November 2nd 2009
I woke up a bit late, around 7:30, enjoying the morning sleep. After a quick breakfast, I went on a 3:30 acclimatization trek : first to an Everest View Point, 3860m high, where I could finally
distinguish the Everest rising behind other peaks. The view really starts to be fascinating… The Himalayas are huge, two or three times biggers than the « regular » French
mountains.
To get there, I first started to hike normally, and after 10 minutes of walk, I was breathing so bad that I had to stop.
Basically, I now hike up really slower than usual. Even though, I’m doing quite fine, and I really feel comfortable.
From the Everest View Point, I made a round circuit, through Khumjung (3780 m) and Khunde, where I had lunch. In the
lodge I had the opportunity to assist a strange ceremony : monks were celebrating the death of the owner, who passed out a year ago. They sing basically sing and play music for three days (one
day before, the day of his death, and one day after), and for three years after he died.
It was quite fun to see how shy the young monks are… I even wonder if some of them are gay.
I talked to many people, and I’m consequently changing my plan : as it may snow, I’m going first to Gorak Shep, to hike
up to Kala Patthar (5550 meters), and then to the Everest Base Camp (5364 m), that is situated exactly 42 kilometers away from Namche (and yes, they do marathons). If the weather conditions are
fine, I’ll cross Cho La Pass, who happens to be 5368 meters high, to get to Gokyo.
I also chose this option because there is a festival in Tamboche Monastery, 3 or 4 hours walking from Namche Bazar (the
place I’m staying in at the moment), and on the way to Gorak Shep. It will happen the 4th of November, and I’d like to have a look on that, so I‘ll have to stay one extra night in
Tamboche (tomorrow night). Nepalese monks are going to sing and dance, and it’s probably going to be interesting.
At night, we go with Rui to meet one of his friend, a Sherpa named Lulu, who did the Everst many times. He also works
every two years in France, in Chamonix. We go in a bar named Paradise, play a bit of pool and drink a couple of beers.
November 3rd 2009
I’m on my way to Tamboche, hoping to find a room for the night. Because I woke up late, I probably won’t reach Tamboche
before 1pm. On my way, as I feel a bit dizzy because I haven’t eat enough (just a cheese sandwich around 8 am, and no lunch), a Swedish guy gives me a chocolate bar. Very nice !
I reach Tamboche around 1pm, ask for a room, but everything is full. One of the numerous guest houses’ owner proposes me
a tent… for 1500 rps (15 €). I politely decline his offer, thinking to myself « fuck you ». Indeed, as the festival is going on, many tourists are here and already booked the
lodges.
I have a quick lunch, meet an american guy who tells me that just 15 minutes down, in Deboche, I can probably find some
room in a very nice lodge called Riverdale (as in Lord of the Rings).
Then I go have a look at the festival : there’s a mass happening, with benediction from the monks, and a lot of
donations. A huge amount of money is given to the monks, and I realize that those guys are probably way less poorer than the rest of the population
I meet Rui again, and we quickly leave to Deboche to get a room. The lodge is indeed pretty nice, but also pretty
expensive, so we get the cheaper room, probably used by porters.
We have an expensive dinner (Daal Baath, the price indicator, is worth 500 rps against 300 rps around Namche) and a nice
talk with Austrians ladies who left their group to go back to Kathmandu with a 70 years old guy who got altitude sickness.
November 4th 2009
Rui and I hike up to Tamboche to see the monk dance. We leave quite early (6:30), because it’s supposed to start at 7am.
However, the dances start around 9am, time where I have to go back to my lodge to check out. I stay just for an hour, and leave. The dances were nice, but we think that it was probably only for
tourists, as we had to pay 500 Rps to get in, and as there were more westerners than local. I say good bye to my Portuguese friend : Rui is a really nice guy, a bit adventurous (he did Lhasa è
Kathmandu by bike for instance), who going back to his country by land, despite the fact that he will have to fly over Pakistan. I hope I’ll meet him again when I’m back to Europe.
I start walking heading to Pheriche, I have lunch in a cheap place where I meet some Germans. I practice a bit mein
deutch, and they told me that they are hading to Dingboche, a bit higher than Pheriche, but less windy. I change my mind, and go to Dingboche.
The lodge I stay in is really cheap (room for 100 rps), and the old lady who owns it is really nice.
When I get there, I feel a bit tired and a bit sick. I have a cold… damn. I sleep for one hour, and go to the main room,
where I meet a German guy and an Irish girl. The German is a bit crazy, as he did Lukla è Dingboche in only 3 days, with no acclimatization. He’ll be heading to Kala Patthar (a small summit, 5550
meters) the next day to get the sunset there, whereas I’ll take 3 days to go there.
The Irish is also taking her time, and we’ll walk together. After Kala Patthar, she’ll go climbing the Island Peak (6189
meters).
I go to bed, feeling sick, coughing a bit, and on top of that, my nose is full.
