Date: 30th March, 2014.
The cockerel's 'cock-a-doodle-do' woke me up at 05:06. There was probably no need for me to have set the alarm for 06:00. I tried to fall asleep in vain, eventually giving up and initiating the morning routine. The hole-in-ground toilets were outside, so I had a great view of the morning hues of sunrise through the gaps in the wooden planks while I did my business.
There was no washroom at the homestead and we had to use water from a large bucket in the verandah to brush our teeth and wash our face.
We were packing our kit bags when I realised I had left my toothbrush and paste in the verandah. I tried to push open the sliding wooden door of our dorm room, but it only opened halfway. As I tried to squeeze through the open gap, I heard a tearing sound on the back. It suddenly dawned on me that I had just ripped a hole in my active jacket. There was a latch hook I hadn't noticed before and it had caught on the jacket.
I felt like dying !! I am not one to get so easily attached to things, but this highly technical, windproof, water repellant lightweight, breathable jacket had seen me through a lot of diverse and difficult weather conditions over the last few months. It had kept me warm and dry through the winter climb of Ben Nevis and the Atlas Mountains winter challenge just four weeks ago. I felt like I had just betrayed it and caused it injury. My heart sank. Was it a bad omen ?
Perhaps not. After all, I am not superstitious. But maybe it was a warning that I should be a bit more vigilant the rest of the day and look out for potential danger. A moment of lapse concentration had caused this. Another lapse of concentration whilst trekking e.g stepping on a loose rock, could have disastrous consequences.
Thankfully, the jacket can be fixed. The outer shell is made from pertex microlight, a leading edge material designed by Rab, a UK company specialising in high-end outdoor equipment. Rab provide a repair service for most of their specialised products. Hopefully when they return it back to me, the damage will be repaired seamlessly with perhaps only a tell-tale 'scar' as a memento of the expedition, not unlike the one for the Atlas Mountain Winter when I scratched my collector's Suunto Everest watch on a rock !!
We had an early trekking start today as it was going to be a long stretch to Junbesi. After bidding farewell and gratitude to the family of the homestead, we set off at 07:25. We immediately went up at an ascent for about 30 minutes, rising up to the village of Goyam. The terrain was rocky with sand, strewn with fallen logs and dry shrubbery.
The dog from the homestead at Dakchu had been following us and had now caught up with us. It accompanied us as we continued the ascent towards the pass of Lamjura La.
After another 45 minutes of uphill trekking, we arrived at the desolate village of Kadhe, set in an open spaced plateau. From here we had a great view of the Numbur Himal range to the North and it's white tipped highest peak, tucked in behind the foreground hills. We spent some time resting here, admiring the spectacular views of the valleys and mountains around us. We could just about make out the roof tops of the villages we had passed on our way up.
We continued on the ascent for another 45 minutes, after which the gradient eased off and flattened a little. We also started to see pockets of snow and ice along the path.
Another 20 mins later, we stopped at a teahouse for a cup of lemon tea, before continuing up towards the pass of Lamjura La. The path was with strewn with rocks and mud. Very soon the chorten marking the final approach to the pass came into view.
The pass is on the direct flight path for the helicopters flying between Lukla and Jiri, and as we continued towards the teahouse on the pass, a chopper suddenly came into view from the other side of the pass, banked sharply over it and continued on its way down the valley towards Jiri.
We arrived at the teahouse on the pass at about 10:45. There were a lot of flies and other flying insects here, so we only stopped very briefly before crossing the cairn on the pass. It is customary to pick up a stone and add in to the cairn, so both Kavita and I obliged, before descending down to the other side. After stopping for 5 minutes at another teahouse (closed), we continued the descent for another hour over a rocky path that cut through a forest.
I prefer descents to ascents. I tend to move rapidly downhill from rock to rock with agile footing and perfect balance. However, moving rapidly downhill increases the risk of tripping and causing injury. A couple of times I moved too fast and almost tripped. I heeded the warning of the rip in my jacket and decided to slow down, keeping vigilant for loose rocks.
