Archive for the 'Himalayas' Category

Mt Everest from Tengboche

The views upon reaching Tengboche are truly awe inspiring. Truly this is called The Roof of the World. What it would be like from the very top of Everest I can only imagine. This was our goal, so I had to be satisfied with the view as it was. And was it spectacular! Mighty mountains in all directions.

In the above photo of Everest taken from our lodge in Tengboche it is the dark mountain just left of centre. It is not a particularly impressive mountain from this vantage point, but that doesn’t matter.

I made it.

The enormous effort was worth it.

Writing this some nine months later it still amazes me that I was actually there. It astounds me that I achieved it. Since then I have been diagnosed as having diabetes. How I managed to get to Tengboche knowing that I had this condition totally puzzles me. Yes, to be honest, I did feel rather distressed at the time, but I put this down to slight altitude sickness, sheer exhaustion, lack of food due to poor appetite and an emotional response to having achieved my goal.

Related article:

• Avalanche! From my travel journal written during the trek.

Avalanche!

After a great deal of puffing and many rests we were steadily approaching our goal for the day, Tengboche. At 3875 metres this was the highest point of our trek. It was quite daunting to think that Everest Base Camp was still another five day’s walk away. I struggled to get to this point. How I would have managed the further distance is beyond me.

Not far from our goal we were interrupted by a low rumbling sound up the valley opposite the track we were on. Our guide quickly pointed to the avalanche gathering speed and height. Cameras began working overtime as we recorded this spectacular aspect of mountain life. I hasten to add that we were in no danger at all where we stood high on the side of the valley opposite. Nevertheless, within minutes we were walking in falling snow billowing all around from the avalanche – and our shoes were stirring up dust! How bizarre.

Related articles:

• Avalanche! From my travel journal written on the trek.

Suspension Bridge, Nepal

As we left Namche Bazar I knew I was in for one the greatest challenges of the trek, perhaps of my life. That is not an exaggeration. In retrospect, writing this from the comfort of my office back home, it still amazes me how I did it.

The first few hours are relatively flat, although flat is not a word one uses often in this part of the Himalayas. By flat I mean that the path generally followed the contours of the mountains along the valley we were walking. Just before lunch in a small village (I forget its name) we dropped down rapidly into the valley.

After lunch we made another river crossing over a suspension bridge. This one, shown in the photo above, was perhaps the most unstable and ricketty of all the bridges crossed on our trek. Fortunately it was also one of the shortest and we crossed it with no problems.

From that point it was just a long, continuous hard slog up to Tengboche, our target for the day. Close to three hours of unrelenting climbing, sometimes very steep, always very challenging. Every step of the way I was gasping for every little bit of air I could get. Breathing became very laboured and very difficult. As for the climbing, it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other, steadily plodding ever upwards. At times it almost felt as if I was marking time, I was making so little progress. Every step up the next rock seemed like another mountain.
I believe it is the hardest physical and mental activity I have ever attempted.

This climb tested me way beyond what I thought I was capable of physically, and that demanded an intense mental application just to keep the legs moving ever upward along the path.

Related Article:

• Namche Bazar to Tengboche – my travel journal written at the time.

Some facilities are very basic in Nepal

Living in Australia one becomes accustomed to certain levels of comfort. Most public facilities are clean, well maintained, airy, roomy and hygienic. We become spoiled by our standard of living.

Visiting a third world country can be a bit of a culture shock. Actually – it can be a big culture shock. It can be rather confronting, in your face and challenging.

At times though it can be somewhat amusing.

“HOT SHOWAR” screamed the sign roughly painted on the door – see the photo above.

I had a sneak look inside. How one was supposed to carry out one’s ablutions in that tiny shed is a mystery. It was so small you’d have to step outside to change your mind! Notice the little drum on the roof with a rustic ladder leading to it.

This is the system: you order and pay for your shower. After about an hour’s wait – for the water to be heated up in the kitchen – the hot water is poured into the drum. You then enter the shower enclosure and bathe – as quickly as possible. If you finish before the water runs out you’ve obviously missed washing some very basic parts of your body. (What is THAT smell???).

And when you finish you run run the risk of freezing to death unless you can dry yourself and dress in thirty seconds flat.

Actually, the shower we used in Namche Bazar was simply palatial compared to the one shown in the photo above. Oh – and it was sooooo good to have a hot shower.

Near Namche Bazar, Nepal

Our guide warned us that the next day’s trek to Tengboche would be quite hard. It started off with yet another hard slog up the path to the ridge overlooking Namche Bazar. This was the fourth time we did this little stretch in a little over 24 hours. It certainly warmed us up early in the day and it wasn’t long before various items of clothing found their way into our day packs.

After the sharp climb up out of Namche Bazar the track towards Tengboche levels out for about two hours of relatively easy walking. None of the rises in this part of the trek is very steep, though that is a relative term. What we would call a steep climb back home is a gentle rise in Nepal. This part of the track follows the contour of the mountains. The views along this part of the journey are amazing. But then – the views everywhere in this part of Nepal are amazing. One runs out of superlatives.
After about two hours walking the path drops rapidly down to a village in the valley. It is a 400 metre drop down to the river. I found going down was often as demanding on the body as going up. There were so many opportunities to trip, twist an ankle, fall or do oneself an injury every step of the way. By now my toe nails were becoming bruised from the impact of my feet on the front of my shoes.

We stopped for lunch in a tiny lodge before crossing the river and attempting the steep climb to Tengboche.

Related Articles:

• Namche Bazar to Tengboche – my travel journal written at the time of the trek.