Section 2/3 – Days 51 to 55
Namche to Thame – a different Himalayan experience! Tourist galore in the
Everest region!
Only six days have passed since my last blog – full days, beautiful days, thoughtful days
… and also days with lots of laughter mostly due to my brother’s ridiculous sense of
humour.
This region is so very different from each and every of the previous 45 days before we
got to Lukla! I can easily count the number of tourists we came across in the first 45
days of our GHT on one hand! There were the two German trekkers with just one guide on
their way up to Kanchenjunga Basecamp, there was the Nepal loving US-American on his way
down from Makalu Basecamp on his 16th visit to the Himalayas whom we invited to join us
for a cup of coffee inside our kitchen tent and last but not least there was a hopeless
dope head from Australia, who despite his frightening cough that rattled the tin sheet
walls of our “dining rooms” both in Langmale and in Makalu Basecamp proceeded to carve
bits out of his big chunk of hash and roll one joint after another… that’s it! Four
tourists in 45days!
And then we got to Lukla and later Namche – the gateways or rather bottle necks of the
Solukhumbu region. All the famous treks like the one to Everest Basecamp & Kalapattar,
the three passes or Gokyo lakes and Gokyo Ri start in Lukla and lead you through Namche
Bazaar and only there the three trails fan out in three directions spreading the masses
of people at least a little bit! Lukla at 2840m therefore was a shock to the system- not
only because we had come down from West Col at 6200m in no more then 20 minutes and were
still wearing our down pants over long johns with goretex pants and gaiters on top, with
plastic high altitude boots and countless layers of merino wool, down and goretex
jackets – no, also because we were suddenly surrounded by eager brightly kitted our
trekking tourists from all over the world who were either at the end of their trek
celebrating or about to head out! It was busy! And Chinese, Indians, US-Americans and
Germans were the dominant species!
When we passed the police check point in Namche I asked the officer how many trekkers
pass his checkpoint daily he said:”350 per day up, 250 down” (where are the remaining
100, one wonders?) so from 4 fellow tourists in 45 days to being part of a flock of 350
per day, people of all different shapes and forms, age and ambition! Fascinating!
Namche Bazaar is a truly unique town. Namche means “bowl” which perfectly describes its
shape as it is carved into the edge of a steep cliff at the bottom of which two big
rivers meet, the Dudh Koshi Nadi which comes down from Gokyo, the run off of Ngozumba
Glacier and the Bothe Koshi Nadi that flows down from Thame. We stayed at the very top
of the bowl. To get there steep narrow stairs are the arteries of this little town,
those are the carriage ways for everything and everyone, trekkers like us, porters that
carry anything from 60kg bags of rice, rocks (on specially designed rock carry devices)
or any other construction material that often extends beyond the dimensions of the
narrow alleyways and thus require the skill of crab-walking through the densely crowded
staircase aisles, and then, of course, there’ll be a caravan of yaks which means
everyone sharing the path with them seizes what they are doing, moves to the side often
squeezing into a storefront or between the items on display only to let these huge,
hairy, clumsy, slightly uncoordinated and unaware of their surroundings, heavily laden
animals pass. These narrow arteries through Namche are reminiscent of the “aisles of
temptation” in a supermarket when you stand in line for the cashier and endless yummy
things are luring you to give up your resolve as you slowly etch your way forward. Here
it is one outdoor shop next to the other with anything possible a trekker might want-
from clothes (all Chinese imitation of North Face, Mountain Hardware, Jack Wolfskin etc.
) to books, chocolate, toilet paper, prayer flags, cough syrup, antibiotics for
everything and anything, you name it-they have it!
And then there is the entertainment sector of town, from illy coffee shops, pizza places
and free WiFi everywhere, there are movie screening places and several bars and pool
places even an Irish Reggae Pub!
None of this is what we were there for and it all seemed frivolous and crazy after all
that we had just been through – wait don’t let me lie! The IIly cappuccino did taste
fantastic!!!
A huge crowd left with us heading north and up towards Everest Basecamp! We were lucky to
veer off towards Gokyo – only few seemed to choose this route on the day and all the
better – only we were camping. All others stayed in teahouses as is now the common way
to trek in the Everest region. So we are a bit exotic.
The walk up to Gokyo is fabulous and full of breathtaking views! And it only keeps going
– each day was more stunning than the next. The view from Gokyo Ri, Gokyo’s “house
mountain” of 5360m, is truly the best and redeems all annoyances one might have felt for
having to share the last few days with hundreds of others. Four years ago I climbed up
the same peak and had the same sense of joy and awe! The Ngozumba Glacier and the
amphitheater of the endless range of 7000 and 8000 meter peaks (Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse
and Makalu) all marking the border to Tibet is a sight so indescribably otherworldly and
beautiful!!!
There is something deeply humbling and at the same time greatly empowering in being in
and amongst these majestic mountains, one couldn’t be more vulnerable and yet there is a
sense of “anything is possible despite all odds”….
Unfortunately, when we pitched camp at 5100m Philipp immediately developed his high
altitude symptoms again and quickly realized that the only thing that will alleviate his
extreme discomfort will be to cross Renjo La Pass as quickly as possible and then get
down to lower altitudes ASAP. So he left our spectacular Everest view high camp early in
the morning with Banja, one Satish‘s trusted staff, while we were still munching our
delicious breakfast as the sun rose right behind Everest. We all reunited in Marulung at
the deliciously oxygen rich altitude of 4210m where we had lunch. While for Philipp
crossing the pass was more of an ordeal and clearly just a necessary evil to get to
lower ground, I lavished the last perfect view of Everest along with all our porters (my
new surrogate family) who happened to reach the top (5360m) with me! Glorious! And on
the icy and steep way down I had the brilliant experience of a caravan of 18 laden yaks
being herded up the slippery narrow path. I pressed myself safely into a snowy gap
between two big boulders to let them pass in their slow and clumsy way!
We made it all the way down to the beautiful town of Thame (a descent of more than 1500m)
and I think it is fair to say that we all felt it somewhere in our bones or muscles!
Thus today we all enjoyed a deeply relaxing rest day filled with reading, doing laundry
and a visit of the more than 500 year old monastery that is build against the steep
mountain side above Thame.
It also was the last day for all of us to be together. Tomorrow Philipp, Dirk and even
John (who will take a two week “GHT break” to cure his leg injury from a few weeks back)
will make their way down towards Lukla.
It also meant we had a small celebration with all porters and staff. We all held mini
speeches trying to find words for our deep respect and gratitude for each one in this
incredible team.
Satish and I and a small team will cross Tashi Labsa pass and walk the Rolwaling section
of the GHT in the next 12 days. I am not expecting any connectivity until we get to
Katmandu on 5 May!
Pheri Bethaula!
