Day 14 - Tengboche to Dingboche

Waking today we were met with one of the best views we had ever seen. Laying in our warm sleeping bags we had clear views of Mount Everest, reminding us why we were doing this hard work. We packed as usual but unfortunately there was a miscommunication between the hotel and us, so no breakfast was ready at 6 am. We waited until 6:30am, paid our bill and off we went with only a mountain man bar in our stomachs to keep us going. The plan was to walk to Somare for breakfast, the halfway point to Dingboche, our destination for the night.  The night before we had heard the bridge just out of Debouche had been washed away and there was now a need to take a detour. The only problem was that although we knew that it existed we didn't really know the details so when we got to a sign telling us to go in another direction we expected another sign further along or a clearer path but we got neither.  After 15 minutes of trying to figure out which path to take we chose one and started to follow it.  5 minutes later we ended up in the backyard of a farmers house and were given/shown the correct path by a local.  Much to my disliking this path headed straight up the side of the mountain. A further 20 minutes of hard climbing saw us intersect with a path following the ridge line which was being traversed by a couple of porters heading the same way. Playing it safe, we decided to follow them. At this point we had also been joined by a pair of friendly dogs who decided to follow us most of the way. This was nice except when they getting under our feet or winding up the local yaks, both which they did regularly.

Hiking along the ridge through the forest lasted about half an hour before we came out to a big meadow with 3 brooks running through it. The sun was out this stage, as well, so we had more blue skies offering a fantastic view of two snow-covered mountain ranges, nearby. We were definitely feeling on top of the world. The rest of the days trek was rather uneventful apart from a few ups it was mainly flat passing a couple of villages where they were drying Yak pats to use in the fire later.  We made it to Dingboche and checked in to the lodge that had just opened for the season and ordered some lunch.  Soon after the US couple from the night joined us before whom we would begin to see on a regular basis.

Finishing our lunch, we headed up the nearby hill for a small hike in order to acclimatise a little more for the day.  Returning to the lodge we ran into the New Zealand couple and had a quick chat.  We then had bucket showers and sat down for a lovely dinner before heading to bed.  As tomorrow is a rest/acclimatization day we get a little easier morning. 

 

Day 15 - Dingboche acclimatisation day

Although we woke at 5am we didn't get up until 7am. After a quick breakfast and black tea we headed off to hike back up the mountain from yesterday, this time all the way to the top. This started with some great views of the surrounding ranges but soon became misty. We were met by all our new friends as we slowly climbed to the 5100-metre summit, the journey getting harder as we ascended and the oxygen dropped further. It was a struggle, with a little complaining on my part, but once we made it to the top, 3-hours later, we were happy with our accomplishment, even with limited, misty visibility. The journey back was considerably faster, reaching the guesthouse in just under an hour. After a great lunch we had an afternoon of relaxing ahead of us, reading our books and play cards.  It is hard to believe that tomorrow we would arrive in Lobuche, the final town before base camp. After another amazing dinner and more great conversation with our American friends and their helpful guide, we headed to bed, very excited for the two days to come.

 

Day 16 - Dingboche to Lobuche – Kayla’s Birthday!

This morning we were once again spoilt with amazing views from our bedroom window of a cloudless sky filled with snow topped mountains. After a quick happy birthday, and a little cry because I was away from home and family, we headed off. Our destination for the day was Lobuche, which was 4 hours away and we were told was mainly flat except for a steep 45 minutes set of stairs, approximately 2-hours in.  This steep up didn't disappoint either, which, although short, was hard work due to it being at close to 4000-metres. Once over the top it was a steady but gentle incline until we hit the town.  Upon arrival we found the lodge recommended to us by the US couple’s guide, ordered some lunch before resting in the dining room while we waited for it to be served.

Before long, the two of us relaxed and sipping away on our lemon tea, were joined by the US couple. The guesthouse continued to fill for the rest of the day, most of the faces already familiar, including the French guy we had met all the way back in Nunthala.  After lunch we did a bit more relaxing, waiting for our electronic devices to charge off of our portable solar panel. We had been lugging this around, like an expensive paperweight, for the past 16 days and it was the second day we had had enough sunlight for it to be useable.  About 2 pm we trekked up the nearest mountain, behind the lodge, for further acclimatisation. The hike was cut short due to it starting to snow. Back in the warmth, we had a baby wipe shower and got into our sleeping bags and relaxed until dinner. The dining room was a hive of activity at dinner time, very different to what the we had experienced on the way up but was a welcome change, the room filled with excited chatter.  Everyone was in good spirits, excited about reaching base came the following day. After dinner and a chat with our fellow trekkers we headed to bed for an early night only to be awoken at midnight by some drunk locals making commotion outside our window which thankfully didn’t last too long.

 

Day 17 - Lobuche to Gorak Shep and Everest base camp.

We were up earlier than usual this morning, with the plan to leave before breakfast, walk the 2-hours to Gorak Shep, and have breakfast there. This would give us time to head to base camp afterwards. We were ready to go by 6am but after talking to the guide of the US couple we decided to tag along with them for the day. This was fine in theory but once we got going we realised we were a little slower than they were as we were carrying our own packs, so after a little while they were speeding off in the distance. What worked in our favor was they stopped to pee a lot so this gave us the opportunity to not stray too far behind them.

