I've probably taken so long to type it that you're not even interested anymore, but here it is anyway. Week #3 of my Himalayan trek.
The next morning I had a cup of tea and was off by about 6AM. Since their are no facilities along the Kongma La pass I had the cook make me two pieces of chapati with peanut butter to eat later on. This morning was beautiful and I was looking forward to crossing the pass.
I wasn't exactly sure where the trail began but I knew the general area where I could find it from talking with locals and guides. I basically just started walking straight up a hill until I came across it. It took about an hour to locate the main trail. Not many people use the trail so its not as noticeable as others but once I found it it was easy to follow.
To reach the pass at 5535m took about 4 hours. Overall, the ascent was only mildly challenging. I maintained my slow constant pace the whole way and took more frequent breaks during the last 200m. The views were amazing the whole way. What I liked most about the walk was the complete solitude and silence. I didn't run into a single person all the way up and down. For almost 7 hours the only noises I heard were the seldom chirps of birds and the wind cruising across the hillsides. Without a doubt my favorite day of trekking.
When I reached the top of the pass I took a short break to relish in my minor achievement then began the walk down to Lobuche where I would stay the night. The walk down wasn't difficult, just a bit hard on the knees. From the top it took about 2 hours to reach the bottom of the valley and then another hour to cross the Khumbu glacier which cuts the valley in half.
The glacier itself looked like an enormous rock quarry with ice rarely being visible. There was a decent path going across it which made things easy for me. I made it to Lobuche by the early afternoon.
The weather conditions for my crossing were absolutely perfect making the day very enjoyable and only a little bit difficult. It was very fun doing it on my own without a guide.
In lobuche I chose the Alpine Inn to stay at. No particular reason, I just looked in it's direction and decided it was for me. After eating a vegetable omelette for lunch I spent the remainder of the afternoon drinking tea and reading.
In the evening I had a nice conversation with a radioactive waste manager from Estonia. We didn't talk about much. He was just a really nice person to talk to. I didn't go for any variety at dinner time and had daalbhat then sat around the yak dung stove talking with some of the guides and porters from other groups. They always get a kick out of hearing me speak Nepali. And by the way, yak dung makes a great fire.
I was awake and walking up the valley by 5AM the next morning. I got an early start because I had a pretty full day ahead of me. Or at least I had planned on a full day. Plans changed later on. I left my backpack in Lobuche and just took a day pack with me.
After an hour and a half walk I arrived in Gorak Shep, the last village before Everest Base Camp. My first objective of the day was to climb up Kala Pattar, a small peak near Gorak Shep. After a cup of tea I began the hike up to 5550m. By now my body was very well acclimatized so I didn't have much trouble getting to the top.
The view at the top was one of the most amazing experiences of the trek. Other than a few lonely clouds, the sky was completely clear. There wasn't even any wind. I spent an hour up there and would have stayed longer if it wasn't for a large group of trekkers coming up. Space was very limited up there.
I had planned on heading to Everest Base Camp after descending back to Gorak Shep, but decided not to. I just couldn't think of any reason to go. I hear the walk is less than spectacular and when you get there all there is to see are a bunch of tents. Also, I got a great long distance view of the camp from the top of the peak. Instead of going to the base camp I decided to trek to Dzongla, the last village before the pass I would be cross the next day.
On the way back down I stopped in Lobuche to grab my bag and have some lunch. The woman that ran the lodge was so nice to me. She gave me free tea and a few vegetable dumplings for being a volunteer worker in Nepal.
The walk to Dzongla was a nice one. The weather stayed nice and I didn't feel tired at all from the hike in the morning. I wasted a half hour following the wrong trail, but then got back on track and got to Dzongla around 4PM. There was only one lodge so no decision making had to be done in that concern. The two guys that ran the place were really kind and hospitable. I enjoyed their company very much.
Not much to do in Dzongla other than enjoy the beautiful scenery. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the hillside and taking some pictures. I was tempted to stay an extra day here. It was a really peacefull place. I ignored the temptation however, and continued on with my planned itinerary.
I got up around 5AM and walked the 30 meters outside to the toilet. Definitely not the most convenient place for a toilet when it's freezing outside. The weather was nice until about 6AM when a heavy fog settled in. I ordered my pass crossing meal, chapati with peanut butter, then despite the bad weather began the 2 1/2 hour ascent to the top of the Cho La pass.