November 5th 2009
I didn’t wake up that much during the night, and I think I’m pretty acclimatized. However, I’ll stay in the lodge today,
to work on my thesis, and to rest, because I have a bad cold.
I wash my cloth, with really cold water, and it takes me about half an hour to feel my hands again.
I guess I deserve a slacking day.
So here I am, in the lodge’s dining room, drinking hot water, because that’s the only thing that could cure me and
working on my thesis for about 2 or 3 hours. Suddenly, as the sun goes down a bit (it’s only 1pm), I realize that my feet are frozen. I get to bed, wrap into my sleeping bag with three pairs of
socks. I have bad thrills, and my feet don’t want to heat again. After maybe 3 or four hours, as I was sleeping, I’m warm again. But I still have my bad cold, and my nose is really full of
shit.
At evening, I talk a bit more with Nahm (pronounce Neve), the Irish girl. She’s going to Lobuche, to hike up to Kala
Patthar, and we decide that we’ll go together, maybe to get the sunset if it’s not too cloudy.
November 6th 2009
I wake up early, meet Nahm for breakfast, and we start hiking. The way to Lobuche is not too hard, and when heating by
the sun, it’s even a bit warm. However, as soon as you get into the shadow, it starts beeing a bit cold.
We arrive in Lobuche in the afternoon, and sadly it’s cloudy. We have dinner in front of a 3 people Czech
group.
The lodge is full, with German and French big groups, made out essentially of people in their fifties.
I start realizing how disconnected those people are, from Nepal’s reality, as we are staying at 4910 meters high, and
they are ordering chips and meat.
We talk with the Czech, Thereza, Jacob and Martin, who are also going to Kala Patthar, so we decide that we will go
tomorrow morning, around 7 am, only if Martin is rid of his really strong headache and nausea… altitude sickness… bad one.
Because I keep on cleaning my nose with raw toilet paper (way cheaper than real tissues), it gets irritated, and with the
cold and the sun it’s starting to be painful.
So I’m asking the lodge if they have something for my nose… And here I am, buying Vaseline… to put on my burnt nose…
Who’d ever thought I’d put Vaseline on my nose ?
My cold is getting worse at this altitude, and also because it’s really freezing. As I clean my nose outside, it starts
bleeding badly. At least I just have a little headache.
The rooms are small, and ours (I stay with Nahm) is right next to the toilets… The beds are so small that I can’t fit in
it properly. It’s really freezing. On top of that, the French group is really noisy, and they don’t really care about waking up people at 3 am with their loud orgasm-like shouts (they’re not
copulating, they’re just enjoying the sleeping bag wrapping…) and their deep farts.
November 7th 2009
We wake up around 6 am, have a quick breakfast, and start hiking up to Gorak Shep (5100 meters high), the town next to
Kala Patthar. Martin is feeling better, that’s a good news. The view from there starts to be amazing, and we even cross and white sandy plain to reach the beginning of the
ascension.
Getting on top is hell. I can’t breathe properly, as my nose is stuck and as you really feel the lack of oxygen. When I
finally reach the top, I feel so happy. The view is amazing : the long Kumbhu Glacier starting from the feet of Everest, frozen lakes that seems to be light green blue, like a fading lapis
lazuli, and for sure, mountains surrounding me. Everest and Lhotse are still 3000 meters higher than I am…
We finally got back to Lobuche around 3 or 4 pm… and we are exhausted. Altitude, sun, cold, and walk took our
energy.
At night, we talk about this plan we first had, getting to Gokyo by Cho La Pass… maybe dangerous, but probably amazing.
We decide to get to Dzongla tomorrow, just a 2 or 3 hours walk, and have a quiet day before starting Cho La Pass.
I meet Lulu again, the Sherpa from Namche who is with a new French Group.
So here is the situation : the first French group, from yesterday; is supposed to sleep outside, in tents, and also
supposed to eat their own food (cooked by the dirty porters). However, because it’s too cold, they are sleeping and eating inside the lodge, even though they still eat their own food cooked by
the dirty porters… outside the lodge, where the temperature is below zero. Hopefully the dirty porters have better cold condition. And sadly for them, they carried and built the heavy tents at
5000 meters high for nothing. And the worse thing is that a porter has a hole on his back, infected, because you know they don’t wash often… But the nice French women are trying to cure him. So I
ask, innocently :
« For how long is he having this ? »
« 8 days »
« Is he still carrying your stuff ? »
« Of course, that’s his job ! »
Yeah, that’s a good answer… That’s their job… They are paid to carry 50 kilos, eat after the foreigners, cook in the
cold, sleep in the freezing dining room (because it’s really freezing there), and because there is not enough room on the sits, the sleep on the floor.
The other French group is also really fun ! As the lodge owner brought the food, around 6:30 pm (it’s the regular time,
as it’s already dark night, and as the temperature is getting low), one of the nice lady gets surprised : « What ? We are eating at 6 o’clock ? ». Lulu, wisely, tells her that it’s
6:28...
