Nepal Trek: Day 7

September 30th – Dole to Luza:

13,399ft/4084m - 14,403ft/4390m - 4 1/2 hrs hike

Had a great weather day...lots of sunshine! Today was another short trekking day. With the quick altitude gains, we will only trek half days to reach our next village where we will sleep. If you go too high too quickly, then the possibility for altitude sickness increases. So we are taking our time to make sure we stay happy.

News from the other trekkers returning from Gokyo report that the Cho La Pass has received alot of snow and no one has gone over the pass in the last 4 days, except 2 american women. And we then met these 2 women during our morning tea break. They did make the pass, as they were able to follow a guide that was returning from the east side to the west side after the snow storm and showed them the way. Fingers are crossed that no new snow will fall in the next few days.

Leaving Dole in the morning:

The village - Dole with Kangtega and Thamserku in the background:

After the initial climb from Dole, you reach a good viewpoint with mani stones and prayer flags, again with Kangtega and Thamserku in the background:

Kangtega and Thamserku:

Nepal Trek: Day 6

Sept 29^th - Khumjung to Dole:

12,402ft/3780m – 13,399ft/4084m - 6 1/2 hrs hike

Woke to the sound of yak bells and enjoying the fact that I am waking up in the mountains of Nepal. On the way out of Khumjung, we stopped by the monastery because we heard that the monks have a yeti head… and if you provide a donation, you can view the ‘yeti head’. So what to do?…well we paid up to see the yeti head. However, it was a bit of a letdown. There was only the top of a skull with brown fur, but it did not include the parts from the eyes, nose, or mouth. So I am not sure what part of what animal this once belonged to. And in my expert option - it did not look like a yeti head.  It could just as easily once been a butt of a goat or buffalo. So I walked away not even partially convinced that this once belonged to a yeti.   

Starting out the day’s trek from Khumjung and continued to hike through forests, where we spotted mountain goats and musk deer. We arrived at Dole and a few of the lodges were damaged by the earthquake a few weeks back. They were already working to rebuild to be ready for the peak trekking season. This was our first chilly night, so filled the nalgene with hot water for sleeping…nice and warm sleeping bag throughout the whole night!!

Starting off the day from Khumjung:

Yak Trains:

Nepal Trek: Day 5

 Sept 28^th - Namche Bazaar to Khumjung:

11,306ft/3446m – 12,402ft/3780m – 5 hrs hike

After the days in Namche, I was ready to hit the trail and get moving towards Gokyo and into the Himalayas. The weather was improving day by day and we had a great morning’s hike to Khumjung, about 1000ft higher than Namche, but only a few hours hike up.

Of course along the way, we stopped for a morning tea break and were rewarded with Everest views at the Syangboche Panorama Hotel. By the time we finished our tea, the clouds came in and the mountains disappeared. Good timing!

 

An old chorten greets us as we arrive at the town of Khumjung, with Ama Dablam in the background:

Sights from the town of Khumjung:

-          Woman with Prayer Beads

-          Woman at Prayer Wheels

-         House with Satellite Dish. Many of the lodges have TVs and internet service and most of the porters now carry cell phones. It amazes me that there is cell phone service in the himalayas, and I still reached dead zones in the mountains and at the ski resorts of Colorado.

-          Locals working the fields

Nepal Trek: Days 3 & 4

Sept 26^th – 27^th Acclimatization Days in Namche:

It rained a lot while we were in Namche for the required days acclimatizing. In fact, there were streams now running through the cobblestone passageways of Namche. So we enjoyed exploring this mountain village, comparing treats from several bakeries and a hike up to a higher village - Mende, a higher village for tea. I even caught an Everest documentary film at one of the bars… it was a great way to pass a rainy afternoon.  On one of the mornings we woke to clear sunny skies, so we quickly ventured up to the viewpoint to catch our first good views of Everest before the clouds came in.

Ama Dablam, Lhotse, and the peak of Everest from behind Lhotse:

Everest from behind Lhotse:

Nepal Trek: Day 2

Sept 25^th – Phakding to Namche Bazaar:

To 11,306ft/3446m - 8 hrs hiking

It continues to rain, but we enjoyed a wonderful pre-birthday celebration for Rubin in Phakding the night before. However, we were unable to locate a birthday cake from the local bakery, so we look forward to a 2^nd celebration with birthday cake in Namche! The trail went through beautiful forests with moss hanging from the trees similiar to the spanish moss on the cyress trees along the Pamlico River in NC. We stopped in Jorsale for lunch and sat in the short bit of sunshine we had for the day overlooking the Dudhu Kosi.This day we enter the Sagarmatha National Park.

