From Everest with love....

Actually, I'm writing this post from Kathmandu not Everest...too damn cold!

Robin and I returned yesterday from our trek in the Everest region and one of my first thoughts was "God I hate the sound of car horns!" Up in the Everest region, it is so peaceful and the only sounds you constantly hear are that of yak bells and yak train "drivers"....and of other trekkers hacking up a lung due to the "Khumbu cold".

Seriously though, we had an amazing time in the region. As this was Robin's second time there she was able to provide a limited amount of guiding services which made it a bit easier. Luckily though, it is pretty difficult to get lost as there is really only one main trail.

We arrived in Lukla via airplane and you are treated to a type of landing that one can only find by coming to Everest (to the best of my knowledge). The landing strip at the Lukla airport is built on a mountain slope and therefore built on an angle. In order the land, the pilot must aim the plane downward at a fairly steep angle and at the last moment before contact, lift the nose in order to get the plane pointed uphill. The landing was very smooth and a majority of the passengers gave the pilot a quick applause before we all piled off to get our luggage. Now I say luggage as a majority of the passengers were not "trekkers" who had backpacks for long walks. No! A majority were tourists whose luggage (i.e. suitcases, duffel bags, etc...) would be carried by porters only as far as Namche Bazaar or Tengboche. Once you leave the airport grounds, there are about a hundred people lined at the gates hoping to take on a job as a guide or a porter (or both). We nicknamed this the "gauntlet" and moved past everyone quite quickly so that we may start the trek!

Leaving the town of Lukla we headed off downhill to towards the town of Phakding which is about 2 hours away. [Robin says that "town" might be a bit of an exaggeration ... "village" or "settlement" would be more appropriate.] Lukla sits at approx 2800m and the trail drops quickly to approx 2600m by the time you reach Phakding. We had a quick tea break on the way and then arrived in Phakding for lunch where we had our first real "sticker shock"! After enjoying relatively cheap prices in the Annapurna region, we found out that this is not the case in the Everest region...not by a long shot! I'm going to guess that most prices where 2-3 times that of the Annapurna region. (To be fair, this is because everything, including food, fuel and building supplies for lodges, has to be carried up by porters from Kathmandu or flown into Lukla and then carried up by porters.) After lunch we moved on to Monjo where we spent our first night of the trek.

The next day we began the hike back uphill. The next destination on the trek is Namche and it resides at approx 3400m altitude so you can imagine the uphill battle we faced. Luckily on the way up, we were treated to our first views of Everest and it definitely adds a bit of spring to the step. That spring was quickly broken though as its still a serious slog up the rest of the way and by the time we reached the town, we were toast. We would later find out that a 600m ascent would be a common theme each day! Once past the police checkpoint, we had to find accomodations and after some more climbing, we ended up at the Panorama which is the same lodge where Robin stayed during her first visit. This was a fantastic choice as the room, food and staff were great! Many of the lodge owners in Namche are former climbing Sherpas who have built lodges with their earnings and are very personable with all of their guests. We did a quick walk around the town and then were told of a viewpoint near the army base / national park headquarters (which is an odd combination, to be sure) where we could view Everest and the surrounding mountains. Definitely worth the short walk up and we could see Ama Dablam, Everest, Lhotse and others! Even though we were still 4-5 days away I was getting pretty excited!!

The next morning we went straight uphill to one of Robin's favourite places on the trek, the Everest View Hotel! I definitely have to agree and also consider this one of my favourites now.
This is a 5-star hotel with a view of Everest from every room. This view only costs around $200USD/night (a bit of a difference from our normal price of $3USD/night). We were only there to sit on their terrace, have some tea and relax. We met a couple of Tennesseeans (def: people from Tennessee), Mike and Jamie [thanks for the "kitchen sink"!] and they joined us for a good hour of chillin' in the sun and enjoying the view. Unfortunately, we had to continue otherwise we might have been stuck paying the overnight rate. We continued onto Khumjung and then all the way back downhill to the town of Phunki Tenga (I only mention this town as the name is awesome). From here we had to climb ANOTHER hill and it was (again) a miserable 600m straight up. But upon finally reaching the top 2 hours later, we were rewarded with more views of Everest. We were now in the town of Tengboche where there is a very important Bhuddist monastery. It was unfortunately closed but I would have another chance to view the inside on the way back down.

We opted to continue on to the town of Deboche 15 minutes down the valley, where we found lodging in a brand new lodge, the Rivendell, with killer views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. We were able to watch sunset on Everest from the dining room, and watch sunrise on Everest from the comfort (and relative warmth) of our sleeping bags in our rooms. [Robin was a real fan of this, because otherwise she might have been dragged out of bed before 6am and made to stand in the cold and dark.] I need to add that at this point we had joined company with a pair of Australians, Tristan and Kate. We met them on the Annapurna circuit and by chance they flew into Lukla the same day as us. We had stayed in Namche together and would for the rest of this trip, become a foursome. This was a bonus as it meant that Robin and I did not only have each other to talk to.... ;-)

The next day we moved on from Deboche and trekked all the way to Dingboche. At this point in the trek we had moved from 3800m to 4400m and walking was becoming a bit more difficult and the temps were dropping quite a bit as well. The wind was not helping either driving down the daytime temps to close to 0 degrees!! Dingboche is one of two towns (Pheriche is the other)where trekkers tend to spend an acclimatization day in order to rest and prepare for the upcoming assault to Everest. Upon our arrival at the lodge, I decided to relax while Robin went out to explore. This was Robin's first time to this town as she had previously stayed in Pheriche. She was out for a while so when I went outside to spot her, all I heard was "Aaaadam.....Aaaadam..." I finally spotted her...about 100m straight up on a ridge overlooking the town!!! Such a keener....

