Travel Footprints

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