The walk was easy with not a lot of ups and downs but was made considerably harder with the altitude, making our packs feel 10 times heavier and causing us to get out of breath quiet easily.  About half way we were kicked off the path while up in the mountain by a passing yak train, which was great to watch go by, the yaks walking better across the rocks than we did. It was smooth walking from here and before we knew it we were sitting in the Yeti Guesthouse in Gorak Shep, ordering breakfast and sipping on Lemon and Ginger tea. After breakfast, a little more energized, we were again invited to join the US couple, their guide and their porter for the walk to base camp to share tea when we got there. We all set off eagerly in anticipation of what we had come all this way to see. Without our packs we were managing to keep up quite well until about halfway when Glenn and I started feeling numb all over. That morning we had decided to take some Diamox for the first time, which was supposed to help with Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) prevention. Numbness in your appendages was a side effect of this drug but we were feeling it all over and 5300-metres, we were concerned that it may also be AMS. We stopped for a bit letting the others continue to see if the feeling would pass, which it didn’t. Thankfully, soon after some experienced trekkers that put our mind at ease passed us, advising that this was quiet normal and then joined us the rest of the way. We took it very slowly and once we had passed over the rocky, icy glacier we finally made it to base camp. We were ecstatic! The camp itself wasn’t overly impressive but the surrounding mountains and glacier were plus the accomplishment was profound after more than 2 weeks of hard hiking.

It was hard to believe we had finally made it.

We were rewarded with tea, cookies and chocolate by the US couple’s guide. Everyone took turns taking photos and chatting amongst all the other trekkers. Still feeling the effects of the Diamox, we decided to head back down to Gorak Shep in the hopes of improving the way we were feeling.  Back at the lodge we had lunch, laced with garlic (supposed to help the numbness) and headed to our room to rest. Thankfully, later that evening, over 12-hours since taking the Diamox, we were mostly back to normal.

 

Day 18 - Gorak Shep back to Tengboche.

We woke at 4am this morning and were walking out the door at 4:30 to try to get up to the top of Kala Patha for sunrise views of Mount Everest. Unfortunately we only got glimpses of mist, cloud and a lot of snow. This mixed with the side effects of the Diamox coming back we decided to head back down, after climbing halfway, to have breakfast and hit the road for our long trek back. After breakfast we were back on the road, eager to make it all the way to Tengboche.  Once we started to get a little lower the walking both up and down hills started to get significantly easier and a lot quicker as our bodies thanked us for the increase in oxygen. By lunchtime we had reached Somare and stopped for a quick bite. We had been told the night before that to get to Pangboche, which was the town 10 minutes from Somare, that it would take us 6-7hours.  We had made it in under 5-hours, giving us plenty of time to push on to Tengboche. The only problem we were faced with now was the fact the bridge was still down and it had just started raining.  So on went our ponchos as we pushed on as quickly as we could, hoping the rain would stop. 

It didn't and before long the path along the ridge was very slippery from the mud and excess yak poo. By the time we made it to Tengboche we were covered up to our knees in “brown stuff” and ready for a hot shower, dinner and bed. We were happy at this point that it had stopped raining. The lodge we were staying at was full with tour groups that had just arrived.  It is very much a different feeling being on your way back compared to being 3 days in (or 14 if you are silly like us and walk from Jiri).  After an 8-hour long, hard trek from Gorak Shep, we were asleep before our heads hit the bed.

 

Day 19 & 20  - Tengboche to Lukla and Lukla to Kathmandu

This day started like most of the rest, awake at 5am, breakfast at 6 am and packed and on the road at around 7am. First stop on the trek this morning was to Namche to pick up some supplies. We had thought this would be mainly down hill or “Nepalese flat” with a couple of ups thrown in.  Unfortunately our memories weren’t quiet as accurate as we thought (or we’d ignored how easy the descents were on the way to base camp), with a lot more steep ascents than we had expected.

By the time we hit Namche and had done some shopping at the local “supermarket” we were ready for some tea and a short break. In no time, we were back on the road and heading on to our lunch destination, which was to be Phakding.  This trek was also harder then we thought it would be and we ended up stopping 30minutes short for some lunch.  At this point we had a discussion as to what the plan should be from here on in.  Glenn and I had originally planned to try and make it to Surkey that day and then maybe push on to Bupsa, as we made our way out to Phaplu. We were both tired and still sore from the previous day. I just wanted to make it to Lukla and try to fly out.  After a long talk we chose the Lukla option and were back on the road, eager to get to our final destination.

The walk to Lukla ended up being harder and longer then both of us expected, with us both already exhausted. 6-hours after stopping for lunch we finally made it to Lukla, returning to the guesthouse from our first visit, after a long 9-hours of trekking.  Once again we were the only guests and treated like family. We quickly had a shower and order some dinner.  While doing this we discovered our host had a brother who was a manager at the airline and who could help us get on a flight the following morning, as long as the weather was good. Once we were back in our room and settled in our sleeping bags it began to rain and continued most of the night, raising fears that we may have to walk out anyway. We awoke at 4am the following morning in order to pack, have breakfast and be at the airport by 6am. As it was still raining we were unsure as to if we were going or not but just before 5 am the rain stopped and the sun rose, presenting clear blue skies.  After breakfast we were escorted by our host (aka. Momma) to the airport then given the royal treatment as she pushed to the head of the lines and before we knew it we were in the departure lounge waiting for our plane.  The flight from Lukla to Kathmandu took 45-minutes, offering some amazing scenery including a birds-eye view of Jiri, reasserting our long and tough our journey had been. By 10 am we were back in our hotel room catching up on interwebs and planning our next move.