Travels in Nepal #5 Stunning scenery
On the trek in Nepal
As we forged our way up through the valley on that first day of the trek I realised several things very quickly.
- Physical Challenge: This trek was going to be a little more challenging than I had been led to believe. Although I had trained hard for the trek, nothing in the flat terrain of Murray Bridge in South Australia where I live can prepare one for the steepness of the Himalayan mountains.
- Cultural challenge: Nothing one can do at home can prepare you for the vast cultural differences between Australia and Nepal. Every step of the way brings a new experience, a new insight, and a new slant on this fascinating culture.
- Mental challenge: One aspect of trekking the Himalayan mountains I had not been warned about was the mental challenge of hiking in this region. It is just as much a mental challenge as a physical one. After only a few hours of walking one begins to question why one is prepared to put one’s body through torture. The answer is simple: I do it because I dreamed of doing this for decades, I do it because the scenery is absolutley stunning, like nothing else on Earth and I do it for the sheer pleasure of achievement.
Travels in Nepal #4 Our trek starts
Near Lukla, Nepal
After the excitement of the flight into Lukla we were ready for anything. A calming cuppa in a nearby lodge helped before our first taste of the adventure set before us.
Lukla is one of the larger villages in the Everest region. It probably would be more accurate to call it a town. It is heavily dependent on tourism these days, trekking in particular. Anyone trekking towards Mt Everest will pass through the town at the start of their trek. There are many lodges, hotels, internet cafes, trekking supply shops and general tourist type shops. We stopped for none of them. We were keen to start on the trek.
As we left the town we followed the valley towards our first overnight stop. As we kept up a good pace along the track we passed many farms and houses like that in the picture above. The whole valley was delightful. Quaint and humble dwellings and tiny villages were brightened by the colour of the prayer flags strung up everywhere.
The most impressive aspect of this first day’s trek was the sheer magnitude of the mountains. I could not have imagined that mountains could be so steep, so high, so magnificent and so totally awesome. Overworked words, yes, but it was just how I felt. Words do not do the amazing terrain any justice at all. It has to be experienced to be believed.
Travels in Nepal #3 Flight to Lukla
Lukla Airport, Nepal
Anticipation
The anticipation of the trek beforeme hit me hard when we had a trekking group meeting in the gardens of the hotel. Suddenly I was torn between the excitement of seeing the mountains I had dreamed of for several decades and the feeling of “What have I let myself in for?”
My little moment of terror must have shown in my eyes. My daughter said it was quite easy to see that I was way out of my comfort zone. It was her idea that we go on this trek. She was on her way home to Australia after a teaching exchange in England for all of 2005. It had take me but a few seconds to agree to join her. Then it had taken me 18 months of hard training to be ready.
In the early 1980s I had a deep desire to go trekking the Himalayas. I read every books I could get my hands on, but then the conservative, steady, sensible me took over. Too hard, too complicated (with a young family) and too expensive. I shelved – no buried – my dreams. Now it was about to be realised. The anticipation was almost overwhelming.
The flight to Lukla
I had been warned by my travel agent that the flight to Lukla was spectacular but inclined to be a bit rough. All part of the excitement, all part of the adventure. Others on the trek seemed a little overwhelmed by the experience but I found it exhilarating. And the view when one alights at Lukla airport is simply stunning. Nothing had prepared me for the absolute grandeur of the scenery.
To read more about Lukla airport and the landing click here.
Family mourns lost climber in Nepal
The family of Australian mountaineer Sue Fear have finally accpeted that she is dead.
A colleague of the Australian mountaineer Sue Fear says her family has accepted that she is dead.
Ms Fear fell into a crevasse while descending Mount Manaslu in the Himalayas on Tuesday.
Experts say there is no hope of finding her alive and there is not the technology to retrieve the body from the deep crevasse.
In 2003 Sue Fear reached the summit of Mt Everest.
Hope yet for missing Australian Climber
Earlier reports had stated that another Australian climber had died in the Himalayas in Nepal. As more news has filtered through there seems to be still some hope that the climber may have survived.
The family and friends of Australian mountaineer Sue Fear say they have not given up hope that she may have survived a fall into a crevasse on a mountain peak in Nepal.
An expedition team is searching for Ms Fear, who has reportedly died while descending from the world’s eighth highest mountain, Mount Manaslu, in Himalayan Nepal.
For more news on ABC News Online click here.
Meanwhile, the Australian climber who miraculously cheated death on Everest last week is gaining strength and is due in Kathmandu today.
Lincoln Hall, 50, spent a night in the open just below the 8,848 metre summit after he was left behind on Thursday suffering from acute altitude sickness after reaching the top of the world’s highest peak.
Mr Hall was being carried on a yak on Monday down from Everest base camp, and was expected to be brought to Nepal’s capital Tuesday.
Australia’s ambassador to Nepal left Kathmandu on Monday to meet Mr Hall and the rescue party near Nepal’s border with Tibet, an embassy official said.