Travel Footprints

After 3 hours of trekking uphill that started at 5am in the morning, we finally made it to the top of Gokyo Ri! Our immediate reaction was disbelief that WE, untrained mountaineers that we are, actually made it all the way! We survived the 7 days of non-stop trekking up and down the Himalayan mountain range and successfully reached the 5,360 meters summit of Gokyo Ri! This is pretty much the same altitude Everest Base Camp but with a more breath-taking panoramic view of the Himalayas’ 8,000 meter peaks

If you don’t see the video, click here!

We were truly buzzing with our ‘achievement’! This is the closest to heavens we have ever reached with our feet planted firmly on earth The view was indeed amazing as promised, we were literally surrounded by all 14 of the highest mountains of the world! On one side, there’s Tibet and on the other side there lies the majestic 8000-meter peaks including Mt. Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,414m), Mt. Makalu (8,485m) and Cho Oyu (8,153m).

If you don’t see the video, click here!

We may have missed the Easter mass celebrations but Mr. Rono and I were able to whisper our most meaningful prayers literally closer to the heavens above this Holy Week. We were so happy with ourselves we could be singing with choirs of angels while overlooking majestic Himalayas on this extraordinary Easter Sunday morning!

Trek the Himalayas Day #8: Gokyo Valley, Gokyo Ri
Elevation: 5,360 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 50% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 350 rupees/USD 5

There was a soft knock on our door and a gentle voice saying, ‘wake up, it’s time!’ I checked my watch and couldn’t believe it’s already five o’clock in the morning! The voice that jolted us up to the freezing reality of the Himalayas was of course, Ang Dawa Rai, and he was making sure we got up for the early ascent up Gokyo Ri. He briefed us the night before that the best way to summit Gokyo Ri was to start at day break while the cold wind is not yet picking up. We agreed that was logical but did not realize how hard it was to wake up early in the morning!

Especially at this temperature! Even our water bottle freezes overnight

Mr. Rono was bargaining to extend time inside the sleeping bag, he didn’t want to get up until the sun is already out. On any typical Easter morning, we would have probably been woken up at 5am too. But instead of a salubong ritual between Mother Mary and her resurrected son and attending the pre-dawn mass, we get to celebrate Easter Sunday this year on top of Gokyo Ri – 5,360 meters above sea level – in the mountain ranges of the Himalayas.

But that feat is not entirely a walk in the park. Chin decided to stay in the lodge because of her colds (it was getting harder for her to breathe!) while Mr. Rono and I geared up for the trek. We didn’t even get to have any breakfast anymore – we just brought whatever trail food we have left (mostly GU gels and Nature Valley trail mix bars).

The frozen Gokyo Lake – considered sacred in the Khumbu Region and the highest freshwater lake in the world – looked colder than ever this morning. I looked up and saw the moon still shining down from the clear blue, star-less heavens as sunlight slowly creeps in from the tip of Mt. Makalu. The scenery was beautiful even from the Gokyo Lake vantage point but we wanted to see more.

About 45 minutes into our gruelling uphill climb, Team Canada suddenly came up from behind us. They must have stayed in a different lodge. Boy, they were fast! After 15 minutes or so, the Funny Frenchman also came up from behind with his monk guide singing what seems to me like prayer chants. We gladly gave way to them and their Sherpa as we continue to slowly (but steadily) climb up.

Ang Dawa Rai has estimated that we will reach Gokyo Ri summit in about 3 hours. We are well into the 2nd hour of our uphill trek and we still have a long, long way to go! Everytime I look up, I see a ridge and hope that it’s the summit. Only to be disappointed again to find out there are several more ridges to go. After a while, we met Team Canada again but this time they were already headed down from the summit! What the…?

A group of Germans with their Nepali friends we met at Namche Bazar were trekking as well but we let them pass us. We decided to give ourselves a break and have some of our morning tea. One of our porters was actually carrying a thermos of black tea with him plus some cookies for our breakfast. We were just happy to take a respite from our long uphill trek and enjoy our tea. Especially with all these other trekkers kicking our ass in the climb!

