Returning From EBC to Lukla - Day 9 to 11

EBC Trek Day 9 - Tuesday, April 18, 2017

After the EBC assault yesterday (Apr 17th), I decided not to climb Khala Patthar peak at 4:00 am. Kala Patthar, meaning 'black rock' is located on the south ridge of Pumori above Gorak Shep where we stayed the night. Kala Patthar peak gives a beautiful clear view of Mt. Everest at sunrise. It is also higher than EBC.

To climb it and back to Gorak Shep will probably take 4 hours or so then will still have to trek straight back down to Dingboche passing by Lobuche. A very long day trek down on rocks. To do this will kill me with exhaustion (no kidding). So all of us declined on doing the excursion to Kala Phattar. I realized our classic route is too tasking. There's no rest in between.

The trek back is as hard as going up for me. Hard on my 53 year old knees. We are now trekking down twice as long per day for 3 days, at least 22-27 km per day.


EBC Trek Day 10 Wednesday April 19, 2017

We left Dingboche to Namche Bazaar today. It was a beautiful day but super looooong!!! I was almost in tears and cranky around past noon and I am two hours away to lunch. My trail food was not enough for energy. Fatigue and hunger crept in and I was getting slower. I was doing mental calculations about the trek. The one day trek on Day 2 is now only halfway on day 10. It's disheartening. I reached lunch point by the river below Tengboche around 2 pm as expected but an hour behind the strongest and young ones from my group. My food order was called in so I didn't have to wait long.

Everyone was busy with their phone when I arrived while their food was getting cold. So eager to keep in touch with love ones and or civilization. He he he.... Deepak, our lead guide told me to take my time and rest. The last of us left at 3 pm.

By 4:30 pm and many inclines after, my energy level is declining and I'm going slower again. I thought perhaps my blood sugar must be low so I asked to stop at the last village Kyangjuma on top of a hill and bought an apple juice ($3.50). After a few minutes, I felt better and walked on my usual fast pace. It was like an energy booster so now I know what to do next time. I finally caught up with some teammates and made it to Namche Bazaar before dark.

The hotel is many steps down below the town and its a nice hotel with our own bathroom and hot shower. The rooms are made of shiny solid wood panels. It was a nice treat.... thank you Deepak. The younger people from our team started celebrating. They drank local wine till 2 am.

Meanwhile most of us were sunburnt especially on our nose area. We were suffering from runny nose and mild coughs. Mine got worse on day 11, the last and longest trek day to Lukla.

EBC Trek Day 11 Thursday April 20, 2017

Last day of trek from Namche Bazaar to Lukla. Our lunch break will be in Phakding (6 hrs after), where we stayed on our first night on Day 1. So the trail was a steep downhill for two hours then crossing several hanging bridges including Hillary bridge. Then after Phakding, it was mostly incline. It is the longest day so we had an early start. I struggled halfway after lunch due to my coughing which gotten worse by the end of the day. Deepak (our lead guide who is also the end guide) was accompanied by a young Sherpa guide, who I found out later was there to carry us on his back if needed. Ha! I could have asked him to carry me instead of them trailing a slow put like mwah all the way to Lukla. Sometimes they disappear but I kept going knowing they will eventually catch up. Deepak said he doesn't loose weight walking because he has more rest guiding slow trekkers... haaa! haaa! ha!

The Sherpa is one of the tribe in northern Nepal who are born with tremendous strength. Tenzing Norgay is one of them.

Tips for Nepal: other than what have been already suggested by tour organizers and several bloggers, I wished I brought a few buff. I only brought 1 to cover my hair and 1 to protect my neck and face from dust and cold. However it gets dirty so fast and you need extras especially when it is very cold and have runny nose. Yeah!.... everyone ends up having runny nose. Some people had red nose then turned black. We started looking like those who summitted Mt. Everest (with dark snouts).

Bring lots of tissues from home. Nepal's tissue is not a good quality. I used one of my baby face towel and bandana, wrapped on my wrist to wipe my nose. With trekking poles on hands and hand gloves, it can be difficult to reach for the tissue and sometimes not fast enough.

Teresa used a lot of heating pad. One night in Gorak Shep after the EBC assault, the hotel ran out of mineral water so I bought boiled water for R350 ($3.50) and put it in my 1 ltr nalgene. It was nicely hot that I hugged it while sleeping. It stayed warm till morning.... why didn't I do this before? I was scolding myself. You can buy hot water if you have a thermos. At Dingboche, we used purifying tablets for water because bottled water are expensive (US $3.50). We consumed 3-4 ltrs a day. Wifi is also expensive $6 per 200mb.

Travel John is very convenient especially in Gorak Shep where it is extremely cold to go out of your room to use the (smelly) common toilet at the end of the hallway. The dirty gallon of water to flush the squat toilet is icy. Plus there isn't much light so you need headlamp. I definitely recommend it.

Wet wipes, anti bacteria wipes and pocket tissues a must. No matter how we clean our exposed hands, our nails are dirty.

Have a vicks for the nose or cover so you don't smell the smelly yaks, toilets and porters who smells like yaks (no pun intended 😆).

I can't imagine how our food are being handled especially on the higher ground where water supply is limited. I cringe just the thought of it.

Only vegetarian meals after Namche so some brought Spanish sardines, Vienna sausage in can and cooked pork adobo. We all shared it even if just one piece each with rice.

Toilets on the trail... hmmmm

Anyway after lunch on the way to Lukla, my coughing became severe. I think I caught whooping cough. It gotten worse in Kathmandu. So I've been drinking concoction of honey, lemon, ginger and garlic. After the trek, the 13 room Dream City hotel has become a luxurious hotel in comparison. It is run by Neupane brothers. They are nice and accommodating people. Robin, Ram, Sudip and their cousin Christian.

Watch the video to see Lukla airport- the shortest runway in the world.