The next day we opted for what we thought would be casual walk up the same ridge Robin had visited the previous day. It turned out to be a serious hike from 4400m all the way to the summit of Nangarshang peak..at just under 5200M!! But the views are definitely worth it! Ama Dablam, Makalu and Lhotse are staring right back at you!! Going up took about 2.5 hours but going down took a quick 1 hour... we were motivated by the need for FOOOOOOD!!! (We hadn't really planned on a day-long hike.) The rest of the day was a chill day and then we crashed. Sleeping on this trek usually was from 7-7:30pm until 6am the next morning (not including night trips to the toilet.)

Our next destination was Lobuche and this starts with a nice walk to Thukla only to be faced with a short but steep hill. Hills aren't usually too hard but when they start at 4600m altitude, they become a tad harder! We cruised up this one pretty quickly (passing groups who only had day packs to worry about) and at the top is an area with many memorials to fallen climbers (both Western and Sherpa). Its quite a sobering place and we did not spend too long there. The rest of the walk to Lobuche is through a gentle valley and Lobuche itself is a very desolate place located at an oxygen deprived 4950m. I slept only part of the night while Robin did not sleep at all. At altitude, sleep is very difficult to come by for many people.

The next day was by far the most rewarding! We left Lobuche once the sun hit the valley (until then it is a balmy -7 degrees) and began the march to Gorak Shep. This is the final lodging area and it resides midway up the Khumbu Glacier. While walking their, the views of Nuptse are unbelievable and you get your first sight of Kala Patar, which is the best viewpoint of Everest (for the vast majority trekkers anyways). We arrived in Gorak Shep around 10:30 and based on the weather, decided to make an attempt on Kala Patar around noon. The weather was maily clear but with serious wind and clouds could be seen high up on Everest. But a local guide said the views would still be there so off we went.

Ascending Kala Patar is only a 450m endeavour up to 5600m and again, would normally not be so difficult. But when you start that climb at 5150m, its a bit more of a challenge. I will say that I am quite lucky to be part of a very small minority of trekkers who are not affected by altitude. Going up I felt fine and although Robin had a bout of moderate AMS on the Thorong La (on the Annapurna Circuit), she made it up Kala Patar with little problem. I wish I could post a pic in this post but the connections in Kathmandu are SLOW! Looking at the mountains, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Pictures just do not do justice what you are trying to take it from this viewpoint! Magical is probably the best word I can use to describe the panaroma! All around us are Pumori, Everest, Lhotse (not visible though), Nuptse, Ama Dablam in the distance, the Khumbu Icefall right in front of us and the rest of the glacier tailing away!!!! Everest Base Camp (EBC) is about 300m below Kala Patar and I was contemplating on whether or not to make a morning trip out to it the next day. But my decision was made not to when we saw a MONSTER avalanche rip off the side of the mountain (near the top of the Khumbu Icefall) and tear right into the EBC area. I shudder to think what might have happened if any expeditions had been there but the area was empty as this is not a climbing season. All the same, seeing an avalanche of that size is shocking!

We did not last more than 45 min at the top as the wind was blowing close to 80km/h and it was freezing! But we took quite a few pics and we will post those in Bangkok when we have a better connection.

It took just over an hour to get up but we hauled ass down in about 25 min to the relative warmth of the lodge. That night neither of us really slept due to the altitude but I was also still SO psyched to have been that close to the top of the world! The next morning we sat in the sunroom of the lodge, waited to see if the Nuptse wall would rain more avalances and then we set off back down the trail. Going up took us 7 days but getting back to Lukla took us only 3 days! Descending is much easier and as we were retracing our steps more almost the entire trail, we didn't stop and admire the view too much once we were down past Pheriche. The first night on the way down we stayed in Pangboche (just before Deboche) and the following day we continued all the way Namche. We were quite happy to be back in Namche as it meant an easier time trying to sleep and the food was amazing! The following morning to began our last full day of trekking all the way back to Lukla. This was a painful day as it requires a 600m descent and then a 200m ascent right at the end of the day into Lukla, and lots of up and down in between. (There's no place on the trail that is actually "flat" - it's always at some kind of grade.) Luckily the lodge owner Namche called ahead to a friend in Lukla (who also owned a lodge) and had him confirm that we would be on one of the first flights out of Lukla then next morning. The only condition is that we stay at this friend's lodge. To our delight we arrived in Lukla to find we were on the first flight out (at 7:15am) and this "friend" was another ex-climbing Sherpa who had a fantastic lodge. The next morning he made sure we had breakfast then accompanied us to the airport and made sure we had no problems. What a great way to end the trek...almost...

Although the plane arriving from Kathmandu was a bit late it wasn't too bad. Its the take-off which is the kicker! Upon arrival, I mentioned that the landing is essentially done uphill. Well, the take-off is done downhill!! The plane taxis to the end of the runway and then guns the engines and hard as they will go and then he releases the brake! The plane careens downhill as fast as possible and at the last moment, takes off from the tarmac as the slope disappears down into the valley below! Nothing like a little sports action first thing in the morning....

Sorry for the long post but trying to cram in what we did into a very short post just isn't possible. This was an experience of a lifetime!! From the day Robin and I met, I've been going on and on about getting to Everest and finally I've done that...maybe one day I'll come back and try climbing it!!! Yeah right.... Seriously, the trek to Kala Patar was very special for both of us, and seemed to bring us full circle from the very first day we met.

Now we're off to Bangkok and warm weather. We were able to change our flights and so will be leaving Nepal a bit early (on the 18th) and most likely spending Christmas in BKK before heading off to the islands for some sun, scuba and finally ... more climbing!

Cheers,
Adam [and Robin]