We got back to the uphill climb after our tea break and in a few minutes, we came across the Funny Frenchman again as he heads down a different trail path. Across the distance he shouts- ‘the view was wonderful!’ to which I replied, ‘we still have a few meters to go!’ And he says in his signature French accent, ‘yes you must go! Bistare, bistare (slowly, slowly) you will reach.’ This really is the beauty of trekking in the Himalayas – everyone you meet is a friend who encourages you to just do it! As the Brazilian-American lady we met in Tengboche said, ‘all of us here are survivors!’

On our way to the summit, we heard a helicopter that seems to be on the way to Gokyo Valley. But we were so high up we barely see the helicopter flying below us at all. As you can see in the photos above, the lodges in Gokyo Valley have now virtually become a dot in the horizon. We assumed it was a rescue helicopter and was a bit jealous that somebody is being flown back to lower grounds. Mr. Rono was already toying with the idea to seek for a rescue after we come down from Gokyo Ri. After all, we were covered with our travel insurance. We were surprised that another helicopter came up again after 30 minutes. Two ‘survivors’ did not make it, I guess. We got the low-down from Chin when we came back and found out that they came from the big expedition group. Two members of the expedition group probably couldn’t make it all the way up the summit (Mt. Everest perhaps?) anymore and decided to bail out from Gokyo Valley. Chin was able to capture this video too –

If you don’t see the video, click here!

Trek the Himalayas Day #7: Machhermo, Gokyo Valley
Pit Stop: Gokyo Valley
Elevation: 4,790 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 53% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 350 rupees/USD 5

Our stay in Machhermo overnight has been very challenging. We were coughing and sneezing all the time we’ve rubbed our nose raw because of our colds. Plus, we not only had to deal with the extremely cold temperature that dipped to negative degrees during the night but also the fact that we had to pee all the time. Now, you might think that we are getting overly dramatic at this point but really, peeing during the night is a challenge especially IF YOU HAVE TO GO OUT IN THE FREEZING COLD TO USE THE BATHROOM You have to understand that peeing frequently during high-altitude climb is a good sign – it means your body is coping with the altitude.

But all the lodges at this level have very limited facilities and all the toilets are normally shared with other guests. It would take Herculean effort for us to even go out of our sleeping bags, let alone walk out of the room and out of the lodge, expose our butt to the cold and then finally pee! But we had to do it. What makes our bathroom trips much, much more memorable in Machhermo is the fact that steam (yes steam) actually rises up from the floor-level toilet as soon as the warm pee touches the cold toilet! Ewwww. Then, you would have to deal with flushing the toilet using ice-cold water from the reserves which usually freezes up as well during the night.

The good news is, we’re trekking a short distance today from Machhermo to Gokyo Valley. The bad news? We were extremely exhausted from the day-long climb (Phortse-Dole-Machhermo) the day before. Remember, we went up an altitude of 700 meters in one day! Maybe that’s why our body systems have gone haywire with colds, coughs and frequent peeing (and farting! :p) overnight. I was very tired in the morning, I didn’t felt like I got some rest during the night at all. Plus, I can barely eat my breakfast of pancake because it tasted weird to me so I stuck to eating just egg drop soup. Bad idea! I should have known that despite the short distance from Machhermo to Gokyo, we were in for a long, long trek today after all…

This route would have taken a regular trekker 3 hours to complete (2 hours for locals), but we took more than 5 hours and we are simply exhausted! It’s not really just about being physically fit, it’s dealing with the altitude and ‘oxygen deprivation.’ Five short steps at this level made us feel like we’ve sprinted 100 meters. After hours of trekking in barren lands, we welcomed the sight of bodies of water – it’s the sacred lakes of Khumbu Region! We are finally near Gokyo Valley!

