18 May 2024
I was up by 520 and so were the girls. Amruta also had
experienced some irritation due to river’s sound. We took our own sweet
time to get ready and pack. Then we had our breakfast and were on our way. The first
was crossing the bridge that is right outside Zambala. This is the last bridge where
we crossed Dudhkoshi river.
Few meters ahead of this bridge was our last check point. Surendra had completed formalities for us. Like Namche Bazar, here they had installed Prayer Wheels activated by the stream.
Now the tedious climb towards Tengboche! It was steep with inclination of 60 degrees or more . This climb had looked picturesque from yesterday’s route and it didn’t disappoint. But the climb!!!
I don’t know what had gotten into me, but I was slow… Real Slow… I had taken almost an hour to hike one kilo meter and we had ascended roughly 200 meters in that climb. Then another hour for next kilo meter. There were two young men carrying sheets of heavy wood, one each. They would walk about 100 meters with that and then take a break. I was taking too many small breaks. This is when I felt ashamed of myself and feeling of misusing my privileged background surged.
I met several incredible and inspiring people on this climb
with whom I chatted a lot. Someone from Australia who was studying about Sherpa
Heritage and it was her 5th trip to the valley. Her accompanying guide
who was a IFMGA Affiliate. Then a group of senior citizens from US. And handful
of few more.
And suddenly, the climb was over. We stood outside the
Tengboche Monastery. Ngima and Gauri were already seating at a restaurant
opposite it. We too sat there and watched the helicopters making load ferries
of some construction material. We had teas and coffees and moved ahead towards
our stay at Pangboche.
My initial plan involved staying at Tengboche as I wanted to visit the monastery. But with change of plans, I thought this visit was not in the interest of our target of reaching Pangboche today. Also, like our second day on the trail, I didn’t want to get into fatigue mode and slow down more.
The route now took us down towards Deboche. This entire
forest is filled with different varieties of Rhododendrons and most of them
were blooming at this time of the year. The ground was filled with Primroses. I
wanted to spend a lot of time here but gave up on this idea too.
Deboche is a small settlement deep into valley. This monastery which is run by nuns was established by Lama Gulu in the 1930s as a sister monastery to Tengboche Monastery. I think this is the only one that is run by the nuns. The route from here didn’t feel like it was climbing but then we saw yet another bridge. Second one of this day and last one of this trek towards EBC.
The bridge is a high suspension bridge on river Imja Khola. Quiet
surprisingly, we 4 were the only souls on this bridge. I felt we were pretty
late especially because of me being too slow. Ngima assured that was not the
case and now we were really close to our home for the day.
While crossing this bridge, there was some sort of weird
heavy feeling in my heart. I hadn’t felt this spooky anywhere on the trail, especially
while crossing the bridges. I kept it to myself and walked quietly.
Like the Indian Himalayas, the trees were still present at around
4000 meters ASL. We still hadn’t seen any ice or snow. My thoughts lingered
around global warming. Ngima said weather has changed from what it was when he
was a kid.
The trail now had combination of steps and traverses. We were hiking between 3850 to 3900 meters ASL.
I had asked Ngima and girls to go ahead. Yet, at a point, I
felt abandoned. But Ngima had kept good track of me. At one diversion, I saw
that poor guy waiting for me patiently. He said we needed to head to lower side
of the village and He was pretty confident that I will take the one which would
lead me to Upper side. I couldn’t figure out a way to thank him enough because that is exactly what was going on in my mind. Once I
was on right trail, he hurried ahead to be with girls. Then we reached the
lodge at about 230 PM and had lunch. By this time of the day, the temperature also
had dropped significantly.
Ngima went to chat with his friends and we went to our room.
It had been good four days hike so far, contrary to standard belief that we don't sweat in cold weather and in the himalayas, my clothes were stinking from smell of sweat. They had also become hard on seams and were causing chaffing. Hence I decided to clean up and change
the entire set of clothes. I went around the town looking an empty bottle of only
to realize how clean it was. There was no littering, all the trash was in bins.
Then I found Ngima and Surendra merrily chatting and enjoying some TikTok videos.
I asked Ngima where I can find a bottle, he went to the trash sorted by the
hotel lady and picked one water bottle and gave me.
I returned to the hotel, took some hot water from my thermos,
mixed it with cold water and went to clean. There was still some
water left so I washed my feet with soap. So much with one liter water!!! I
thanked my upbringing for teaching me to use resources carefully with respect.
Once done with all the chores, I called my mom and informed
her that I would call after 5 days now.
In the evening, Ngima and I had our daily chat. He was very
careful with his words when we discussed our speed. Then the important part that is next day's schedule was
discussed. Next morning We were heading to Dingboche where we would stay for two
nights and then to Lobuche and then the dream hike to EBC. And on our way back
were to return to Pangboche. So, I checked the possibility of leaving used
clothes and unnecessary or extra stuff until our return. It was very much possible.
I returned to the room where the girls were resting. I told
them to take out the stuff they thought they won’t need ahead on the trail. There
were filter bottles which Amruta and I had never used. I had carried 3 sets of clothes
when we started apart from the one that I was wearing. I decided to leave one extra
set and the used set. Girls pulled out a lot their stuff too. This stuff became one
full duffel bag and we packed rest of the stuff in another duffel bag.
Rest of the evening time was quite vibrant in the dining
area. People from different countries chatting to each other and amongst
themselves. Too many sweet encouraging words and advices were exchanged over
the food. Then it was night time.
Stats for the day: 18 May 2024
Highest Altitude: 3916 meters ASL
Distance: 06.76 kilo meters
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