The day started out with the trip to the Kathmandu airport and the flight to Lukla. The domestic terminal at Kathmandu airport is separate from the international terminal: much more chaotic. The whole system was very confusing: I could never tell what was going on. Eventually we were sent out onto the runway to squeeze into a tiny plane, which whisked us off to Lukla.
As we
stood around
dazed, trying to get our bearings, our sherpas showed up, grabbed our
bags, and
carried them up the hill to the grounds of the Himalaya Lodge. The
first thing: they serves us tea and crackers.
Every piece of equipment, including all our food, had been carried by our porters from Jiri, six days walk. Everything came together on schedule that morning at Lukla. Our baggage, food, and tents were distributed among the porters, and we all headed up the trail. Or rather down, as the trail descended from Lukla about 1000 feet to the bottom of the canyon. We passed many trekkers going the other way, returning to Lukla on their last day. Each one we spoke to had a great trip, thought it was well worth it, and was glad to be getting back home. |
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Assembling Our Baggage |
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We
stopped for lunch
in Cheplung, below Lukla but still way above the bottom of the canyon. We
sat on the terrace of a guest house, where
our own staff cooked and fed us. It
was
pleasant to bask in the sun, watch a steady stream of porters and yaks
pass by,
and enjoy our first meal.
At this point
everything was so new: the Mani Stones, the numerous shrines and guest
houses,
the continuous series of villages, farms, other civilization, finding a
public
toilet.
It was sensory
overload. |
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Lunch at Cheplung |
After
lunch we
descended more, all the way down to the river (Dudh Koshi). At
this altitude (9000 feet) the fields
seemed lush and green.
The potato
harvest was complete, so many of the fields were recently dug up. Many
other vegetables were still in the
ground: cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, carrots, onions, even some corn
with
beans growing up the stalks.
People were
gathering up the plant residue -- it provided rich fodder to the yaks
at higher
elevations, where they could not graze on their own.
And
many people are shelling beans, after
drying them out. We were hiking uphill now, following the rise in the river bottom. After crossing the first of the bridges across the Dudh Koshi, we turned in to a campsite in Phakding. In retrospect, this first campsite was typified all the others. It looked like the campsite doubled as a yak pasture and was adjacent to a guest lodge. We did not go inside the lodge, but the outside lights from from it stayed on all night. Combined with a full moon, the night didn't ever get really dark. |
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Bridge to Phakding |
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I found
the sleeping
pads that were provided for us to be very comfortable: warm and soft. I
never unpacked my own Thermarest. If
possible, I would have sent it back right
then. Even though we are deep in the canyon, and the sun goes behind the mountains early in the afternoons, the snow covered peaks are still visible high, high above. Long after it is turning dark down below, the sun is still brilliant high above. It is hard to believe that we will be climbing up that high, and will be up among the snowy peaks in a week or so.
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Light on
Mountains |