Day 19: Labouche to Pangboche

The original idea was to do the Cho-La pass from near Lobuche to Gokyo. This makes for a shorter trip to Gokyo, but does mean doing a high altitude pass, and still takes two days. As Sara was not feeling that well we decided to go the long way around, the same way that I had done the last time. Done at normal speed you can get from Labouche to Phortse in one day and then from Phortse to Gokyo in another day. But with Sara not feeling well we were not going at normal speed.

We started well, getting from Labouche to Dugla in less than an hour (with some amazing mountain views in between some unusual cloud formations), and Pheriche in 2, but by then Sara was lagging. She had a bit of headache, no energy, and stomach pains. Walking very slowly, with lots of breaks we made it to Pangboche for lunch and decided to call it a day. The rest of the day was spent keeping warm next to the fire (fueled by yak dung).

Later on I finally got around to looking at Sara's throat ... and it was infected, with white spots on both sides. The question was what to do. Should we walk back up to Pheriche which had a rescue station, or continue along hoping to get to the other rescue station at Machermo (unfortunately the option of hopping in the car and driving 10 minutes to the doctor was not available). We decided to use the antibiotic we did have (a children's dose that required adding water to a powder - and also had instructions not to refrigerate - as if, at our altitude) and see what happened. The morning would tell....

As an interesting sidelight we noted the sudden disappearance of groups. The other night in Labouche we went from 55 people in the guest house to 8 the next night. Then walking down to Pangboche we saw very few people heading up. Then in Pangboche we met someone who told us that weather had closed Lukla for a day and half. Well that explained it ... and also provided an opportunity. Maybe, by timing it right, we could get to Gokyo and avoid the crowds (there had been lots of stories about Gokyo being overcroded with folks having to sleep in dining rooms).

Day 18: Lobuche - Kala Patthar ... and back

Up early due to the pounding noises of the tour groups departing at some ungodly hour (4:30 am) for some unknown location. So off we set in near darkness for Kala Patthar and the "highest point" of the trek ... 5550m, and additionally, a reasonably good view of Everest!

The trek to Gorak Shep (5,140m) has two parts - a relatively flat section, then a very dusty set of ups and downs through the glacial moraine. Gorak Shep now has 5 or 6 large lodges in front of a large sandy area that would make a gorgeous beach if there were some water and if it were a bit warmer. It certainly has seen some changes from when I was last there, when it had a grand total of ONE lodge (see picture).

The climb up Kala Patthar was NOT easy. I had forgotten how long the climb was, though I still vividly remembered having to crawl the last 10 m up to the top when the altitude took all of my remaining energy. This time we could see the top early on, but it took forever to get there as the altitude made every step up a massive chore. About 150m from the top I was pretty sure that we would not make it. I was stuffed...but Sara kept plodding along ahead and somehow I pushed on to follow her lead. We broke the remaining climb into 5 sections with rest breaks, and eventually we got to the top. (Noticed how wiped we look in the picture.)

The views were magnificent, as just like last time, there was not a cloud in the sky so we could see every surrounding mountain. We ended up spending about an hour at the top, just soaking it all in and relishing being at 5,550m.

Sara was doing fine ... until. The first night we were in Lobuche - no problem at all. She was fine all the way to Gorak Shep despite her cold and the higher altitude. Then somewhere on the Kala Patthar climb she really started to get hit by something (altitude?). Together we made it to the top, but she had a very hard climb down. We stopped for lunch then started heading back but she was really, really tired. We ended up taking quite a few breaks, even on the flat part of the trail. We finally got back about 3:30 but Sara was still not feeling well with both a headache and a bit of a stomach ache. Luckily a doctor from an altitude study stopped by with a small tester and confirmed that it was not altitude causing the problem (There was an ongoing test of ibuprofen as an anti altitude sickness medication going on while we were there).

We then had the surprise of the day. An oriental girl came in and had a Chinese book with her, so I started talking to her in Chinese. She was thrilled to be able to talk Chinese for the first time in since she had been in Nepal and Sara and I had a great time talking to her. Then she disappeared for a couple of minutes and came back with a Tibetan apple (the last one she had from a stash she brought from Tibet). Sara said it tasted really, really good and magically it seemed, her headache disappeared.

Day 17: Dingboche to Labouche.

