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 #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.

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