I seem to be suffering from a weird form of jet-lag, caused by regularly getting up in the early hours for summit attempts and going to bed when it gets dark (around 8pm). Last night I had about 7 hours of great sleep, but woke up around 02:30 and haven’t really slept since then.
Yesterday evening was pretty quiet, even by our team’s standards. As soon as we’d got our drinking water/hot water bottles after dinner we all hit the sack.
The plan from here is to head to Pangboche tonight, Namche tomorrow, then Lukla on Tuesday for an early flight to Katmandu on Wednesday.
My main priority is to get clean though. I had a reasonable wash in a bowl 2 days ago before we climbed up to high camp, but there’s been a lot of climbing since then… Unfortunately, even if I do wash, there are no clean clothes left. On some expeditions you can keep things ticking over by washing clothes in a stream or a lake, but the only water we’ve camped near was the lake at high camp, which was our drinking water, so not ideal for washing in. Warm water is in short supply - we get a bowlful each to wash in most days, and a few bottles full to drink, but it all has to be gathered from a stream or lake, or melted from snow, and the kerosene to warm it has been carried from Lukla.
The situation in the lodges is only slightly better - we haven’t had running hot water since Katmandu (now 17 days) apart from 2 showers we’ve had to pay for.
The other thing that’s been pretty basic is the toilet situation. In all but one campsite we’ve put up a toilet tent over a hole in the ground, but Lobouje High Camp was too rocky, so we just fended for ourselves. Things are slightly more luxurious in the lodges, as there’s normally a squatter and occasionally a normal sitter. The difference from normal toilets is that flushing is done by pouring in a jug of water from a barrel.
We had a pretty relaxed start today, leaving base camp at around 09:00, by which time I’d managed to wash (in a bowl again), eat and sort out my kit.
There was a small amount of blue sky when I crawled out of the tent but the change in the weather that Andy first spotted from the summit of Lobouje East has continued today. The blue sky disappeared pretty quickly and the walk down to Pheriche was pretty cold, then after lunch it began snowing. It’s been very light all afternoon but began properly dumping once we’d arrived in Pangboche and were safely inside our lodge. The fir trees now have a layer of snow on them and it’s beginning to settle on the ground, but nothing too serious to affect our little walk yet. The only question is whether the airport in Lukla will cope…
As the weather has worsened today I’ve become increasingly grateful for our weather window. Although we lost 5 days at the start due to the delayed flight to Lukla, we’ve had perfect weather since we climbed above 4,000m soon after Deboche. We had blue sky for the walk up the valley and for all three summits, which is all we could ask for really. Losing the chance to do Gokyo Ri is a shame, but a sacrifice I’d happily make to have good weather for our summit days. Snow and rain the next two days wouldn’t be the end of the world, as long as we get to fly on Wednesday. If we’re hit by more delays at Lukla then our flight home to the UK on Friday could become a bit of an issue.
When we reached Dugla about an hour into the walk this morning we rejoined the EBC trail. After the solitude of Lobouje it was a horrible shock to be back on such a busy route - suddenly there are trekkers everywhere and we’ve realised how luck we were to be off the main trails. Today we were queuing at times as we followed some very slow groups down the valley - one Japanese group looked like they were going to take weeks just to reach the next village, they were going so slowly!
The views this morning were incredible. The snow transformed the valley and it looked amazing, with the trees all covered with snow and the mountains even more dramatic and imposing than usual.
As we set off from Pangboche we admired the new views and Rich and I began talking about climbing Ama Dablam. I still can’t believe we’re considering it, but Andy mentioned it last night and we’ve been debating whether it would be feasible since then.
According to Jagged Globe, Ama Dablam is graded 5D, which is the hardest technical level and one off the hardest physical level. Everest is 4E. Quite why anyone thinks Rich and I are capable of this is beyond me. To be fair to Andy, what he said was that we could be ready this time next year, if we do some training, but it still seems like a tall order. Rich is very keen and is trying to convince me to sign up, but I’d rather get back before making any decisions.
All the way down to Tengboche (where we found the monks had taken up skiing - see photo!) we had snow on the ground, and kept pausing to take yet more pictures of Ama Dablam. We’re moving at a great speed compared to the journey up the valley, and dropped rapidly down to a bridge at about 3,330m. At that stage there was still snow, but soon after that there was a muddy trail, then finally it dried out and I stripped off down to Helly for the first time in several weeks.
Just before the bridge, I spotted a face I recognised going the other way - it was Yuba Raj, the guy who’d guided Alex and me round the Annapurna Circuit back in 2005! We stopped and talked for a few minutes but the rest of the group had already gone and Andy was waiting, so I headed off after them.