Gokyo and its associated lakes has been declared as a Ramsar site in 2007. This World Heritage Site is also considered the world’s highest freshwater lake system and is sacred for both Hindu and Buddhist. Which is just as well, because while the Holy Rosary helped me survive the gruelling trek yesterday, my mantra for today’s trek was Ohm Namah Shivaya when I felt I needed to draw in energy from meditation (just like we do in yoga) tapping into my inner strength. This journey has suddenly become spiritual for me as well.

It has taken us an extremely long time to reach our lodge that one of the porters (who usually goes ahead of us to reserve our rooms) was on the lookout from the 2nd lake. We gladly gave him our daypacks to bring to our lodge in the hopes that we can maybe trek faster now that we did not have to carry anything. He went ahead of us, carrying all our daypacks, to bring to the lodge. It still amazes me how strong and well-adapted these locals are. A few meters from the lodge, the other porter met us carrying a thermos of black tea and biscuits. It’s already past noon and they must have been worried we’ll just pass out due to hunger and exhaustion. Ang Dawa Rai, our Sherpa, is coordinating the ‘rescue’ efforts today quite well.

We finally reached our lodge and rewarded ourselves with some treats of Pringles and Coke (for a whopping 500 rupees each!) before eating our lunch of vegetable roll and mushroom pizza. Luckily, we were the only ones in the lodge so we were given undivided attention by the owners. Our demands are very simple anyway – rest and warmth. We just stayed in the dining area the rest of the day, the lodge owner even lent us some blankets to use while in the dining hall. We also entertained ourselves with the beauty of the Gokyo Lake overlooking the lodge and observe trekkers from a big expedition group below.

By 530pm, we were glad to see them bringing in yak shit for the heater – at least we have this to look forward to during our evenings

Trek the Himalayas Day #6: Phortse, Dole, Machermo
Pit Stop: Machhermo
Elevation: 4,410 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 57% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 250 rupees/USD 3.57

We are seated comfortably at the dining hall of Yeti Inn in Machhermo when we took this shot of Mt. Thamserku under the setting sun. Thank God, we’ve covered what we needed to trek today successfully! From Phortse (3,810-m) to Machhermo (4,410-m) in one day was not easy but we did it!

There are two other group of trekkers in the lodge where we are staying – a mother-and-son team from Montreal, Canada (who we will call Team Canada, hereafter) and a gentleman from Paris, France travelling with his monk guide (who we will call the Funny Frenchman, hereafter). We were all doing our own thing, Team Canada playing their version of card game and us reading our books while Funny Frenchman rests.

We had dinner of mixed pizza and hot tea, not the most fitting combination but which we’re glad to have in this God-awful cold weather of the Himalayas. As in other nights, we’ve grown accustomed to spending more time in the dining hall during evenings because this is where a ‘heater’ is provided.

It’s actually a makeshift stove placed in a dining hall. They would typically put a kettle on top to make the most out of the heat generated fuelled by…guess what?…yak shit (yes, that’s yak shit he is placing inside the ‘heater’ ). When the Funny Frenchman learned what it was he said in his thick French accent, ‘Thank you, Yak!’ which cracked everybody up including the Sherpas. This Funny Frenchman is having a hard time expressing himself in English all evening, he would even say ‘it’s difficult for me and difficult for you to understand.’ He then shared that they don’t have yaks in France, only cows, which prompted the discussions of cows being sacred in Nepal.

While all this is happening, Mr. Rono is laying on the other side of the room daydreaming about the sunny lifestyle of the Philippines (we both agreed we need to pay homage to the beach when we arrive from the trek!). We would talk about our favorite food that we haven’t eaten the past week – from KFC to yoghurt! Ah, daydreaming about the Philippines was bliss!

Our trek is also becoming more dramatic as we got higher up the mountain, what with everyone (including me) having colds already. Mr. Rono insists that he has it worse since he has cough AND altitude sickness. He even suspects he may have water in his lungs already (such a drama king!) similar to High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema. Of course, at that point in the trek, that will never be verified. This night, I took a Diamox pill for the very first time while lying down on my sleeping bag because I found it hard to sleep already. I tried to hold out with the medication for as long as I can, but this is how far I can take it without medical help.

