THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE… AND TREKKING!

Bad times never last and all good things come to an end.

Day 4 Trekking

Our 4th day started off by saying goodbye to Hotel Everest View as we set off towards our next village, Pangbouche.

Note: this 4th day was yesterday, but I was way too tired to put together something good enough for you guys. So, today, I am writing about our long trek yesterday (day 4 trekking) as well as our short trek today (day 5 trekking). Please excuse my changing tenses!

Hotel Everest View (3880 masl) to Pangbouche (3950 masl) – 6 to 7 hours, 11 to 12 km.

Okay, so, I have been on the mountain for 5 days now and yesterday was (by far) the most challenging, physically and mentally. You know when you work really hard to get somewhere or to progress with your goal only to realise that you have to go back and redo it? Well, that was essentially my day. All the uphills we worked so hard to climb over the previous 3 days felt wasted as we spent the first half of our morning going steeply down. The thought that we needed to gain back this altitude at some stage was a real mental struggle for me and it took a great deal of strength (both mental and physical!) to soldier on with the bigger, complete picture in mind.

Acclimatisation

A seemingly waste of energy but absolutely crucial to the success of your trek. Having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro before, I am well aware of the importance of acclimatisation. But just because I’m aware of it, doesn’t make it easier, and just because it’s not the most fun part of the journey, doesn’t mean that I don’t need to do it. I invite you to think about what your ‘acclimatisation activity’ is with regards to the goal you are aiming to reach; that is, what is the thing you don’t particularly like doing but you know that it’s good for you, or that it will help you in the long term or get you closer to your goal.

Working on the Mountain

Okay, so that’s today’s life lesson for you. Let’s get back to the trek. Apart from the route going up and down, we continued to see magnificent views of the mountains all around us. Another interesting thing we got to see, which was also very humbling, is the way that the paths, buildings and walls are constructed. And I’m sure you will be as surprised as I was when I found out it is all done manually using hammers and chisels to break huge boulders into smaller, workable sizes, and then there are these back pack type contraptions, which they use to carry the smaller sized rocks to the place where it is required. Now that is hard labour.

Since the area also experiences landslides from time to time, certain pathways and even bridges need to be reconstructed if they are destroyed by the natural disasters. This is also all done manually. Only for certain instances, or in the event if an emergency, will they use a helicopter to fly in steel or reinforcing or other man-made materials to assist with the reconstruction or remedial work, so that is excluding the general maintenance activities and building of paths and houses.

Nice to Know Before You Go

One other thing I wanted to tell you about the actual trek route is that there is generally a very clear path with information boards and arrows as and when required. It is so well done that you don’t really need a guide to accompany you, provided you have basic map skills and are a seasoned trekker, having previously (and comfortably) completed a few multi-day hikes carrying your own 15 to 20 kg backpack. The greatest advantage of having a guide, however, is probably being able to leave the accommodation bookings and park fees and other admin type things to them so you can just focus completely on enjoying the trek.

There are quite a few other bits of information with regards to food, facilities, internet connection, where to stay etc, which we’ve picked up since we’ve been here that are really helpful if you are keen on putting this adventure on your to-do list, and I will share these with you in the posts to come. My apologies again for not posting anything to you guys yesterday, but hopefully this magnificent picture of Sagarmatha (aka Mount Everest) taken at sunset by dad will make it up to you. Many many more to follow when we get back to lower ground.

Moving on to the trek we completed today.

Day 5 Trekking

Pangbouche (3950 masl) to Dingbouche (4410 masl) – 2 to 3 hours, 8 to 9 km.

So, after a very long day yesterday, today’s trek was a much welcomed short and sweet one. We climbed about 460 m over just about 9 km, which is still no easy altitude gain, but because the climb was gradual, and there was not much up and down, it was a lot more physically and mentally manageable (and dare I say, enjoyable) than yesterday’s. We arrived at Dingbouche just before 11 am, checked into our room and had a light lunch.

Changing the View

After a short rest, we were keen and ready for an afternoon acclimatisation walk. The walk was only around 5 km and allowed us the opportunity to climb about 200 m, so, we reached a high altitude of 4530 masl today. We took it really slow and easy (even more slow and easy than normal) and the views were just mind blowing. It was great to experience some of the mountains from new angles now and see how different they look. Just two or three days ago we were looking at them in the distance, but now, they were right next to us and so much more magnificent and incredible up close. We could see the glaciers and mountain ridges and we could literally feel the icy wind coming past the snow capped peaks – yes, this is me eluding to the fact that it is getting extremely cold! I’m talking maximum temperatures of 2 degrees C, and minimums dropping down to -6 degrees C. The concerning thing for me at this stage is that we’re not even at Gorak Shep yet, which has predicted a maximum temperature of -5, with minimums dropping to as low as -15 degrees C! But anyways, let’s cross that bridge when we get there.

Treat Yourself!?

When we got back from our afternoon walk, Dad treated everyone (himself, and Mohan, the guide) to hot chocolate and cake. I still can’t bring myself to indulge in that stuff, even on a physically demanding journey like this trek to Everest Base Camp; instead I had myself a hot ginger tea.

Here For You

It’s around 5 pm now, and since we still have some free time before dinner at 6 30, I’m putting my thoughts and notes together, and trying to get them to a readable state so it can be published and shared with you guys. I really hope that these posts are being read and received as intended, and that you do feel like you are gaining some good knowledge or experience from it. As I said previously, if there is anything I can do better, please do tell me. I’d love to learn and improve on my messages to you.

We’ve got a tough next few days lined up as we head up to Lobouche tomorrow passing the super steep Tokla Pass to get there. The following day it’s on to our final stop, Gorak Shep, and then to Everest Base Camp to take the long awaited selfie at the legendary sign. We’ll keep you guys updated as we get nearer and maybe even do a live video at the top if technology allows.

Thanks again to everyone for the continued support so far – your thoughts and energy are keeping us going through the cold and acclimatisation days! It is extremely appreciated and we’re sending mountains of love and energy back to you all straight from the Himalayan source.

Bye for now!