We met Elsa for a nice breakfast at the Kathmandu Guest House and heard about her rafting trip, etc. It was also sad to say goodbye to her, but at least we plan to see her again in Paris.
After breakfast, Nar, Shari and I went off to the carpet store that Becky had recommended. Another wild taxi ride, but we arrived safe and sound. It is a place where they make carpets from 100% Tibetan wool and they are priced based on size and the number of knots per inch (or centimeter), the more knots, the higher the price. Shari and I each bought a carpet. Mine will be delivered to Logan Airport (in Boston) in 4-6 weeks, and I'll have Joshua pick it up and just store it safely at home until I get back.
The store is interesting because we got to see the whole process of making the carpets before we went to the showroom - cleaning the wool, spinning the wool, dying it and then actually weaving the carpets into the various designs. Amazing work, especially interesting to watch them do the weaving. It's a very reputable place and they don't employ children like some other places do.
After carpet shopping, we went over to the Monkey Temple and strolled around for a while. Not too many monkeys out because it was mid-day and quite hot. We did see some of them though, and took some pictures. I even had a small ice cream before we went into the temple (my first in Nepal). It was okay, but not great ice cream. There is an overlook at the Temple that provides a panorama view of Kathmandu and all the surrounding area. It is so densely packed here, but you certainly don't get a sense of the craziness of Kathmandu by looking at it from afar.
We decided to walk back to the Temple and we parted from Nar at the hotel. He went home to spend time with his family and to get ready for our trek. We went to take a nap and also to organize our gear. I have a terrible cold and fairly bad laryngitis. It's always weird not being able to talk.
Off to the internet about 5:30 and then to meet Natasa and Danesh for dinner at 7:00 PM. It was great to see them, but the place we picked for dinner wasn't very good. We had a nice visit anyhow, and it was a rainy evening so we didn't want to be walking around. So another goodbye today when we left Natasa and Danesh afte dinner. I sure hope I get to see them again somehow. They are really terrific people - warm, funny and very interesting.
We actually "slept in" today and didn't get up until about 7:45 AM. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, left some laundry to be done at the hotel, and then went to use the internet and get some food and stuff for our next trek. We wrote some post cards, had lunch, etc. and the day seemed to fly by. We organized our packs, put our extra stuff in storage again and in the safe deposit box, and watched some TV before we headed out to use the internet and get something for dinner. We need to be ready to go at 6 AM. Oh boy, another plane ride tomorrow.
5/20: Nar was knocking on our door at 5:30 AM and we were ready to go at 5:45 in a cab out to the airport. Our 7 AM plane actually left about 15 minutes early about 6:45 AM. We flew Yeti Air in an 18-seater propeller plane and we got some good views of the mountains again. It seemed like I could reach out and touch the mountains, we were so close.
It was quite choppy as we started to descend for landing and it was a very unique runway set-up. We touched down on a fairly short runway that went uphill. At the top, the plane turned right into a small parking area for the planes and helicopters (we flew into Lukla airport). None of the planes stay very long at the terminal (if you could call it a terminal). Passengers get off and they unload the bags very quickly, and then the passengers bound for Kathmandu get on and their bags are loaded. The plane taxis over to the top of the runway, heads downhill and is off into the air. I took lots of pictures of the planes.
We had breakfast at a tea house in Lukla just beside the terminal, while Nar and Singa went to hire a porter for our trip. Nar also told us that Singa won't be flying back to Kathmandu with us on June 2nd. He hasn't been home in 10 months, so he will go to his village at the end of this trek. The village is about a day's walk (Nepali walk, not my speed walking) from Lukla.
We had a short (3 hour) pretty easy walk up to Phakding and arrived about noon. Lunch, and then a 3 hour nap (1:15 - 4:15). I still have a pretty bad cold, but my laryngitis is getting somewhat better. I hope my cold doesn't interfere too much with my trekking. Tomorrow we have quite an uphill, and will go from 9,300 feet to 11,300 feet.
Phakding is a small village that is known best for its pool tables. We are staying at the Sherpa Village tea house and they have a beautiful pool table in the "pool room and bar." 50 Rupees a game, but no TV. I got spoiled by having a TV to fall asleep watching for the last 4 nights.
5/21: Got up early, had breakfast and started trekking by 7:15. Today was a lot of work because there was some significant uphill. The part up til 10 AM, when we reached the Sagarmartha National Park, wasn't too bad, but it got quite steep after that.
We stopped at the entrance to the park so Nar could register us and pay the 1,000 Rupee entry fee. Once we passed the entrance, we were in the Khumba area, home of Mount Everest. They post guides at the entrance because the government doesn't want any Everest climbing group to get without paying the climbing fees. The cost to climb Mt. Everest and some of the other peaks in the park now runs well over US$15,000.
After entering the park, we stopped for an early lunch (noodle soup) at a tea house in Monjo because there are no tea houses between Monjo and Namchebazaar. The trail was very steep up to Nanche but there were a lot of switchbacks which helped make it a little easier to trek up.
There were lots of porteres on the trail bringing supplies up to the tea houses in Namche and beyond. Most carried huge loads - I was told that some are 90 kilograms (198 pounds). They also carry a wooden trekking stick about the height of a cane that has a flat section at the top. When they stop, they put the flat section of the stick under the basket and the lean on it to reast. The porters also trek differently here than in the Annapurna region. They go very slowly and stop to rest every couple of minutes (probably because they are carrying such heavy loads - lots of beer, soda and whiskey). I forgot to write that I saw a porter carrying 8 cases of beer on his back with the strap around his head the other day. I don't know what 8 cases of beer weigh, but I know they are heavy.
We got to the Hotel Namche at 11,300 feet altitude and we have a very nice room. We had some lunch, shopped a bit and then took a nap as usual. Singa and our other porter (we don't even know his name, we just call him "Porter 2," are staying at another place because porters can't stay here. Nar can stay here, but he has to sleep in the dining room with the other guides.
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