But we do agree on one thing – we were glad to have yak shits in our evenings in the Himalayas!

Trek the Himalayas Day #6: Phortse, Dole, Machermo
Pit Stop: Machermo
Elevation: 4,410 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 57% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 250 rupees/USD 3.57

Lucky for our group, the Diamox pills seem to be taking a positive effect on Mr. Rono and Chin. So, on this early morning, we set out once again to our trek towards Dole and Machhermo after a breakfast of sweet rice porridge, boiled eggs and honey pancake. Once again, we went down to the Dudh Kosi river and up again in another mountain.

It was a good 2 hours of trekking until we finally saw other trekkers on the trail – a couple, Dutch by their accent, and they had neither a guide nor a porter. They were actually carrying their 30-kg bag while they trek! Goodness gracious!

It was getting colder and harder to breathe as we slowly made our way up the hill from Phortse towards Dole. Knowing fully well that today was Good Friday, I spent time while doing the trek to pray the Holy Rosary and remember the Passion of Christ through Stations of the Cross. We might not be in a church praying right now for the Holy Week, but this might just be the longest pasion we have ever done in our entire lives!

Although the sun was up, the wind was chilly! All the lakes and waterfalls on our way were frozen solid –

We had our lunch in Dole (4,200 m) where we met an Australian fellow who was travelling on his own, but who also seemed to be a seasoned trekker, on his way down to Namche Bazar from Gokyo. We had a nice chat with him and he was excited for us when we said we were heading to Gokyo Ri. ‘I’ve forgotten how beautiful it was up there til I came back,’ he would say. He has already been to Gokyo Ri twice and Everest Base Camp 5 TIMES! He said the panoramic view of Everest Base Camp does not even compare with that of Gokyo Ri. We were thrilled with his affirmation. Over our lunch of chicken noodle soup and boiled eggs, we talked about the Philippines (us basically convincing him to come visit since he’s been to Indonesia and Thailand already), trekking in Nepal and altitude sickness. He explained to us that Diamox was originally intended as medication for glaucoma but people eventually found out that one of its side effects is to help cope with altitude sickness. From Gokyo, he would meet his group in Namche Bazar and proceed to Everest Base Camp from there. Such a cool guy! He even has solar-power charger for his iTouch

From our lunch break, however, it was all ‘suffer-fest’ of uphill climbing in high elevation.

Remember that we were supposed to be coming from Dole today trekking towards Machhermo. But because we decided to take a rest in Phortse, we were catching up on lost time of trekking to be able to stick with our schedule.

If you don’t see the video, click here!

We did arrive in Machhermo super-exhausted with the long day a little before 5pm. Because the sun is already setting, we were really freezing our arses off already by the time we reach Yeti Lodge. Oh by the way, on our way up, I noticed that one of my Columbia trekking shoes has a gaping hole on it. I was very disappointed with that discovery. I’m not sure how I get the tear from my Pagora trekking shoes but we’ve barely reached the goal of the trek and my shoes is already conking out on me!

In the end, I was also just grateful that the only thing that needed stitching on the entire duration of the trek was my shoe

Trek the Himalayas Day #5: Tengboche, Phortse
Pit Stop: Phortse
Elevation: 3,840 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 60% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 200 rupees/USD 2.86

Early morning breakfast was a far cry from the high-spirited conversation in the Trekker’s Inn last night. We gave a warm hug to our Brazilian-American friend who had to trek back down from Tengboche and asked about conditions of people who had various degrees of altitude sickness overnight. Mr. Rono and Chin was really officially down with altitude sickness already but there was one last hope for recovery – take Diamox pills! Desperate times call for desperate measures

After a breakfast of rice porridge and boiled eggs, our Sherpa suggested we pay a visit to Tengboche monastery first before we proceed with our trek towards Dole (4,200 m).

