I haven’t journaled since Namche because the cyclone in India (the largest one in years) dumped rain on us for three straight days and soaked everything we own, including this journal. I have a ton to catch up on now that my journal is (mostly) dry.
The hike down from Namche was pretty terrifying for me, there’s no other way to put it. I was already worried about hiking down alongside cliffs for most of the day, but the constant rain made everything ten times worse. Every step for hours was forced and carefully placed as my whole body tensed up, almost expecting to slip off a ledge at any moment. Pretty much everyone we saw passed me, but I didn’t care; I was so locked in that I didn’t even bother getting on to Mundre for grabbing my arm when I was reaching for a rock to stabilize (which would make me even more nervous because he was keeping me from feeling more stable). We descended for several hours, passed the vertigo-inducing bridge we crossed on the way up, and opted for the slightly lower bridge shown in the picture from the blog post going to Namche (which was still probably 350 feet in the air). Crossing that bridge ended up being the easy part of that part of the day, compared to walking down the cliff side for the past several hours. After going down some steep rudimentary stairs on the other side of the bridge I was done with the parts of that day’s hike I was afraid of and quickly realized that my rain gear was actually water-resistant…. not water-proof (a detail I failed to notice while I made the tense climb down). After a surprisingly long and wet rest of the day to get back to Phakding, we arrived at the same teahouse we stayed in on the way up, with most everything on me and in my packed soaked. The biggest disappointment of the night was on the way up here we had amazing hot showers but were surprised to find no hot water this time around. Apparently our hot shower was solar powered, which obviously doesn’t work when the sun hasn’t come out in 3+ days. So instead of feeling clean and refreshed, we trudged to one of the dining rooms, wet clothes in hand, hoping to dry off by the stove.
That night in the dining room while drying off I got to talk to several members of an American trekking group who were doing Everest Base Camp to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research called Summit4StemCell. The science behind the research was a 2012 Nobel Prize award winner and is based on non-embryotic stem cell research and was interesting to learn about. Amazingly, three of the trekkers had Parkinson’s Disease themselves. It was a really good group and even better cause, so I was glad we got to meet them.
They told us about their guide who had summited Everest several times and who I assumed was Sherpa. They said he set up an umbrella on his pack and played guitar the whole day while they hiked, which sounded like my kind of trek! Since I’ve played since high school, I ended up picking up the guitar for a bit, and even tried to pick out the notes to Mundre and my future #1 Nepali Country duet hit “I Left My Dzopkyo in Gokyo”. Well one of the Americans in the group, a bald middle aged white guy, heard me playing and started talking to me about it. One thing led to another, he mentioned playing some Blues in G, and ten minutes later he and I were jamming to my rhythm on guitar and his soloing on harmonica. One of the other guys on that team was a retired film maker and was making a short documentary of the journey. So not only was I freestyling with someone I had never played with after not having picked up a guitar in weeks, but it was being filmed in HD quality with professional lighting blaring in our faces. None of that is the real kicker of the story though; that distinction belongs to who my musical counterpart ended up being. His name is Vern Tejas and he is probably the most famous mountaineer in the world. When they said he had summited Everest several times, I didn’t know several meant TEN! He holds a ton of climbing records like the most times summiting Mt. McKinley (58) and the fastest to climb the Seven Summits (132 days), which is a huge deal. So I ended up jamming to Blues in G with one of the most famous mountaineers ever, while being recorded by a retired film maker, all in tiny Phakding, Nepal. Who would’ve guessed?
The hike from Phakding to Lukla was longer than I had remembered. About halfway through, Tess wasn’t feeling well so we stopped for an apple and a cup of Nescafe that I enjoyed but apparently Tess didn’t (coffee snob….. haha kidding). It was a pretty steady climb up the rest of the day and I was glad when we stopped at Mundre’s house in Chepplung with his family for tea and popcorn. By the time we were done there the rain had stopped and we knew we had one last push until we were finally done trekking.
As we finished the steep climb into town, I had a Stand by Me
moment. We walked into town tired and dirty, having just at that moment finished probably the greatest physical challenge of my life. The little town on the mountain seemed different, somewhat more comfortable, although I knew I was what had changed. The town surrounding the most dangerous airport in the world up high in the Himalaya surprisingly had a feeling of being home.
Seeing the trekking groups about to leave for their first day of hiking reminded me of the scene in Fight Club where Edward Norton describes the new members. To me, these soon-to-be trekkers were made of putty, ready to be shaped and molded by the difficult journey that lay before them. I felt carved out of wood, having already proven my mettle over the past 17 days. I’m sure many of these hikers had gone on great adventures before and were probably in much better shape than I, but the freshness of our completed journey gave me a sense of self-pride that I don’t often allow myself to have. That sense of accomplishment was enough verification for me that I had proven my worth and it is now their turn to do the same.
I can’t believe how lucky we were with our flights to and from Lukla. On our way to start our trek, we heard of people who had been waiting for three days to get through on our flight into the mountains. Now on our way back, there have been stories of would-be trekkers waiting as much as five days to get on a flight, including sleeping on the airport floor. It was a huge deal that Tess got us the first flight out each day and we couldn’t have had better weather on those days.
The second time around in Kathmandu has been much more enjoyable. As big of a city as it is, Thamel (the touristy section of town where we, and you should, stay) is actually pretty easy to navigate and doesn’t seem that huge once you basically know where you’re going. I’ve enjoyed exploring the food options (many being surprisingly good) and buying gifts for everyone at the different street shops. I also felt like a seasoned veteran today after dropping Tess off at the airport, telling the cab driver the best way to go. I felt bad leaving Tess at the airport because she was nervous about the flights, but I did my best to make her laugh and get her mind off of it, and she did so great on every other flight that I know once she gets going she’ll be fine. She was a great travel partner. I think we both needed time away at one point or another during the trip, but I was glad she came and put up with all my complaining when I was in pain on the hike. It certainly made the experience more fun sharing it with a good friend.
Tess heading home
Tomorrow I leave first thing in the morning to walk to the bus station (massive duffle bag and back pack in tow). The bus ride to Pokhara is 6 hours of driving plus about an hour of planned lunch and bathroom breaks. I’m definitely looking forward to my time in Pokhara, which should start the relaxing, vacation portion of the trip. It would be nice while I’m there to work out every morning, go for a walk, read my book, and end each day with yoga. I think if I can stick to that I’ll feel as healthy as I ever have when I come home and will have fun filling in the blanks of what to do while there the rest of the time.
-C
Everest Base Camp 