We (Nahm, Thereza, Jacob, Martin and me), even if we are staying and eating in the lodge as regular customers, are asked
by the first French group (the one that wasn’t supposed to stay there) to move, because we are staying on their table… on THEIR table.
The funny thing is they don’t know that I’m French, so they don’t really pay attention fo what they are saying… The best
quote : « how, we’ve been invaded ! ».
It’s really amusing to hear that kind of things, when the lodge is full… especially by people who were not supposed to
stay there.
Whatever, I just went around the fireplace to talk about Cho La Pass with Lulu and the porters.
I feel a bit bad for those guys.
November 8th 2009
I wake up late, and I don’t feel good. My nose is bleeding on my watch… I don’t think I’ll go to Cho La
Pass…
I meet the other ones… They are all fucked up :
Jacob has a throat ache, Thereza has a problem with her ears because of the pressure, an Martin… well… Martin just
realized he has an obsession : visiting Nepalese toilets.
To tell you the truth, you don’t want to be sick at 5000 meters high, especially if you have to go take a watery shit
every 30 minutes, at night, with minus 10, in Turkish styled toilets... Oh yeah, and because the flush is manual (a big pot of water strongly thrown in the hole), there is a lot of water around
the toilets (and probably worse), and this mixed urine-water liquid has a bad behavior at night : it freezes. I bet you can imagine yourself, at 2 am, with your angry stomach, running to the
toilets… for eventually ice skating on your own shit.
We wisely decide to go back to Lukla and to Kathmandu, and stopped in Somare. Nahm left us to get back to Dengboche, a
bit after hurting her ankle. The dream team is complete !
At night, we play cards, and a half Chinese / Czech kind of chess. I’m feeling a bit better.
The lodge we stay in is not really good, the food sucks, is cold, and the little 3 years old daughter of the owner is a
bit annoying, even if she’s really cute when she’s eating rice straight from her plate, leaving her face full of food… for finally putting her half empty plate on her head. She came to play with
us several times : first, carrying the plastic chairs all over the rooms, putting them in « order » like in a Jenga game, jumping and dancing on them, then trying to get Jacob’s camera, then
holding her rabbit toy with a big spoon-like instrument… huhu.
November 9th 2009
As we wake up (I shared a room with Martin), Martin had this unforgettable quote : « Fuck, my stomach is playing music…
and it’s fucking Wagner »
We have breakfast, and decide to get back to Namche the longest way. It’s a really nice path, with not so many hikers,
but it’s the longest way. So we won’t be in Namche tonight.
On the path, I clean my nose the american way, to save some precious toilet paper. And something huge came out of my
nose, as I’m wondering where all this shit is coming from… our bodies have mysteries, for sure. Martin was right behind me, and he would have fade out if we were not laughing so bad at that… a
real oyster, quickly hidden with a rock.
We stay for the night in a very nice family lodge in Phorste, have a delicious lunch with fresh vegetables, a rarity
around here ! (except Martin, who’s working on his diet and just eats a cereal bar before checking the toilets).
My nose is still fucked up, but after 10 days trekking, I don’t have any pain in my muscles, and that’s a good
thing.
I spend the rest of the afternoon taking the sun and planning the rest of my trip in Nepal, as I’ll get back to Kathmandu
in 3 days maximum.
November 10th 2009
I get back to Namche, enjoying the « warm » atmosphere of the 3600 meters high small town. The lodge I’m staying in has
western styled toilets, at least…
I go to bed early, after a nice dinner and the usual Jacob’s style tea : pear schnapps poured into the tea. He even
drinks that for breakfast… crazy Czech.
I meet a funny Nepalese guide from Bakhtapur. I’ll go there later to meet him.
It’s quite strange to see all the people coming up, because they look so clean and so white. Oh yeah, I haven’t shower
for 8 days… Firstly, the shower is often outside, and you don’t want to cross the short distance, half naked, with minus something. Secondly, hot water is « expensive », and I’m sure it’s not
even hot.
November 11th 2009
After a long walk (5 hours), and more than 1000 meters down, I get back to Lukla. We book our very « nice lodge » for the
night, and our flight tickets for the next day.
The lodge, for a Megalopolis like Lukla, is really crappy… no way we’re having a shower there.… so we just ordered 4
soups.
At night, we go to Tom & Jerry bar to get some beers, because it’s Martin’s day ! And he’s not sick anymore, whereas
Jacob is getting worse and I still have my bloody cold…
On the way back, we spend a bit of time with some porters in the kitchen. They are waiting for a big Japanese group… poor
guide.
November 12th 2009
Our plane is delayed because of bad weather, so we wait for 3 hours at the airport. I consequently learn a few Czech card
games. I even bought a Kama sutra card game.
We finally fly back to Kathmandu safely… yeah safely… and have dinner in a steak house, where I eat a big
burger
Then a Black Russian in a good cocktail bar… aaaah.
!