The Tengboche monastery was very pretty! Inside the monastery, I was taught by our Sherpa, Ang Dawa Rai, how to pray the Buddhist way. So I got down on my knees and laid my palms flat while bending my head down towards the floor. All I prayed for on that brief moment inside the monastery were – safety and health! I knew this day will not be easy for our group. And so the trek begins…

From Tengboche, we have to go all the way back down to the Dudh Kosi river again. And then climb back up again! I swear, I lost count how many times we had to do this over and over again the past days already. To trek downhill and cross a bridge…

…just to climb back up again!

At one point, our Sherpa was telling us look over the other side of the mountain –

He was pointing to us where we came from because Tengboche is now on the other mountain from where we were standing!

It was hard for me to trek this leg from Tengboche to Phortse, but I can imagine how much harder it is for Mr. Rono and Chin to do this too considering they have already sought medication to address their altitude sickness. They told me over lunch that they were feeling extremely dizzy already. That’s not a good thing especially if one wrong move on the trail could be fatal –

After more than 3 hours of trekking, we finally saw civilization and we actually met the first persons on the trail. That was how secluded we felt during the trek not seeing any other trekker except for a wild goat that crossed our path near the river.

We finally stopped for lunch in Phortse (3,840 m) and decided to stay there for the rest of the day so Mr. Rono and Chin can cope with their condition. Ang Dawa Rai was also suggesting that some may go ahead (me and a porter) while the rest can stay. But we all agreed that we didn’t want to break our group. I also did not mind an extra day of rest. While the others were sleeping, I caught up with reading the book I bought from Namche Bazar – Eat, Pray, Love. It was really quiet and peaceful in Phortse. There were no other guests in the lodge but us and you barely see anyone passing by. Mainly because this was really not a main trail for trekkers. It was just a quaint, sleepy town located in a valley of Phortse.

We had dinner of hash brown potato and buffalo momo which wasn’t such a good idea. Remembering the stomach cramps of the Brazilian-American lady, we decided to avoid oily food for the rest of the trek. I was fascinated by the food our Sherpa and porters were eating – millet! Ang Dawa Rai jokingly refer to it as ‘yak shit’ because it really does look like one. I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve always felt some resemblance between Nepal and Uganda. This is probably one of the things they have in common. Millet is also a staple food for Ugandans, which they commonly refer to as posho

Trek the Himalayas Day #4: Namche Bazar, Tashinga, Tengboche
Pit Stop: Tengboche
Elevation: 3,860 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 60% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 150 rupees/USD 2.15

Due to the flash snowfall the day before, we were actually rewarded with clear blue skies as we head from Namche Bazar (3,440m) to Tengboche (3,860m).

If you would check our original trekking itinerary, you will notice that we were supposed to go to Dole (4,200m) today. But because Mr. Rono has already started exhibiting some sort of vulnerability to altitude sickness, our Sherpa decided we go to a lesser altitude than Dole first. So, off to Tengboche we go. Along with so many other trekkers because apparently, this is the the pit stop for those heading on to Everest Base Camp as shared by our German friend from the lodge in Namche Bazar.

As we were trekking towards Tengboche, here’s the view that greeted us ‘GOOD MORNING!’

We were rewarded with a majestic view of Mt. Ama Dablam and Mt. Everest very early in the morning! The snow cleared the skies and we were given a rare view of the towering mountains over cloudless skies.

We were such in a positive mood that when we came across a Sherpa who was asking for donations from tourists to help them fix the trail (e.g., smoothing stones and placing them on foot-paths for trekking trails), we gladly gave them a little something from our pocket money. It was fascinating to look at their log book and see the various nationalities that have donated so far – on that page, we’re the only one from Asia!

But our joy was short-lived because the trek today was physically-demanding. It seems like the trekking are getting more complicated (and definitely steeper!) in each day we spend in the Himalayas! After having lunch in Tashinga (3,450m), all we trekked was going up, up, up! These signs along the way aren’t comforting, either –

Two hours? For the locals maybe – it took us 4 freakin’ hours to get to the top of Tengboche!

And finally, a view of Tengboche monastery!