Kavita on the other hand, does not like descents as they put a strain on her knees, causing them to ache, particularly the left one. Today, however, her knees were fine, but her toes were hurting. She continued down the descent, silently. She had probably found that spot in her mind that enabled her to tolerate the pain and focus on the task at hand undeterred.
About 90 minutes later, the gradient of the path flattened as we came out of the forest and continued parallel to the river, Taktor Khola, on our right. From here on, the path undulated gently across the plain of the river, with the occasional short steep section.
An hour later, the path veered around the shoulder of the towering massif to our left, revealing the fantastic view on the other side. There lay before our eyes the beautiful village of Junbesi, with a backdrop of two mountains and the snow covered Numbur Peak (6,959m) of the Shorong Himal range, with the moving clouds gently caressing it. It was the best view we have seen so far since we started the trek. It gave us a glimpse of the natural beauty we were about to witness in the next few days.
We continued on the path that led down to Junbesi, re-energised with the small treat we had been given, arriving at our lodge at 14:26. Michi and Derrick had already spent the night at this lodge. We met Michi (from Japan) in Jiri when we spent the night in the same teahouse. We met Derrick (Singapore) at the teahouse in Sete.
After a lunch of noodles, we spent the afternoon visiting the Buddhist temple in the village, with a beautiful chorten and dozens of small prayer wheels and one big one in the centre of the temple. It is customary to turn the prayer wheels one by one in a clockwise direction when visiting the temple.
There was no Ncell GSM or data network service in Junbesi, so we visited the local secondary school computer lab which provided Internet access at 5 NRP per minute.
It seems that the entire village shared only one internet connection via a radio repeater link to the next village some three hours away. This in turn had a repeater to the next village and so forth, Unfortunately, there was a router problem somewhere along the line, which meant there was no access currently available.
It was Mother's Day back in the UK, but we had no way to call home. Fortunately, NTC (Nepal Telecom) had GSM coverage in the area so Dorje kindly let us use his phone to call our mothers and wish them a good day.
We spent the rest of the day in the communal area of the lodge, talking to other Trekkers or reading our books whilst listening to music. We met two new trekkers, Kevin & Suzie, from Denver, Colorado.
The lady of the lodge was suffering from a toothache and it was too painful for her talk. We felt sorry for her and gave her two tablets of paracetamol to ease her pain. Michi decided to order some local alcoholic brew called Channg, made from sweetcorn, and offered some to us. I simply cannot describe the taste, but he and Derrick spent all evening drinking it in the kitchen and seemed to have got drunk.
There was electricity in our dorm room, so we charged up all our devices and batteries using the extension lead we purchased in Jiri. Best investment for 160 NPR (£1).
We retired to our dorm room for the night at around 20:30. Whilst Kavita watched some of her favourite TV series programs on her iPad, tucked up in her sleeping bag, I made a note of the events over the past two days. She must have fallen asleep around 22:00. I finally hit the sack at 23:50 and dropped off almost immediately.
DAY 7: Trekking Technicals:
Start Point: Dakchu (2,959m), 07:25
End Point: Junbesi (2,687m), 14:26
Distance: 12.98km (Total 49.5km)
Moving Time: 4h 6m
Ascent: 861m (Total 4,170m)
Descent: 1.137m (Total 3,403m)
Trekking Tip:
Trekking will make you sweat profusely, even in the cold. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration which could eventually lead to other issues such as mild diarrhoea. As a rule, I aim to drink half a litre of water for every hour of trekking, regardless of whether I am moving or not.
Unfortunately, all that drinking will make you want to urinate frequently. In remote locations where proper toilets may not be available, you will have to urinate in open space while trekking. The locals living in the area often use the water from streams and rivers for sustenance so avoid urinating in or near them.
No comments:
Post a Comment