Another slow start today, but it doesn't really matter as the trekking each day now is relatively short because you can only ascend so much at a time. We added another 500m today reaching 4910m at Lobuche. The walk started with a climb up out of the Dingboche valley and then stayed flat until we reached Dugla (the picture shows the valley looking back down, towards Pheriche below, Dingboche being on the left, out of sight). From there it was a steeper climb up towards Lobuche. We ended up sending our guide ahead (he could walk faster than us) to try and book a room as we had heard that Lobuche often got very crowded.

We got to Lobuche around 12 and found that our guide had been able to get us "a" room, though not what you would call a first class one. We had a room that barely fit two beds, did not have a window, and did not have a light. That means that you had to use a flashlight to see anything. Thankfully a while later I was able to talk to one of the guest house staff. We had a good chat about his college business courses and the like and when we went back in he switched us to a much better room. Prices here have also taken another step up. Our room was 400Rs, hot chocolate was up to 70Rs, garlic soup was 180Rs, and Sherpa stew was 300Rs.

Lobuche was probably our least favourite place on the trek (at least as far as the look and feel of the place). It really felt like a "dump" to put it nicely, with a river with garbage in it running past the guest houses. There is even a guesthouse that charges $25/night, and it was totally full.
Still we met some great people here and actually ended up having a pretty good time ... until Sara got sick ... but more on that later.
One of smartest things we did in preparing for the trek was bringing along a book of photos of home. It proved invaluable when staying at guesthouses. The staff always liked looking at pictures, whether it be of our family, or of our house, or of our town. Interestingly the one picture that always got the best response was a picture we had of American buffalo taken in Montana last summer. I guess they were used to seeing water buffalo, so the sight of another kind of buffalo was intriguing. Anyway the girl at this guest house was so taken by the picture that we ended up giving it to her ... she was thrilled.

Day 16: Dingboche - Rest Day

Got up early to watch the sunrise and take some pictures, but man was it cold waiting for the sun to come up!

We went off on a day hike up the Chukkung valley towards Island Peak. Great weather with crystal clear blue skies, and not a cloud in sight. I think this is the first day we have seen it so clear (just look at how blue the sky is in the pictures). The walk was spectacular and not all that hard despite the fact that we were up to 4700m. Eventually we got a full on close up of Lotse and the whole Lotse wall. We had lunch just staring at the mountains on all sides and then found some big rocks to lie down on and view some more. There were some great views of Lotse as well as the back side of Ama Dablam. The best views of Island peak though were from further away. Outside of Kala Pattar and Gokyo the best views of the trek.

Day 15: Pangboche to Dingboche

Late start today as we did not get going until about 8. I had to get up three times last night to go to the toilet. Oh well that's what you get at high altitudes...but it is a pain and makes it hard to get a good night's sleep. At least the toilet was inside, not somewhere down a dark path outside in the freezing cold. I'm also getting a low level headache, likely due to the altitude.






A relatively easy climb today of about three hours. We ascended from 3930m to 4410, so a sizable jump and as a result we will stay two days at Dingboche (the general rule is that you can ascend 300m per day with an extra day's acclimatization required after each 1,000m. Dingboche is at 4,410m). Our guesthouse today was chosen on the recommendation of our guide (who usually let's us choose). Definitely not our style as it is made for groups and is far from cozy. We looked around for an alternative, but did not have any luck. This place just looks set up for groups.

We decided to stay where we were and shortly thereafter were "treated" to the resident group returning from their day hike. It is definitely easy to see why the lodges like groups. In they come ordering cokes (at $3-4 bottle), bottled water, and loads of food with not seeming thought as to the cost. No wonder prices are what they are up here ... and no wonder there are so many guesthouses. The guesthouses don't even need that high an occupancy rate to make some pretty good money.

It sure is an education to watch these groups operate. The "guides" are essentially servants, taking orders, serving food, and getting whatever the customer wants, when they want it. I guess it gives the guesthouse some extra labour allowing them to serve so many people at one time, but it is a bit uncomfortable to watch at times.

On the weather front, the afternoon clouds were on schedule and soon we could not see anything outside.

Day 14: Tengboche to Pangboche.

Continuing on with the theme that we had lots of time, and wanted to be careful with altitude, we decided to only head as far as Pangboche today. That and the fact that Sara's throat was still giving her trouble - the Strepsils and Chinese Vicks are really getting a workout. This of course meant that we were in no hurry, giving us time to go to the monastery, make another trip to the German Bakery, and in general just take it easy.