Yey! We stayed in Trekker’s Inn in Tengboche, very near the monastery. We rewarded ourselves with a can of Pringles (300 rupees) and a bottle of Coca-Cola (250 rupees). We arrived at Trekker’s Inn and met with the people already in the lodge. This will turn out to be the night we would all enjoy among all other nights during the trek because of the people we met. There was this Brazilian lady who has now migrated to the US and says she knew we were Filipinos because we have the same ‘aura’ as her neighbors in San Diego, California. We met her in one of her lowest point during the trek because she was afflicted with altitude sickness AND stomach cramps. She would go back down the next day and then straight to Lukla for her flight to Kathmandu. But it’s ok, she says, she can always go back to do the trek again. She was actually expecting (and hoping!) either 3 of us to be medical professionals! ‘My neighbors are both doctors,’ she would share.

Over the fireplace in the dining area, we also had a very long chat with a Spanish fellow who have long wanted to visit the Philippines ‘because of the long history we shared!,’ he says. There was this other couple who we first met drinking whiskey! We were not surprised to eventually learn that they were Russians but we were fascinated that they actually brought their dog with them! ‘She flew all the way from Moscow,’ the Russian gentleman would say. I asked if the dog ever has altitude sickness, and the Russian lady said the dog was actually losing appetite already. And they both agreed that if they see the dog could not make it all the way, they would go back down for its sake. Naks!

There were also this Malaysian fellow, based in India now, who had to leave his wife at Namche Bazar to rest because of altitude sickness. Their group actually started with 6 people on the team but the Canadian couple they were with were too fast so they let them go ahead and the others just started to fall from ranks as they went higher. There were 2 German families as well. All of them were bound for Everest Base Camp. We were the only ones headed for Gokyo Ri, but that’s not surprising since Tengboche was really a detour for us to address altitude sickness issues of our group.

Despite the warm and cozy evening we shared with this happy group of trekkers in Tengboche, we sadly did not enjoy the sleeping time. The temperature in the evenings drop to a freezing 0 degrees celsius and lodges here do not have any heaters! Although I was feeling a bit fine and adjusting well to the altitude, Mr. Rono did not sleep a wink during the night. The altitude sickness has turned from bad to worse while we were in Tengboche.

Trek the Himalayas Day #3: Namche Bazar, Syangboche, Khumjung
Pit Stop: Namche Bazar (2nd night)
Highest Elevation Reached: 3,790 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 64% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 150 rupees/USD 2.15

We started having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night already because of headaches. By dawn, Mr. Rono had to rush to the bathroom to throw up and we all knew these are tell-tale signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or also commonly known as altitude sickness. Before our breakfast of chicken noodle soup and egg, I urged Mr. Rono to do some deep breathing exercises with me (similar to what we do in yoga). In the end, he decided to stay behind in the hotel to rest while Chin and I go out to see the Sherpa Village in Khumjung as part of our ‘acclimatization’ climb.

Although we woke up with frosted hotel windows, the sun was out when we were about to leave for the acclimatization climb and the day was already getting warm.

But after some time, the wind started to pick up. Good thing we brought our windbreakers to wear during the day trek while immersing ourselves more on the Khumbu Region culture.

While in Syangboche, we managed to watch a cargo plane land on an airstrip and see a glimpse of the Mt. Everest peak for the very first time. But the weather has turned for the worse bringing in thick clouds from nowhere that virtually blinded our trail during the trek.

At some point, we had to ask ourselves do we go back to Namche Bazar or proceed to Khumjung?

But we decided we wanted to see more and really go to the Sherpa Village in Khumjung. A few more minutes of trekking uphills and downhills, we wandered into the community of Sherpas –

where we had lunch of vegetable roll (which looked a lot like a big empanada to me) with rice and vegetable soup. During lunch, we saw how cold it really was at 10 degrees Celsius and it’s only noon time!