There was a pretty decent trail so the fog didn't make things any more difficult than they wouldn't have been without it. Part way up I got stuck behind a group of British trekkers going very slowly. After about 30 min. they stopped for a break and I continued on at my normal pace. A pace which I used to think was slow.
The top of Cho La pass kind of snuck up on me because of the fog. I had also gotten there nearly an hour earlier than guides and other people said it would take. At 5350m. the pass isn't very high and wasn't very difficult to reach. The descent however was quite steep with lots of loose rocks and ice which turned out to be a little challenging.
After stumbling my way down for about an hour I stopped to share some tea with some porters I shared chocolate with at the top of the pass. From there it took another hour to walk down the valley to the Ngozumpa glacier which separated me from the main trail to Gokyo.
This glacier looked a bit different than the one I crossed before with large lakes and sand dunes scattered about. Very strange looking. During my crossing a light snow started to fall and combined with the odd torn apart landscape made me think of a city that has been reduced to rubble after being bombed.
After an hour of pretending I was making my way through the remains of a destroyed city I made it to the other side of the glacier and walked another 45 minutes to Gokyo. My home for the next few days.
Gokyo is a group of 8 lodges sitting next to a lake at about 4750m. The lake is really beautiful and so is everything around it. There are a few really nice lodges in Gokyo, but I don't like those kinds of places. Instead I opted for a smaller place called Lakeside Lodge. In my experience I've found that smaller places where people don't usually go have friendlier owners. Owners more concerned with being good hosts than making money. One very sweet and funny woman ran the Lakeside Lodge all by herself while raising a 6 year old trouble maker named Basum. Nice kid, but a little brat at times.
That afternoon when I arrived I took a walk around the lake. It took about an hour and a half to make it all the way around. It was a really nice walk with all kinds of birds flying about and yaks grazing on the hillsides.
I was happy to see that the Estonian I'd met a few nights before was staying in the same lodge. We had another nice time talking about camping in Russia and Estonia. He also told me about the big changes that have occured in his country since the fall of communism. We both had daalbhat for dinner then went to bed.
I went for an early morning walk around the lake the next day. it had a different feeling in the early hours of the morning and I enjoyed it even more than the day before. There was one bright blue bird that accompanied me for about 20 minutes, fluttering ahead whenever I came near. It's name was Lewis and I'm sad to say that I have no pictures of him.
After my stroll around the lake I took a hike up the nearby ridge to Gokyo Ri at 5360m. From here I had a fantastic view of the surrounding area. Unlike yesterday morning, the weather was perfect and allowed me to see as far as the mountains would let me. I stayed up there taking pictures and enjoying everything for over an hour then headed back down to Gokyo for lunch.
I slept for an hour after lunch then washed my hair for the first time in 10 days. It had gotten pretty dirty in the last few days so I figured it was about time. In the afternoon I enjoyed a cup of coffee and did some reading and writing. After eating some chicken soup and an onion omelette I went to bed.
I wasn't feeling very good the next morning after having problems sleeping. I just wasn't able to fully get to sleep all night. I had to settle with a half awake/half asleep mixture. I'm not sure what the reason was. Possibly the altitude, but i haven't had problems before this night.
Anyways, despite my poor sleep I decided to go through with my plan and head up the valley to see two other lakes. I reached the first lake in just over an hour and wandered around for a while. Much of it was frozen and looked really beautiful in the early morning light.
The walk to the next lake took about 2 hours and was awesome. Most of the time the trail followed the ridgline of the Ngozumpa glacier. The second lake wasn't very impressive, but the walk there was well worth my abundance of free time. The was perfect and I got to see Changri La pass. Enchanting, even from afar.
I felt the lack of sleep kicking in during the walk back to Gokyo. Not even my peanut butter and jelly chapati gave me the energy I can usually count on it giving me. It was still a nice walk back. After a bowl of noodle and soup back at the lodge, I took a nap and felt much better after.
I found a great book in the lodge that someone had left behind. It was called "The Ascent of Rum Doodle". I had a great afternoon reading it and drinking tea. I can't believe I never heard of this book before. Excellent reading. Really funny stuff. It may be a children's book.
In the evening I ate way too much daalbhat then went to bed hoping for better sleep than the night before. A stomach packed with lentils and rice usually does the trick.
|  | 
|