The weather conditions the last few days have been quite predictable. In the morning we have a few early clouds (which can provide some nice effects for photography) which burn off quickly to be replaced by beautiful blue sky. Then around 12 the clouds start to roll in and by 2 or 3 you can't see anything at all.

One of the joys of this area is seeing Ama Dablam up close. Of all the mountains that we have seen, I don't think any are as beautiful as Ama Dablam. Sure Everest is higher, but it is not by any stretch a "pretty" mountain. Ama Dablam though is magnificent.

Pangboche (3,930m) definitely has the better selection of places to stay (compared to Tengboche), but at least on this day they did not seem spoiled for customers. There was not much traffic on the trail, and what there was was mostly heading back down.

Day 13: Namche to Tengboche

Today was a much tougher climb than I remember. First up out of Namche, then down to cross the river then all the way back up to Tengboche (3,860m). We walked for close to 5 hours, but it felt more like 8 or 9. Time just seemed to pass very slowly, although we could do the climbing despite the altitude. We had great views of Ama Dablam early on, but after we crossed the river the clouds moved in and by the time we reached Tengboche we could not see very much at all.

We stayed at the Trekkers Lodge behind the monastery in a tiny room at the edge of a cliff, but it was the most reasonable place we could find (and yes those are yaks outside the front door). Even so, prices have taken a jump. Dahl Bhat is now 300Rs, an apple pancake 180Rs, and milk tea is up to 50Rs.

At the guesthouse I also met one of the most interesting people I have ever met while travelling. While he and I talked away the evening a couple of monks came in from the monastery for a cup of tea and they invited Sara over to talk with them. I think that was fun for her.


One of the treats of Tengboche, besides the monastery and the magnificent views is a German bakery with lots of cakes and pies (at about 300Rs a slice) and even a cappucino machine. They even have battery charging at Rs150/hour. We both decided we could use a bit of a treat.

Day 12: Namche Rest Day #2

Had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, which was actually a bit of a chore, as it was outside. So I went down the stairs, grabbed the bathroom key, opened the first set of doors, unbolted the outside doors, and upon opening those doors found myself face to face with a cow! It was a bit of a shock for 3 am to have a cow staring you in the face in the middle of town.







Great weather today as we headed out for our day hike. The idea of course is to climb higher and spend some time there before sleeping lower, all part of the acclimatisation process. We went up a couple of hundred metres towards Everest View. We didn't go to the expensive hotel, but instead headed a bit farther over to the right, next to a flag pole where we had spectacular views of Everest, Lotse, and Ama Dablam. We just sat there on the grass, eating biscuits and soaking it all in for an hour or so. Then it was back to the guest house for a "bucket" shower. Ah to be clean again, if only for a short while.

This picture gives a good "above" view of Namche and an idea of how steep the hills around here can be.

Day 11: Namche rest day #1

To help with acclimatisation the suggested approach is to rest for one day at Namche before heading higher. As youngsters sometimes have more problems with altitude, and as time was not an issue for us, we decided to take it slow and spend 2 rest days in Namche.

On our first rest day we walked around Namche (which does not take long), checked out the Tibetan market (mostly clothes for porters and guides and locals), and spent some time on the internet (at Rs500/hour). Sara seems to be getting a cold so we downed some garlic soup...and to make it interesting we ordered fried potato and cheese momos and dunked these into the soup as a dipping sauce...and it was really good.

Namche certainly has changed with all the construction to build huge lodges for the groups that now make up the majority of trekkers. Below is a picture from my first visit and one from now. The difference is quite remarkable. At the lower levels there is not much space left that can be built on.

Day 10: Cheplung to Namche Bazaar

For the whole trek, with the exception of eggs, both Sara and I were vegetarians. There is "yak" steak available, and some other meat, but we decided to not partake of it. The meat comes from below Namche (and is unlikely to be yak, more likely water buffalo). It is portered up, and well, after seeing that, it kind of takes your desire for meat away.








