Thursday 26th October
When I woke up, my shoulders ached but apart from that I was fine. I am glad that I am reasonably fit. This can be attributed to my training programme before coming here. For the past six weeks I ran four miles up and down a steep hill at home several times a week. In addition, not a drop of alcohol was touched during that time. I want to derive the maximum enjoyment from the trek and not struggle too much, so fitness is important.
For breakfast there was porridge, eggs, Tibetan bread and black tea. Some attractive young lady bid good morning and asked how I was doing – a good start to the day. I found out later she was Tania from Australia.
After setting off at 9.15 a.m. it didn’t take long to reach the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park at Jorsale. There is a hut where you go and register your name in the visitors’ book, and show your trekking permit and receipt for entrance to the national park. Patrick from Michigan, USA, took a photo of me posing outside the entrance.
Leaving the park entrance buildings, the path drops steeply and continues to a cluster of shacks. A left turn takes you across a long suspension bridge to the west bank. Here, there are a few simple lodges pressed against the hillside. The walk continues through the blue pine forests to another bridge that crosses again to the east bank. Some boulder hopping and a couple of short climbs bring you to a long Swiss-built suspension bridge over the Imja Khola, the gateway to the Khumbu. It was designed with cataclysms in mind and is indestructibly high above the river.
After descending the steep concrete steps, the path was broad and pleasant. It had been widened and tidied up due to erosion. From here it is a steady climb to Imja Khola at 3450m. It was quite a hill and was hard on my legs considering I had only flown into Lukla the day before. I did not push myself too hard and stopped at regular intervals to catch my breath. On the way to Namche I chatted away to Jill from Kansas, and Marcia from Philadelphia. They are very friendly and have trekked in from Jiri with Tania. Patrick, Paulo, Paul and John had joined them on the walk to Namche. Last year they had walked the Annapurna Circuit and, after a sojourn teaching English in Japan, had returned to do this classic trek.
Altitude had begun to take effect because of the climb from Monjo to Namche, an increase of 650 metres. I was tiring visibly when Namche Bazaar finally came into view. It was a welcome sight and a complete contrast to the smaller villages we had passed through earlier. Namche is the main centre in the Solu Khumbu region. It has shops, restaurants, a bakery, hotels with hot showers, a national park office, and even a bank. Each Saturday there is a colourful market. There is a great deal to see and it is an ideal place to spend several days acclimatising. Many shops and stalls sell jewellery, trinkets, clothing and trekking gear.
We soon came across Paul who had gone on ahead and booked a bed for everyone. There was a dormitory bed for me. The warm shower was a blessing. I did some washing and hung my clothes out to dry. I met Tania again in the doorway and we got talking – she is from New Brighton near Byron Bay.
It was time for lunch and I joined the others on a terrace top restaurant, where we ate and drank for the remainder of the afternoon. Paulo from Rio, Brazil, and I introduced ourselves. There is Paul from York, John from New Zealand, and Martin, a German, from Fremantle, Oz. Some meat momo, another traditional dish, was ordered. It took two hours to arrive! To pass the time, I ate some cinnamon rolls and drank tea. Beer drinking was avoided because it can slow the acclimatisation process and cause dehydration at high altitude. I can wait until the last few days of my trek; by that time I will have earned it.
Before dusk I went up the hill to Sagarmatha National Park Centre at Chorkang. You always seem to climb hills wherever you go. At this rate I will be like a greyhound when I get back to the UK! The building houses an interesting display of information about the park. From here you look down onto Namche. It looks like a horseshoe of houses. The scene is reminiscent of an ancient Greek theatre. Land is scarce in this dusty amphitheatre. The stony main street connects a maze of side alleys with small plots of land and long houses built on terraces. In the centre is a small patchwork of dirt squares that are home to a multitude of tents.
A hearty meal of chicken soup, pizza and apple pie was devoured back at the Himalayan Lodge. I bumped into Alan again who was in good spirits.
A new experience is the goodwill system in operation at the lodges. You are expected to record your items of expenditure in the lodge’s book. It is so-called because all the lodges rely on the goodwill of trekkers. Food is ordered by writing what you want in the book under your name. On settling the bill you total up all you have ordered and the number of nights you have stayed, and then pay the appropriate amount. The system is based on trust and is rarely abused by trekkers who are very wealthy by local standards. The prices are extremely reasonable and we should not begrudge paying the Nepalese for their hospitality.