Travel Footprints

We’ve given it a whole lot of thought and it was finally decided that, despite the odds, we would still want to do the 16-day trekking package for Gokyo Valley Lodge Tour. The package came out way higher than originally quoted because there are only 3 of us left willing to do the tour (minimum of 8 persons required for the original quote). But what the heck! We only live once

In a nutshell, this is what we will mostly do while in Nepal as part of the package tour we got :

Day 1: Arrival in Kathmandu (1,327-m.), meet and greet at airport and transfer to Thamel. Overnight hotel.

Day 2: Free day in Kathmandu to explore on your own while we prepare documents for your trek. Overnight hotel.

Day 3: Drive early morning to airport for short flight (35 min) from Kathmandu to Lukla (2,840-m). After arrangement of local porters, trek Lukla-Phakding (2,610-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 4: Trek Phakding – Namche Bazaar (3,440-m) – 6 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 5: Rest day for acclimatization in Namche/excursion to Syangboche (3,720-m), Everest View Hotel (3,859-m), Khumjung (3,780-m) and Khunde (3,840-m) & return to Namche – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 6: Trek Namche-Dole (4,200-m) -  6½ hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 7: Trek Dole – Machhermo (4,410-m) – 4½ hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 8: Trek Machhermo – Gokyo (4,790-m.) - 4½ hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 9: Rest day/excursion to Gokyo Ri (5,483-m) & return to Gokyo – 5½ hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 10: Trek Gokyo – Thore (4,300-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 11: Trek Thore – Tengboch (3,860-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 12:  Trek Tengboche – Monjo (2,835-m.) via Namche – 7 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 13: Trek Monjo – Lukla (2,840-m) – 6 hours. Overnight lodge.

Day 14: Fly (35 min) Lukla – Kathmandu, on arrival transfer to Thamel / Trek ends. Overnight hotel.

Day 15: Free day (buffer day in case the flight from Lukla cancels on schedule) in Kathmandu. Overnight hotel.

Day 16: Departure day/transfer to airport for onward flight.

We are arriving in Nepal early on for better acclimatization to the place before we fly to Lukla, the trailhead for the trekking trip. We were told that unlike others, say Canadian or European trekkers, Filipinos need more time to do a high-altitude climb because the sherpas (guides) always have to bring them back down to a certain level to avoid altitude mountain sickness (AMS). Here are some of the pictures from the travel agent :

Landing at Lukla Airfield (Short Take Off and Landing)

Mt. Everest (8,848-m.) from Gokyo Ri (5,483-m.)

Yak, Himalayan Oxen, used for transporting goods

We’re a bit apprehensive that we don’t get to complete the trek all the way to Gokyo Valley but we will damn well make sure we try our hardest

We’ve seen how earthquakes have rocked the planet the past few months starting from Haiti, Chile, Taiwan, Turkey (very recently!) and our very own Cagayan, Philippines. Some geologists have even predicted that earthquakes may hit Nepal next! Check out this news article about Nepal ‘bracing for a big quake’ after Haiti.

Of course, these kinds of news makes us a bit concerned about our safety and got us thinking about revising our travel plans. We originally planned on doing the Gokyo Valley Trek tour which was described by the tour agency as –

“The Gokyo and Khumbu Valleys are arguably the most dramatic and interesting of the Everest region. This trek explores friendly Sherpa villages, visits monasteries, seeks wildlife and unveils dramatic mountain scenery. We have two days in Kathmandu to experience one of Asia’s most fascinating cities before flying to Lukla, the starting point of our trek. We follow the Dudh Kosi Valley to Namche Bazaar and then trek into Gokyo Valley. The trail ascends gradually and we enjoy a series of short trekking days to ensure proper acclimatization, walking beside the moraines of Ngozumpa Glacier and turquoise lakes to reach our lodge in Gokyo. From here we can climb Gokyo Ri (5,48-m.) to a view of all of the region’s 8000-metre peaks including Mt. Everest (8,848), Lhotse (8,414-m.), Mt. Makalu (8,485-m.) and Cho Oyu (8,153-m.) – a breathtaking panorama. From Gokyo we trek back to Lukla via Thore, Phortse, the beautiful Tengboche Monastery, Namche and Monjo.”

