Date: 29th March, 2014.
As we woke up around 7.30, we could hear the Kathmandu-Lukla rotary planes high up in the sky. These planes transport people from Kathmandu to the Solu-Khumbu area and vice versa. Before the airfield at Lukha was built (world's highest and most dangerous airport), the only access in Nepal to Everest and the Base Camp was via the track from Jiri, which Kavita and I are currently following. When Edmund Hilary and Norgay Tenzing conquered Everest in 1953, this is the path they took. We are basically following their footsteps as far as Base Camp.
Since the airfield at Lukla has been built, most trekkers and climbers destined for Everest Base Camp fly directly from Kathmandu to Lukla bypassing Jiri and cutting their journey and trekking time in half.
There is no proper road network providing access to the Solu-Khumbu region. Over the past few years, the road from Kathmandu to Jiri has been extended as far as Shivalaya and Bhandar, but it is still very rudimentary and quite dangerous. If trekking to the Everest region via Lukla, it is better to start from Jiri.
We were due to start our next leg from Sete at 09:00. The clothes I had washed late last night weren't fully dry so I put them out in the sun, whilst having breakfast.
After a breakfast of porridge with honey (as usual) at 08:30, we left Sete at 09:18 and headed further up the mountain. My woolen trekking socks were still wet when we were leaving so I put them on the back of my day sack to dry off.
We continued the ascent up the mountain for about 50 minutes and then stopped at a teahouse for some lemon tea. While we were there, John & Duncan (from Melbourne, Australia), two trekkers we had met earlier in Bhandar passed us by. We also introduced ourselves to Joel, a trekker from Finland who was on his way to EBC and had started from Jiri a couple of days ago.
We continued for another 10 minutes to the village of Dakchu where Dorje suggested we spend the night. Our next major milestone was the village of Junbesi and Dorje said that the there was only one lodge in between Dakchu and Junbesi and it was not very good. There was also no guarantee that it was open. We could continue all the way to Junbesi, but it was 7 hours away and with Kavita's knee still recovering from the previous day, Dorje felt it would be prudent to stop at Dakchu and get some rest for the longer trek to Junbesi.
We were quite surprised that today's trek had only been for an hour. We had just warmed up and were ready to go on for another few hours. But Dorje's rationale made sense, so we decided to spend the day at Dakchu and head off to Junbesi the next day via the Lamjura La Pass, which we could see at a distance from Dakchu.
As much as I was disappointed with the short trek day, I was quite relieved to have some spare time to update our blog and upload some of our trek images on the internet to make them available online for the benefit of the people at home. The past fews days had been quite overwhelming. There so much happening, and everything was happening so fast with early starts, strenuous days, late finishes and short sleeps. At the end of each tiring trek day, we had to prepare for the next day. Drinking water needed to be prepared, batteries/devices needed to be charges, backups had to be done. By the time we had dinner and/or a shower, I barely had enough time to recall the events of the day and log all the details online in a constructive manner. There was so much to remember and note. Each village had a story to tell and each track between the villages had its own tale. We also had issues with slow Internet connectivity which made the task all the more onerous. There was no 3G data service. The Ncell network service only provided the EDGE data transfer protocol, which took me back to the dark days of dial-up Internet connections. During the day, I was physically challenged, in the evening, I was mentally tested. I was glad to have some time to catch up and absorb the day's experience at a slower pace.
At Dakchu we stayed at the Maya Tamang Lodge. There were several wooden dorm rooms, but we were the only ones staying there. The toilet was a separate shed outside, behind the main building and there was no shower/washroom.
It was a quaint little homestead run by a middle aged lady with two children. I didn't see her partner during the stay so I can only assume that he is a sherpa and is away guiding some other Trekkers/climbers. Most of the teahouses and lodges in the remote parts of Nepal are run by women, while their husbands serve as sherpa guides or porters to tourists.
The two children, a boy, Purba (aged 5) and the girl, Shanti (aged 7) were most helpful to their mother, helping her with tasks such as fanning the fire or fetching water for the kitchen. Their lives are so different from the children back home. They seemed happier and content with what little they had. Watching them play with each other and interact with us and the animals of the homestead, brought out the philosophical side in me and made me dwell on how adaptive life truly is. The sole purpose of life is to propagate itself through the ages, whatever the environment. Here were these children who were making the best of their environment and the resources available to them.
The electricity in the lodge was hydro-powered. There was only one power socket in the entire homestead, located in the communal area adjacent to the kitchen. Two extension leads were daisy-chained to provide more sockets. We had no access to electricity the previous night, so we took the opportunity to charge all our devices/batteries.
Dorje said that as we go further into the mountains, electricity would be solar powered and may not always be reliable.
At around 12:30, the lady of the household made us some lunch. Kavita had asked for some noodle soup and I wanted to try some Tibetan stew, which turned out to be quite filling and delicious.
As the day wore on, we sat outside in the veranda soaking up the sun. There was a chill in the shadows, so we kept on moving our chairs to keep in the sun. While I put together material for the blog, Kavita read a book on her iPad. Purba and Shanti were naturally intrigued by all the gadgets, peering over our shoulders to see what we were doing. So we introduced them to the wonders of the iPad and the iPhone. Perhaps by tainting them with technology we have ruined their lives forever !!
As evening wore on, the Cockerels and hens with little chicks returned to the homestead for their feed of cooked rice. There was a little coop where they would be roosting overnight. A bovine family of bull, cow and her calf also returned back to the homestead for the night. They had their own little cowshed at the rear of the homestead. There was also a black and white dog which constantly demanded more attention after I made the mistake of patting him on the head.
We had dinner at 19:30. It was the best Dal Bhat we had tasted since we came to Nepal. The lady of the homestead had served it with some delicious homemade tomato and garlic chutney. She was, by far, the best cook we has encountered on the trek.
I had finally updated the blog until day 5 of the expedition. But it took ages to upload the photos on the blog and publish the updates. By the time it had completed, it was around 22:15. Kavita was well asleep by then. I laid out my sleeping bag and tucked in at around 22:30, but had a difficult time getting to sleep. It was cold in the room and too hot inside the bag. I unzipped it part way down, tossing and turning in it trying to find the most comfortable position to fall asleep in. I must have found it at around midnight, because it felt like a long time before I finally lost consciousness and fell asleep.
DAY 6: Trekking Technicals
Start Point: Sete (2,570m), 09:18
End Point: Dakchu (2,959m), 10:57
Distance 2.02km
Total Moving Time: 58m
Ascent: 417m (Total 3,309m)
Descent: 41m (Total 2,266m)
Trekking Tip:
While trekking, you will meets lots of people from different countries and walks of life who share a common interest with you to experience a new adventure. Don't be scared to say 'hello' and exchange experiences and views. You will surprised at how much useful information you may pick up simply by having a casual conversation with other trekkers & climbers.
No comments:
Post a Comment