After the bridge the path began climbing again, for what turned out to be about 300m. We lunched at the top of the climb then it took an hour or so along the flat to reach Namche. The sun was out by this stage and the snow was melting higher and higher up the valley sides, though the summits still looked fantastic. Unfortunately I think today is probably the last day for views of the big summits - tomorrow we drop steeply down on the way to Lukla.
Back in Namche we’ve connected to the outside world for the first time in a few days and have been chilling out in the lodge. I’ve had some washing done, so as soon as I can find a shower I’ll have clean clothes. Hopefully one more day of smelling won’t cause too much offence.
Namche Bazaar was our first taste of civilisation as we returned down the valley towards Lukla, and we finally had flushing toilets for the first time in over two weeks. There was still no hot water, but even a tap with running cold water was an improvement on recent nights. Waking up, it was great to feel warm enough that one didn’t have to put on every possible item of clothing in order to survive the next few minutes. Unlike Dingboche there was no ice on the inside of the windows, and none of the clothes left outside the sleeping bag had frozen solid.
The walk from Namche down to Lukla was probably the longest distance we’ve covered in a day. There was a surprising amount of climbing, not just up to Lukla at the end, but sprinkled throughout the day. It was a relief to finally make it to our hostel, as my knees were beginning to feel it.
We lunched at the same place we’d eaten on the first day out of Lukla. Rich, Mark and I had what will hopefully be our last Dhal Bhat, though the one was one of the better ones we’ve tried.
After lunch some of the group went to check out a colony of bees, but I set off in search of Lukla with Rich and Mark. Rich disappeared shortly after we’d set off, so I spent most of the afternoon with Mark and Dowa, rapidly heading towards Lukla.
When we arrived, the yaks with our bags were no-where to be seen, so I went and had a drink in “Starbucks” while they trotted down, and caught up with a few emails until the iPhone ran out of juice.
Eventually the yaks showed up and I had my first shower since Dingboche (6 days ago). Once I’d changed into some clean clothes I repacked for the flight, making the main kitbag as light as possible and putting the heavy stuff in my climbing rucksack to take onto the plane.
Our final meal with the Sherpas began pretty quietly, with Dave reading his book and the rest of us chatting quietly. After the main course we presented the yak-man, the cook boys, the cook, the porters and the Sherpas with their tips, then the party began. The Nepalis were all up for dancing, and didn’t seem to have any qualms about dancing with men, which was a good thing as there weren’t enough women to go round!
Our plan had been to get up at 05:15 to get ready for the flight, but another group got up at 04:30 so we woke up then too. By the time we had breakfast at 05:45 we were packed and ready to go, and miraculously this time the arrangements for the plane went smoothly. There was a slight glitch when the security man discovered my Leatherman in my hand-baggage but, being a friendly bunch, they allowed me to walk out onto the runway and transfer it to my main bag! After that we had a short wait while we watched a few planes land and take-off on the crazy runway, then we boarded our own plane, sped off down the hill and headed back towards Kathmandu.
The flight back from Lukla was mainly over low-ish mountains, which are all farmed. These Himalayan foothills are as steep and rugged as any mountain in the UK, but farmers have terraced every possible square metre so they can grow crops. It’s quite a sight, and makes you think how hard some people are prepared to work to make a living.
From Kathmandu airport we were bussed back to the hotel we’d left three weeks earlier, where we washed, repacked for the international flight, and re-connected with the normal world.
One treat we’d all (well, the men anyway) been looking forward to was having a shave. Andy had recommended a barber just down the hill from the hotel, so Rich and I wandered down looking scruffy and overgrown and, for the first time ever, someone else shaved me. The guy went to town, massaging my face, head and shoulders, and I left feeling very relaxed and considerably cleaner.
Rich and I wandered into Thamel in the evening to see if we could spend any money, but despite searching The North Face, Mountain Hardwear and various other kosher and fake shops, we found nothing worthy of our hard-earned cash.
At 18:30 we met up with Andy for a drink, then the rest of the group gradually arrived for our meal at the Third Eye - a very welcome change after the repetitive food of the last few weeks. A few of us adjourned to an Irish bar afterwards, where a great live band were playing, and reminisced about our little trip. By the time we got back to the hotel we were a little the worse for wear and tried throwing Andy in the pool, but we made it to breakfast this morning in a reasonable state.
Today’s objective is to relax by the pool, read, and generally do as little as possible.