With all of the rain during the monsoon, a rockslide took out one of the bridges and we had to make a sketchy and slippery detour along a makeshift trail etched along the hillside.

Entering the Sagarmatha National Park:

Safer and sturdier new metal bridges have replaced the older wooden plank bridges:

Our arrival to Namche Bazaar after a steady climb for the last hour:

Nepal Trek: Day 1

Sept 24^th - Lukla to Phakding:

Woke to the 1^st view of the Himalayas from just outside my tea house room.

On today's trek we hiked to Phakding. Along the way, I passed the first of many monestaries

 
Typical store offerings along the trail (Pringles, candy bars, cookies and the occasional vegetable):

 

Along the tail there are many local toilet options:

 

We passed many Mani walls and Prayer wheels:

One gives instructions on how to cleanse your soul:

 The wonderful sight of prayer flags blowing in the wind:

I have already noticed many changes from my previous trek in 1993. One obvious change are that the tea houses that I remember have been replaced with newer and larger lodges:

Nepal Trek: Gokyo Valley - Cho La Pass - Khumbu Valley

On Sept 23rd I flew to Lukla to begin with a trek through the Himalayas of Nepal. I will trek up the Gokyo Valley and cross over Cho La Pass to enter the Khumbu Valley to hike up Kalla Pattar - which
hopefully will provide wonderful views of Everest...if the clouds ever clear! Then onto Chhukung to Island Peak Base Camp and return back down to Lukla.
The trip began with meeting up in Lukla with friends Katelyn and her husband Rubin, who began their trek one week earlier in Phaplu. It rained these first few days, as the monsoon will just not end!! , HoweverI have been told that come Oct 1st, the rains will end.

I stayed in a tea house across from the Lukla Starbucks, which is owned by the brother of Lhakpa Sherpa, who is the owner of Sherpa House in Golden!

Photos of the Lukla airport that is built in the mountain side. During the peak trekking season, as many as 100 planes arrive each day from Kathmandu:

Fall in Nepal

Back in Nepal! I decided I needed to take a bit of time to recharge my soul and could not think of a better place for this time than Nepal. Having traveled here before, twice in the 90's, I have been waiting to return since. So my plan is to trek in the mountains and kayak on the rivers of Nepal, trek in the mountains of India, and then relax on the beaches of southern India and the Maldives. However, this plan can completely change at any moment.

I will add as many photos that capture the wonderful places and try as best I can to describe these experiences. I hope you enjoy!

Journey to Nepal and arrival in Kathmandu:

The first few days in country were spent in Kathmandu re-discovering a bit and getting over the jet lag. A lot has changed here since my last visit 13 years ago! The trip here took me from Denver to LAX, then a 16 hour flight to Bangkok, and then a 3 hour flight to Kathmandu…thankfully I was flying business class, so I was able to sleep much of the flight to Bangkok.

On arrival, the VSO office in Nepal was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. With my airline status, I was able to bring 3 pieces of luggage with me. Since I only need 2 pieces, I offered to bring any needed supplies from the USA to assist with their programs here in Nepal. I sent a call out to my friends for their help and received a wonderful amount of school supplies, games and children’s clothes from everyone. VSO was very excited about receiving these supplies and timing could not have been better, since they volunteers from the Education Program were getting together for their annual meeting this coming weekend.  So from the airport I went directly to the VSO office to deliver the school supplies (crayons, pens, pencils, notebooks, glue sticks, construction paper, and other various items), children’s books, playing cards, flash cards, musical recorders, maps, jump ropes, soccer balls with air pump... Thanks to all that helped me out with gathering these supplies and donations!!
The next evening I met with one of the VSO staff to deliver the clidren's clothes to an orphanage that houses close to 40 children. When I arrived, the younger ones were home from school and I was introduced to them as they lined up and they told me their name, age and class level. Then they sang a few Nepali songs for me. It was a very nice way to begin my visit in Nepal.
I am still searching for a local organization to give the cash donation to, so I will keep you updated once that decision is made.

The monsoon season is still in full force and the first days in Nepal are rainy. On the 3^rd day here, I woke to sunshine and decided to spend it exploring Bhaktapur, just outside of Kathmandu. It was a nice escape from the traffic, crowds and pollution of Kathmandu as it is closed to motorized traffic. This town was once the capital of the valley and used to house the king’s palace and has many temples and squares to explore.

This village has a long history for producing pottery

I fly from Kathmandu to Lukla to begin my trek on September 23rd.