Up early for breakfast. Sara had a massive bowl of porridge and I had a huge apple pancake (I told you the food was good here). Then we were off at a cracking pace...Phakding in less than an hour and a half..as we had fun passing the Lukla groups. Where we had had 10 days to acclimatise to the altitude and build up our endurance, the poor folks coming off a plane from Europe, then a plane from Kathmandu, were no match. Of course we over did it and went a bit too fast up the steep climb to Namche, or at least I did. Sara was fine but with my cold, I was stuffed. I had to send Sara and our porter/guide to find the lodge that had been recommended to us, while I tried to regain my breath.


We stayed at a wonderful small place (4 rooms) called SunSite. It is the way Namche (3,440m) used to be, homey, cozy, friendly, and small scale. A lovely older lady looks after the place and she is so sweet, and a good cook too. She also seems not to have raised her prices like everyone else.

Day 9: Bupsa to Cheplung

Another day closer to the end of the "quiet" part of the trek. Today we made it to Cheplung (about 2,500m) which is just below Lukla (2,840m), and the point where the hordes coming in via air join up with those few of us who walked in. I noted in the diary an uneasy feeling as I realised that we were coming to the end of where we would know the people we were trekking with (there are so few), and would be starting mass tourism with the Goretex, goggles and ski pole crowd. To further solidify the impression we have the continuous drone of flights coming in to provide some background noise.

We set off at around 7am and by 10:30 we were in Paiya, where we stopped for lunch. Prices are definitely trending up as Dahl Bhat is now up to 220Rs. The scenery today is quite different. There are no real villages, just houses strung out along the hill. No bright flowers today, just lots of forests and steep hills. There are some nice views up the valley towards Everest though. From Paiya there are still some big ups and downs, first down to Surke then back up to Cheplung. We did not finish walking until about 4 today as we wanted to get within striking distance of Namche tomorrow. The stamina is definitely improving as we walked 8 hours today, with some tough stretches and although tired, we were not wiped out.

In Cheplung we stayed at the Khumbila lodge (right where the trial is joined by the Lukla trail) at what turned out to be one of our three favourite lodges of the trek. The lady was quite a cook..great food, and a very nice family (as two daughters were off school for fall break and were helping out). It also looked like we were the only tourists staying in town. Everyone else seems to have gone to Phakding I guess. Why, I have no idea. Cheplung is a heck of a lot nicer. It is though getting colder as I am wearing three layers and am still cold.



Today we also saw a strange customer looking for food at the Apple Pie Lodge. He did not appear to have much luck getting served.

Day 8: Nuntale to Bupsa

Bit of a slow start today as we forgot to order breakfast last night (Tip: order breakfast the night before, and give the time you want to eat, to reduce the time you spend waiting in the morning) . Even though we ordered breakfast at 6:30, the people who had ordered the night before for 7 am got served first, and we did not eat until 7:15. Oh well...time is not really an issue.

The day began with a steady march downward to the river, where we crossed at about 1600m, possibly the lowest point of the trek, and that's after walking up and down for 7 days. Over the bridge and then we were in Jubing (1,680m) which has a totally different feel than other villages we have been in so far. Probably due to the lower elevation there are lots more flowers and other vegetation. It just had an overall very relaxed, almost tropical feel.

Of course from the low elevation the next stage was "up" again, this time to Khari-Khola (2,040m) where we stopped for lunch. The lunch was good, but the water exhibited a problem that we saw throughout the trek. Many villages have central water spouts that all the lodges get their water from. That's fine, except the lodges tend to use old kerosene containers to transport the water from the tap to the lodge. Well.....guess what...sometimes you can taste the kerosene, or at least smell it, or see the film on the water. I can not believe that this is healthy.

Our solution to the water issue was to get our water from the tap itself if possible and then use our Steri-pen to make it drinkable. (We had good luck with the Steri-pen, which uses UV, but would recommend bringing some kind of pre filter as the water in the mountains does tend to have a lot of "crap" in it. All in all it saved us a lot of money on buying boiled water or bottled water - a very good investment - just make sure you bring some extra batteries.)

From Khari-Khola we once again went down to cross the river then had a steep 1.5 hour climb up to Bupsa (2,400m). At Bupsa we stayed at the Everest Guest House which had a patio outside at the edge of the hill. This gave lovely views over the surrounding hills, as you are almost sitting on the edge of a cliff. We both had nice hot showers (100Rs) , did a little laundry, and had lots to eat, with Sara having her first pizza of the trek (basically made with a chapati for the crust). It was really nice to sit on the patio, soak in the views and just chill out. This is definitely more relaxing than last time. More like a vacation than an adventure ... though of course the actual trekking still makes you work.

