Date: 28th March, 2014.
Deurali is quite pretty, the village centred around a series of Mani Walls (walls of plaques of Buddhist mantras). It is ideally located as a stopping point in the trek. Sitting on the peak of the mountain, it offers splendid views of the surrounding landscape. There is also a mobile signal mast located on the peak, providing excellent GSM network service.
Just before we departed Deurali, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the lodge we stayed in. Babu Kazi Sherpa was a true Sherpa (as opposed to the guides who are commonly referred to Sherpas nowadays). He had a physical build to match him family line and had lived in Deurali for 20 years, having moved there from a nearby village. I thanked him for their hospitality and the free use of electricity (normally chargeable) for nearly 4 hours !!
From Deurali, we descended for about an hour across the open plains towards the village of Bhandar, where we stopped for some refreshing lemon tea.
There is a pretty monastery in Bhandar and the village is frequented as a stopping point by Buddhist monks travelling up and down the trekking route. While we were there, Dorje introduced us to a few monks who were on their way to Jiri to a congregation in reverence to their spiritual leader, Tenzing Zangbo Lama.
As we continued down the route towards the village of Kenja, we met many more monks, mainly females and children, walking up the path towards Bhandar and ultimately Jiri.
We continued our descent towards the Kenja, crossing a couple of streams that fed into the river Likhu Khola further downstream. We were heading towards Kenja which was on the bank of the river further upstream. As we concentrated on the trek, we hardly spoke to each other. It was amazingly quiet along the route and all we could hear were the birds chirping away and the rush of the river water in the valley below.
As we walked along the river plain, the elevation flattened and we moved at a quicker pace. After about thirty minutes we had to descend again down the mountain slope. The drop was steep and the path zig-zagged quite a bit down the slope. Kavita felt her left knee playing up again. It was hurting and shaking lightly, making her feel a little vulnerable on the downward slope. Her feet began to hurt too. She had developed blisters in several places the previous day.
About 40 minutes before Kenja, we stopped at a tea house to have some cow's milk curd. It was a refreshing break from the monotony of the downhill struggle. It also gave Kavita a chance to rest her feet.
We continued down toward the Likhu Khola river below and crossed to the opposite bank over a steel wire bridge, continuing further along the river for another 20 minutes before we crossed it back again (another steel bridge) to get to Kenja.
Whilst waiting for lunch to be freshly prepared at Kenja, Kavita took the opportunity to air her feet and put some plasters on the broken skin of her blistered feet. She also too a painkiller for her hurting knee.
After lunch (Daal Bhat, again !!) We set off at a steep ascent towards Sete, where we will be spending the night.
The climb up the mountain was even more exhausting and tiring than the previous day. It was steep, with quite a few zig-zags traversing the slope. We just kept our heads down and watched the ground we walked on, rather than look up the steep slope. We were going to conquer this mountain one step at a time.
We continued on the ascent slowly. Another 2 hours later, we could see the village of Sete at a distance, set on the mountain slope below the summit. Now that we had a target to work with, we felt energised and our pace quickened. As we approached the village, I looked behind us and saw the sun setting over the distant mountains in a blaze of orange hues. It was beautiful indeed and a fitting end to a very taxing day.
We arrived at Sete at 17:45, and Dorje set about, as usual, to find a suitable place for us to night. The only place that seemed reasonably comfortable was the Sherpa Guide Lodge.
The wooden lodge seemed to be made recently. Electricity here was solar powered so there was none available now that the sun had set. There were quite a few rooms at the lodge, but only two or three were occupied. At least they had warm water for a shower. I really needed a shower today, salt had caked up on my skin from all the dried sweat. I ran my nails along my neck and they just filled with salt. Salt marks were also beginning to show on my base layer top. Some of the salt had also transferred to my day sack where it hugged my back.
The shower cubicle was outside, set apart from the main building. It had gone dark and cold by now and there no electricity in the cubicle, so I had to use my headlamp and a battery powered torch the host had provided me with. The shower was a far cry from the usual standards back home, but it did the job. I used the opportunity to also rinse down some of my sweaty clothes at the same time.
I felt refreshed and clean after the wash, even though the water was just tepid. I felt so good, I even had a shave in the dark (using my headlamp to light my face !!) with cold water in the toilet cubicle in the main building, the only place where there was a mirror. I felt human again !!
While dinner was being prepared, Dorje gave us a briefing for the next day. The past two days had been tiring, the next was going to be easier. We will be starting at 09:00 after breakfast at 08:30. The day after, when we were due to cross the pass of Lamjura La was going to be the longest and hardest, so we had to be rested for it.
After dinner at 20:30 (Kavita had roti and potato shak, I had the usual Daal Bhat) we settled down in our room for the night. The wooden walls were quite thin and the trekker in the adjacent room was already snoring loudly. The creaking wooden doors and floorboards also made quite a racket when someone walked around. I feared a disturbed night. Kavita was already fast asleep and oblivious to all the noises.
After downloading the track data from my GPS unit to my laptop and carrying out some long overdue data housekeeping tasks, I put on my foam earplugs and crept into my sleeping bag. Probably fell asleep around 23:30.
DAY 5: Trekking Technicals:
Start Point: Deurali (2,744m), 08:00
End Point: Sete (2570m), 17:45
Distance: 16.8km
Total Moving Time: 6h 16m
Total Ascent: 1,230m (aggregate 2,892m)
Total Descent: 1,371m (aggregate
2,225m)
Trekking Tip:
Trekking up and down undulating landscapes with a day sack can be quite strenuous for the back. When ascending, you tend to lean forward to support the weight on your back. When descending, you tend to lean back to prevent yourself from falling forward from the weight of the day sack.
The ideal posture for trekking is to stay upright as much as you can. This allows the force of the impact with the ground to be absorbed by the spine. It also puts less strain on your upper body and torso.
When ascending with a load on your back, it helps to loosen the shoulder straps of the day sack so that the 'hangs' off the shoulders. With the waist straps secured around your hip, this has the net effect of moving the centre of gravity of the load outside your body (so it's not pushing down on your back).
When descending, tightening the shoulder straps and loosening or not attaching the waist straps has the same effect.
These minor adjustments to the straps of your day sack helps to keep the body as vertical as possible.
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