Back to looking for a teahouse. We couldn't find one in Khunjung so we went to the next village which was right next door. This village is Khunde and it has a hospital that was built in 1966. I was also surprised to see street lights in a few places. There really aren't any streets as we know them because there aren't any cars. Khunjung and Khunde are known to have more money then other villages We decided that we could just continue on to Namche, but at last we found one. It was small, but clean. Our room had a light which we haven't had since Namche. We arrived at the teahouse about 3:15. We haven't hiked this long in a while. About a half and hour of our time was looking for a teahouse. The day was pretty windy and my clothes and face have a dirt grim to them. I will be glad to shower soon and have my clothes washed.
We are at 12,598 feet elevation. We came down almost 2,000 feet today. The walk was neat because we could look across to the other side of the river and see what we walked on the previous day. We could see the trail up to Tengboche and see the monastery and also the village of Phortse that we stayed at. I took pictures of the trails, but I am sure they won't do it justice.
May 30, 2003
We knew we didn't have far to travel today so we stayed in bed a little later, like 7:00. I was awake at 5:00.
We were walking to Namche today and it was only going to be an hour. So we did a few things before walking. The first thing we did was to go to the Khunde hospital. The hospital was built in 1966 with the help of Sir Edmund Hillary and the Himalayan Trust project. Volunteer doctors from New Zealand and Canada work here. We met a woman that was leaving the hospital and told us she was one of the doctors there, along with her husband. She said we could have a tour, but would have to wait as her husband is treating a sick baby. We waited and there were other patients there so after a while we left.
We then walked to a hotel on top of a hill. It is called the Everest Hotel. Nar thought it was built about 25 years ago. We went there to get views of Everest. Unfortunately most of the time it was behind clouds. Now this place is really a hotel in most people's minds and the cost lets one know that. It is about $200 US a night.
The last time we were in Namche we stayed for two nights. It was 1125 rupees a night. Tonight we are staying at the Kongde View Lodge and are only paying 100 rupees which is about $1.25 a day and Laurie and I split that. If we want to shower, we have to pay extra and the shower is probably sketchy--so we decided that we could wait a few more days.
Laurie and I went to the Everest Bakery and had a pizza for lunch. I would like an American pizza; thick crust, bumberg, pepperoni, cheese. Some of the pizzas I have had here are good, but certainly not like home. I went back to the room to read and nap.
I am waiting for dinner, fried potatoes with cheese. They have yak meat, but I am not ready to try it. Laurie had it the last time we were in Namche. She said it was good.
I was watching TV with Nar and the owners of the Lodge. People in Namche have more than other villages. I think it is weird that they have electrical appliances, but not running water. I was watching Nepali TV news and the music station. I always wonder what these proplr think when they see such different things on TV compared to the way they live.
May 31, 2003
Laurie, Nar, and I went to the Everest Bakery for breakfast. Then we walked to the Namche Bazaar Market. It is like a farmer's market. Porters carry all the stuff from someplace, probably Lukla, and arrive Friday night. They sleep under a tarp and set-up early Saturday morning. The place was very busy. During the fall it is even busier. We saw people with cans of yak butter. They would dish out an amount and people would weigh it on a balance scale. There were people with sacks of rice, sugar, lentils, and a whole bunch of stuff I didn't know what it was. There were onions, tomatoes, garlic, and a bunch of other greens. We also saw meat people with sides of meat and they would be cutting them up with flies all around. It kind of made me grateful that I didn't eat a lot of meat. Thinking that they had to walk with this meat for at least a day unrefrigerated. There were alot of the household people with thermoses, kitchen utensiles, basins, cleaning goods. The whole scene was pretty neat to see.
After we just started walking towards Phakding where we were spending the night. The trail was quite busy. We had all the people that went to Namche to shop going back home and porters from the expeditions heading home. We arrived at Phakding around 12:30. We could have walked to Lukla, but we weren't flying out until the 2nd of June, so we have to spend the night someplace and it costs more in Lukla than Phakding. It also gives us something to do tomorrow.
This will be the last day to get to play cards with the boys. When we get to Lukla, they will be walking home. It is a day and a half walk for Singa. I think Porter #2 lives closer.
June 1, 2003
I am finally clean. I am in Lukla and just took my shower. It felt so good to get my hair washed and dirt off the body after ten days.
It isn't even 12:00 yet. We left Phakding about 7:45. Nar told us it would take about 4 hours. It only took about 2 1/2 hourse.
Today is Sunday and all the kids were going to school. The boy from the lodge that we stayed at told us that it takes him an hour and a half to walk there. I wouldn't want to drive that never mind walk it. That's why school doesn't start til 10:00 and they probably go on Sunday because they start their day so late.
Singa and Porter #2 left to walk home. Singa hasn't been home for nine months. He is the oldest boy in his family. I am sure they will be glad to have him home.
So today I guess I can relax, walk around Lukla, and read. This will be my last day to relax. I have stuff to do in Kathmandu and then to London. Like Laurie says, now we have to start thinking about what we are going to do. Here, we just followed our guide.
