weight is common. It is mind-boggling. Pound for pound Nepali men must be among the strongest humans on the planet.

Mule

Dzopkio

Yak

Human

Cho La: High Pass Number 2

We completed our second high pass today – two down and one to go.  The ascent was cool but the descent seemed to drag on forever.  We’re staying in our best room yet.  It even has a private attached toilet – our first of the trek!  This feels luxurious even though it is a squat toilet.  Our porch overlooks a yard full of drying yak dung patties that will be used as fuel.
- Brook

Leaving the Crowds

Today we left the crowds behind, turning west to take a path less traveled on our way to our second high pass, Cho La.  We really enjoyed the relatively easy walk and appreciated having the trail virtually to ourselves again.  In addition, we were treated to a deep blue lake and narrow valley views.

Once again we were fortunate to have Tanka making his way to the next village ahead of us.  As we were approaching the village we met three trekkers who were turned away at the lodges for lack of available beds.  After a long day of crossing a mountain pass they had to walk a few more hours than they had counted on.

What a view!  This evening with a clear sky and a big moon, Cholatse felt like it was in the front yard of the lodge and Ama Dablam was perfectly silhouetted in the background.

Kala Pattar Round 2 and EBC

Sun rising over the South Col of Everest

Long day!  We started trudging up Kala Pattar at 4 am in the cold and dark.  Brook was tired and he moved slowly.  Eventually John, Dilli and I picked up the pace to make sure we would make it to the top for sunrise.  Tanka hung with Brook.  The last part required stepping up large rocks.  Once again, the more challenging terrain and the proximity to the top invigorated Brook.  The whole team made it to the highest point on our trek, 18,204 feet, and we enjoyed sunrise over the South Col of Everest together!
- Eydie

Everest Base Camp (EBC)

Not enough sleep, cold, and the really high altitude made the climb extremely difficult for me, way harder than I expected.  Tanka was great on the way up, quietly helping me when I needed it but not really talking too much otherwise.  The view from the top was fantastic!  Everywhere were huge, white Himalayan peaks.  Although it definitely wasn’t our first great view, it was still amazing. 

This afternoon we hiked to Everest base camp.  Mom and Dad weren’t very excited about it but I wanted to go.  I didn’t want to get so close to Everest base camp and not see it.  The walk was pretty long, especially after getting up at 4 am.  It was fun walking along the glacier and hearing it move.  Although the camp itself was nothing special, I wasn’t disappointed because I had already been told not to expect much.  Even though the camp wasn’t particularly beautiful or exciting it was still cool to think that that was the place where people start to climb the highest mountain in the world.  From the camp you can see the Khumbu Ice Fall, the first part of the climb up Everest.  I have recently been reading about how this is the most treacherous part of the climb.  When we got back we were all really tired and went to bed relatively early.

- Brook

We were shocked to find a trekking guide
in our lodge wearing a Dan & Whit's hat!
(general store in Norwich, VT)

On the summit of Kala Pattar

Closest Settlement to EBC

At bottom, settlement of Gorak Shep

Nearly all Everest Region trekkers find their way to this settlement, Gorak Shep, to get close up views of Everest and/or visit Everest Base Camp (EBC) at the top of the Khumbu Valley. Tanka left very early to get us a room here.  Our room is super cramped, but we're fortunate to have one at all.  Many people have had to sleep in tents or dining rooms or return to Lobuche for the night.

Above us is Kala Pattar, a minor summit on the ridge leading to the spectacular Mount Pumori.  Kala Pattar is considered the best Everest viewpoint in the area so a lot of people climb it from Gorak Shep, typically at sunrise because the sky is more often clear in the morning.  This evening, we hiked about 30 minutes up Kala Pattar to watch the sunset.  The clouds kept moving around but they cleared around Everest for sunset.  Witnessing the pink and orange light on Everest and Nuptse was an amazing treat!

When we got back to the lodge it was a zoo.  The large guided tour groups had reserved all the tables so it was really hard for us to find a place to sit.  We had to wait until all the tour groups had their food before we could order.  This is the first time we have been not just bothered by the crowds, but also negatively impacted by them.

Sun setting on Everest, behind shoulder of Nuptse

Sun setting on Nuptse

Kongma La: Our First High Pass

In the Khumbu Valley with Pumori in the background

Yesterday we climbed Chuckung Ri, an acclimatization hike that almost everyone chooses to do before going over Kongma La.  It is just over 18,000 feet but we didn’t go all the way to the top because Dad and I got headaches.  Mom was the only one feeling good which is funny because she was the one with altitude problems lower down when Dad and I were fine.