And then it started to snow…

FRAAAAAAK! It was snowing and we were wearing our half-pants! We decided to wait it out a bit but after one hour there seems to be no stopping in sight –

We had to wait for the snow fall to stop in one of the Nepali houses just in front of the Hillary School where a lot of Sherpas first learned how to speak English. The school was established by Hillary, the first person to ever summit Mt. Everest. Eventually, we decided to just brave the snow and try to go back to Namche as fast as we can lest we end up being stuck in Khumjung for the night.

The sight of snow-capped mountains and pine trees and trail was actually breath-takingly beautiful if only we weren’t soooo cold! The trek back to Namche Bazar wasn’t easy but it sure was fun…and definitely memorable

If you don’t see the video, click here!

Trek the Himalayas Day #2: Phakding, Namche Bazar
Pit Stop: Namche Bazar
Elevation: 3,440 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 64% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 100 rupees/USD 1.40

We left Phakding promptly at 7am today after a breakfast of Tibetan bread, chapati (rotti) and scrambled eggs. We were warned about the length and steepness of today’s climb to Namche Bazar so we wanted an early start. Problem is, that seems to be the idea of every other trekker that was coming from Phakding. Eventually, it got too crowded on the trails with yaks, jopke (cross between yak and buffalo), horses and trekkers all converging at some point.

Since the Westerners (mostly Europeans) were pretty fast by our standards, we decided to let them pass us group by group, and we trudged steadily up and down the mountains with several river crossings on a bridge similar to this video –

We had our lunch break in Jorsaille (2,800m) where we ordered spaghetti and cheese as well as chicken curry and rice. Dawa, our Sherpa, was carrying with him a box with his bag all the way from Kathmandu and we had a pleasant surprise knowing what was inside during lunch break. It was one box-full of fruits! That was such a sweet gesture from him.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing this sign in the lodge/restaurant where we stayed for lunch –

We inched our way slowly up mountains and down to the river to go up again eventually. We had our trekking permit stamped in the Sagarmatha National Park office somewhere in Monjo (2,850 m), evidence of our hard work. Hehe. Didn’t I say there were a lot of trekkers? By past noon, they were way ahead of us on the other mountain when I took this shot –

And we were left trekking side by side with porters that have unbelievable weight on their shoulders!

Imagine how slow we were going? But that snail-pace still managed to get us up to Namche Bazar (3,440 m) by half-past 4 in the afternoon. We absolutely loooooved the vibe of Namche Bazar – it’s like a little marketplace or tiangge that you wouldn’t expect in a mountain! Mr. Rono even had his ‘Trekker’s Massage’ and I bought some books for the rest of the trek – basically everything you need can somehow be found here!

The thought of shopping and logging in the internet again was re-energizing after the long trek! And the place where we stayed, Hotel Snowland, was fairly new opening only 2 months ago. We had our dinner of mixed fried rice and buffalo momo and played cards in the dining hall which we shared with an elderly couple from the US and a young German fellow with his Sherpa.

Our porters also did a good job choosing our room with a view of Namche Bazar!

Trek the Himalayas Day #1: Kathmandu, Lukla, Phakding
Pit Stop: Phakding
Elevation: 2,910 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 73% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 150 rupees/USD 2.15

Straight from the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, we proceeded to the trekking part of our adventure. All 3 of us (myself, Mr. Rono and Chin) were in high spirits as we marvel at the sights of the first leg of our Himalayan trek.

We stopped for lunch at Tharokosi (2500m) in Solukhumbu where we saw the ad for missing backpacker above. I think it’s scary to venture out alone in this kind of trek but somehow, we still see people trekking alone – without a guide or a Sherpa. Lunch consisted mainly of mixed fried rice (meat, egg and rice) and dal bhat (the Nepali version of our munggo) with rice. After a short break, on we go towards Phakding…

We arrived at Phakding (2,910m) by 3:00pm and we had snacks of cheese momo (Nepali dimsum) and something more familiar you’ll never guess what!

They actually serve San Miguel beer in the Himalayas!

Dinner of roast chicken with macaroni and vegetables were served by 7pm and then it’s bedtime! This was the first night (of many other nights) where we slept cozily inside our sleeping bags in a lodge.

But first…