The package we originally considered was a 16-day moderately strenous trekking involving a domestic flight from Kathmandu to Lukla via a tiny twin otter plane. Here is a picture of Gokyo Valley sent by a friend –

Pretty eh? I fell in love with the place with this picture alone. Unfortunately, we have to revise our travel plans to a package where we would not have to be so far from the capital city of Kathmandu. So, instead of a full trek, we decided to do a bit of everything Nepal has to offer – trekking, rafting, bird-watching, cycling, etc. And we’re doing it just within the outskirts of Kathmandu, around 5-hour drive from the city.

This is how the travel agency describes our ‘revised’ Nepal package:

“This trip is designed to get most out of a short trip in Nepal with adventure and culture activities. It does not involve high altitude trekking but snowcapped mountain peaks are visible from Bandipur and Pokhara provided the weather is clear enough. Visiting Nepal during January to April and October to December for culture and trekking tour is mostly ideal with good moderate temperature. You will experience the country side, culture and see wildlife in their natural habitat.”

We’re still staying in Nepal for 21 days but this package will give us a more intimate experience of Kathmandu and its surrounding villages. I’d have to say, though, it was the cycling part of the tour that convinced Mr. Rono to go for a more subtle package compared to the Gokyo Valley trek. A website describes the experience as “dirt roads and trails in the hills of Nepal are excellent mountain biking tracks and are a biker’s dream come true. It can provide the adrenalin rush as well fantastic view of the Nepali countryside and the Himalaya. You however need to be physically fit if you wish to tour the countryside on a mountain bike as some of the up hills can be grueling challenges.”

There’s always next time for Gokyo Valley *cross fingers*

Shotgun Trail, named by a mountain-biking group because of a horseback-mounted guard of ex-Mayor Roxas who tried to turn them away with a shotgun (it’s now biker-friendly though!). It’s the bike trail I dreaded the most but there’s really no point in delaying the inevitable with our Nepal trip fast coming up. So early Saturday morning, we were headed once again to face off with the mountains of Maarat on our bikes.

While Mr. Rono is a veteran biker of the (in)famous Shotgun, it is MY first time to actually go through it last Saturday. So the moment I look up and see where we’re headed, I get easily intimidated by the long uphill climbs on our bike. -

Mr. Rono distinctly remembers how much harder it was to bike this trail when it was still a slim singletrack and was later developed to a wide fireroad. And now a full-fledged highway it seems -

This was really one tough uphill stretch! With the el nino heat beating down upon us, it really felt like the Lenten Season has already began and we are on our own personal, uhm, hell Some parts of the trail had me pushing my bike already, the ride was exhausting! It even got me singing -

‘Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the cliiimmbbbb…’

And I mean it literally!

Mr. Rono and I were virtually the only bikers taking on Shotgun trail that day. The only company we had on the trail were bikers going down the trail, construction workers by their rest station and the occasional dump trucks going to and from the sanitary landfill up in the mountains of Rizal.

We’re not too happy about the dump trucks passing because we always get a lung-ful of dust! This does not figure well with our heavy cardio exercise while we go up the mountain on our bikes. But we’re still glad that they share the road with bikers at least. This shotgun trail was a test of both perseverance and patience. And a great eye-opener when we finally reached the top! This was the first time I ever saw the sanitary landfill of Montalban from a near distance.

The trail eventually connects to the main Maarat trail where Mr. Rono and I have been biking in the last couple of weekends. Though rather than connecting to our usual route, we opted to start our way back then (fortuntately it was much much easier going back). Had a quick stop near the TImberland Gate for some Goto and Mountain Dew

It was a tough ride, but I can honestly say I feel a good sense of accomplishment, and actually blurted out I wouldn’t mind doing it again.

Mr. Rono only smiled.

[Btw, this scene with the landfill was reminiscent of how we started with mountain-biking. Back in 2002 on a holiday in Boracay, I wanted to see where the highest point of the island is. The locals told us of an overlooking point somewhere on top of Mt. Luho. We didn't want to go there on a tricycle and we certainly weren't up for a long hike up a mountain. Luckily, we passed by some bikes being rented out for around Php50/hour only. Mountain-biking in Boracay was definitely a fresh experience for us! It was a tough climb and we were severely disappointed when we saw the unpleasant sight of a garbage dumpsite on the way to the overlooking point. Garbage dumpsites in mountains really is an ugly truth in our country, eh?]