Day 7: Junbesi to Nuntale

Up early with a beautiful view from our bedroom window of the mountains taking in the morning sun. What a way to start the day!

The trail today started up steeply from Junbesi, after we passed by the hydro electric plant and over the bridge, then leveled out into a more or less slow steady rise, until 2 hours later we got a quick view of what we had come to see. At the Everest View lodge (Phurteng at 3,040m) we saw Everest for the first time for about 2 minutes before the clouds rolled over it. Still it was enough to energise Sara for the whole day (although once you get past this point Everest disappears as the angle is no longer right). From then on Sara took the lead on the trail, often getting far ahead of our porter/guide and me. She was so charged up, it was a treat to see. She even took my pack for a while and managed to get through the last of our Thodung chese for some extra energy.
Watching Sara today had me thinking about my reaction to the trek so far and I guess it could be summed up as "this time, less excitement, but much more appreciation". I really am enjoying the trek, but I know a good part of the enjoyment is coming from watching Sara.

From Everest View it was a pretty level trail until we dropped down to cross the river, which of course meant that we had to go back up the other side to get to Ringmu (2,720), where we stopped for a lunch - of apple pie, what else? This apple pie was more like a pasty, but was still quite good. And of course, to wash down the apple pie, I had to sample a glass of apple cider as well.

The last time I had been in Ringmu, it had been more of an "event". In my diary I wrote that I had somehow gone through 7 pieces of apple pie in the time that we spent there, along with numerous glasses of apple cider and apple wine. We had almost been unable to tear ourselves away from the place. The lodge had also been so crowded that we had had to sleep on the floor. There is no such problem these days as there are many more lodges, and likely fewer trekkers.

This is also an area where we saw some "low tech" ways of reducing wood for fire use. The idea is to use solar energy to heat water. (see pic). There were quite a few of these devices being used, though I have no idea how effective they are.

After lunch it was a climb up to the Takshindu pass (at 3,070m), and then down to the village of Nuntale (2,330m). As I am getting into better shape I am finding that the "ups" are fine and I am feeling quite strong. But the "downs" are killing me, or more specifically killing my knees. Although I am taking the downs slowly (and not trying to keep up with Sara), they still hurt. They were hurting by the time we got to Nuntale, and after we had sat down for a while they hurt even more.

In Nuntale, like in Junbesi there seems to be a common menu and pricing amonst the guest houses. However, unlike in Junbesi where the prices were different (stickers) between the guest houses, in Nuntale the pricing seemed to be consistent. A room here was 100Rs, Dahl Bhat was 130Rs, fried noodles were 95Rs, a shower was 100Rs, and an apple pancake was 95Rs.

Day 6: Goyem to Junbesi

Another early start, and thankfully the clouds had gone giving us nicer views to start the day. Some more Up to start as we headed up to the Lamjura pass at about 3530m, and unfortunately some more depleted forests.

On my last trip I had taken a picture of a guesthouse at the top of the Lamjura pass, and had brought a copy of it along with me. Of course when we got to the pass the old guesthouse was gone and instead there was a nicer one. I showed the picture to the owner and she said that the old teahouse had been run by her mother. I passed on the picture for her to give to her mother. The two pictures show the new and old teahouses. As you can see there is a fair difference between to the two.










From Lamjura it was down through the rhododendron forests, to a flatter area with quite a few farms, and then down into Junbesi (2,680m).

Junbesi has become quite a pleasant town, tucked snugly into the valley, with a mountain view at the far end. However it does not seem to have enough tourist traffic to support the level of building that had gone on. There were at least 8 guest houses and a couple of boarded up buildings, including a bakery that gave testament to perhaps too optimistic a prediction of tourist traffic. Still there is a large high school in town that serves what looks to be quite a good sized population in the surrounding area.

We stayed at the Sherpa Guide guest house (the blue house in the picture) which turned out to be one of our 3 favourite places on the trek. The lady who runs it is lovely, is a great cook, and best of all she makes a great apple pie. While most of the apple pies you get in the region are more like a pasty, the one she makes is actually a PIE! What a wonderful way to enjoy afternoon coffee time!