- Brook

Crossing the Khumbu Glacier

Brook's Journal: Day 20 and we finally did our first high pass, Kongma La!  It was a really long day; starting off at 6:45 am and finally trudging into the village where we are staying, Lobuche, at 4:00 pm. The first part of the descent was more challenging because it was steep and we were walking through a lot of snow.  About half way down from the pass I sat down and said that I couldn’t go any further, period.  After a rest I did keep going, but Dilli carried my pack for me.  I guess I used more of my energy getting up to 18,155 ft. than I had realized.  It didn’t help that we could see Lobuche from the top of the pass but couldn't seem to get there.  Even though it was a hard day it was a good day and I'm glad we did it.  At the end we crossed the Khumbu glacier.  I really enjoyed that.  It was my first time on a glacier.  I think it’s amazing that we were walking on rocks, boulders, and ice that move fast enough that the trail has to be reset every year.  We were glad to have Tanka leading us because the trail was very hard to follow.  In some places it seemed almost nonexistent.  When we finally got to Lobuche it was disheartening to see how dirty and unfriendly it was.

At the top of Kongma La (pass)

Moonscape

Brook’s Journal:  I never realized it was day 18 until I wrote this.  Time goes so fast!  The walking was pretty fun today because it is shrubby and open.  We got here by 11:00 and we weren’t sure what to do with ourselves.  When we were resting (which was most of the day) I didn’t feel very good but when we went out and took a walk I felt great.  For our walk, we went on the trail to Island Peak.  The terrain is so glaciated that it is only big mounds of gravel and it looks like you’re on the moon!

In the hotel we saw a Russian group renting gear for their Island Peak expedition.  Most of the people didn’t even know how to put a harness on and they were about to attempt a Himalayan peak!

Fainting in Pheriche

From Brook’s Journal:  We woke up to more incredible views!  This morning just after breakfast I told Mom and Dad that I wasn’t feeling well and I thought I might throw up so dad took me outside.  Once we got outside I started feeling dizzy and my ears felt weird so I held on to Dad’s arm.  I don’t remember anything from then until I woke up thinking I had been asleep.  I quickly learned that I had fainted and Dad had laid me down on the ground.  Two Australian doctors were staying at the lodge so they checked my pulse and asked me questions about how I felt.  The man was nice and he kept calling me “mate.”

Yak dung drying to be used as fuel for fires

After resting and recovering for a little while we decided that I was healthy enough to do the one-hour hike to Dingboche.  Dingboche is the neighboring town just above and on the other side of the hill.  We stayed at a really nice hotel last night with fast wifi at 14,042 feet and fairly nice, big rooms so we were really picky about what place we were going to stay at.  Tanka and Dilli got so board they just sat down with their bags near the middle of town and waited for us while we walked around the town at least twice looking at every single option.

Our 15th Anniversary Gift

Eydie felt much better when she woke up in Funky Town (Phungi Thanga), so yesterday we walked up to Tengboche, home of the famous Buddhist monastery. That evening in the dark we had our first sighting of Everest!

This morning we were greeted by a bluebird sky and magnificent views in every direction – our first ever view of Ama Dablam, the entirety of Lhotse wall, and peeking up from behind it, Everest. We’ve found the views impressive so far, but this is truly spectacular. We could not have asked for a better day to get a major cloud clearing on this, our 15th wedding anniversary. The views from here are amazing. What an anniversary gift!

Everest,  Lotse, and the Lotse Wall

Acclimatization concerns are real. In Pheriche, we saw helicopters evacuating people. We also attended a briefing on altitude sickness and prevention at the Himalayan Rescue Association, a specialty clinic staffed by volunteer western doctors. This was a great science class for all of us. Lots learned about physiological and chemical adaptions to altitude. Before bed, Brook had a mild headache and took Diamox for his first time.

Altitude Begins to Cause Us Trouble

The weekly market at Namche Bazar

We felt strong and cruised quickly up the rather steep trail to Namche Bazar, a legendary mountain town full of trekkers and outfitting shops, similar to the Thamel district in Kathmandu.  It’s the last chance to pick up trekking or mountaineering gear before heading deep into the mountains.  It’s also one of the few places outside of Kathmandu to find good coffee, pastries, real pizza, etc.  At 11,283 feet, however, it’s the first place that one of us has encountered altitude sickness.  Eydie has had a headache since arriving in Namche two nights ago, so today we had a short day of trekking and have stopped in Phunki Tanga (that we renamed Funky Town) because it is in a valley bottom.  We hope that by sleeping here at a lower elevation than Namche we will give Eydie a better chance of acclimatizing and feeling good again.