Well it started with our 5 a.m. wake up call to go to the airport to catch the flight to Lukla. Ha! We are at the domestic terminal and there are people everywhere with boxes and boxes and bags of gear and everything you can imagine..apples, eggs, beer, soda, ramen noodles, you name it. All going to either base camp or to the small villages on the way.
We made it on the 2nd flight with all of our bags. Thanks to the good work of Puru none of our bags were demoted to the next flight. The 15 passenger plane was a little tight.. Karen could barely stand up inside so you can imagine Paul trying to crawl down the isle.
The 25 minute flight flew over some small villages connected only by a single road that snaked over the hills. P and I both thought it would be great mountain biking… hmmm maybe next time. Then we were treated to a great sight of the Himalayas! Wow! That’s it! You just can’t imagine the peaks that are just shooting up into the sky and covered with snow and the faces are so steep, you just can’t stop looking at them. However, when we dropped over the mountain to find the runway… hmmm.. uphill landing seemingly too short to stop the plane, but the pilots were calm and it all seemed to work out.
We grabbed our bags, found our porters and got things situated. We ate some breakfast while the porters got on their way. We quickly caught the porters (4 little guys carrying our big bags). One the size of our little friend Casey (not big) was carrying Paul’s huge backpack with my backpack tied on the back and then his personal bag on top of that. He couldn’t weigh 100lbs and he was carry at least his body weight.
What a trail… it’s all made of rock and travels through all these little villages. I wanted to video the whole way. There were people and little kids and selling things and little restaurants and coffee shops and more things to buy. We didn’t stop though I could have stopped at each place just to test it out.
So we started making a log of the interesting things that the porters were carrying. Some are carrying loads that are 6 feet over their heads, one guys was carrying 6 full sheets of plywood, one guy had a lady on his back, all had many many heavy bags and one guy carrying a 10ft piece of 18 inch diameter pipe….I don’t know how he even moved it. They all have this system of a strap over their head to help them with the weight. I think it has to be crushing their necks…
So we arrived in Namche Bazaar. A cool little village on the hillside. We started trekking at 10 a.m. from Lukla and arrived here (about 15 k we think) about 3:00 p.m. Our assistant Puru arrived shortly after us, but the porters have still not arrived. He doesn’t think they will make it today. He thinks it was too hard and we were too fast. Puru told us that when he arrived at Namche he talked to his friends in Kathmandu and they asked him where he was and he said Namche. They said that’s impossible. He said no, really we are here. He and the guys at our hotel were laughing that we arrived here so fast. Paul and I thought it was just a nice hike. yeah certainly some big hills, but nothing too bad and 5 hours with a hot meal and a nice bed at the end of the day. nice.
So without the porters we are a little chilly (they have our warm clothes) so we both had to buy a pair of fleece pants…imitation Patagonia fleece pants for $6.00, not bad.
We had a nice pastry at the Everest bakery and some garlic soup at the Buddha hotel where we are staying. Cool, cool place and you can’t believe they have internet here so far from any road. It’s amazing to think how they got everything in here….some horses, yaks, but mostly people carrying everything…even this computer I am working on. It’s beautiful and the people are friendly, everyone on the trail says hello “namaste” in Nepalese. Many many foreigners here…from EVERYWHERE.
Tomorrow we will try to connect with our porters and our bags! and then continue walking. its an absolutely amazing hike that I recommend to EVERYONE. Put it on your bucket list!
More adventure tomorrow as we head toward base camp. We think it will be another 2 days before we arrive there.
Namaste (it’s like aloha, means hello and goodbye)
Karen and Paul
Hey Paul and Karen- you both rock! I wonder if you’ll meet up with Christophe Vandaele (SBR Multisports) http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/vandaele/
who just arrived at base camp and is heading for Everest. They are being filmed by Discovery. Flemish-American expedition- what a small world! Looking forward to follow your progress.
Go strong you two! Hey just had lunch at a restaurant here called, “Everest”. I told the owner about Jordan and he said he would get on his site and donate. WHoo HOO!
You guys are so great at writing what you are seeing and experiencing. Sometimes I can see, feel and sense the different sites you are writing about and I enjoy it so much. Nepal has always drawn me…you may be the catalyst for me to actually plan a trip. A prayer goes out to you from the desert on this beautiful Easter morning that you will be healthy and strong and enjoy a sense of awareness that amazes even you! Blessings.
Paula