Lukla to Munju, Nepal - Everest Trek Day 1 (2835-meters/9,302-feet)
Kekam arrived at 5:3o a.m. and we headed to Kathmandu airport. We caught the Sita Air flight which left at 6:30 a.m. We were the first plane into Lukla. From my seat, just behind the cockpit, I got a bird's eye view of the landing and a new meaning for the word "committed". The runway is 450-meters (1265-feet) in length (very short), and slopes up in such a way that the top of the runway is 60-meters (170-feet) higher than the bottom. At the end of the runway is a mountain. The landing strip is on the edge of a cliff. The pilot dropped the wheels on the runway a few feet from the beginning of the strip, reveresed the engines and made a hurried decelleration as we approached the top of the runway. Step one of the Everest trek accomplished, a successfully landing at Lukla.
We ate breakfast and started out trek for the day. We immediately started cathcing glimpses of the awesome peaks that define this region. Mentally I unconsciously began my mantra for this region, "I am continuously filled with feelings wonder, excitement and gratitude for all around me!"
Kekam met many of his friends along the way and stopped to chat, giving me some time to try to get a bit ahead so I wouldn't slow him down more than necessary. The reality is that the Everest trek is not a race. In fact, you're body needs time to acclimatize, so most treks stop in Nanmche Bazaar and Pheriche for a rest day. My short schedule didn't allow this, but on the other side, I was trekking very, very slowly, and keeping constantly aware of my health for signs of headache or nausea.
Kekam had a new cell phone and 6-MP3s of Tibetan and Nepali music he loaded onto it. I became quite familiar with these tunes. BY the way, thankfully, the cell phone did not work in the Everest region. I think there is finally one place left on earth without cell towers!
We are traveling pretty light. Kekam is carrying some of my clothes, but not much and didn't bring a along much for himself. His day pack is barely larger than mine. He had come to my hotel room the night before to select what to bring. He is definitely a minimalist packer!
We've started crossing suspension bridges for people and yaks. These consist of two thick cables supporting a metal, see through grate flooring. In between the cables and the floor is some chain link fencing as a safety net. It took me a while to figure out that you don't want to look at the grate flooring to see where you're feet are going to go, because you also see the river a 1,000 feet lower and your eyes just can't keep both in focus. I started looking near the end of the bridge towards where I was going and things went much better. Call me chicken, but I don't like crosssing suspension bridges (2-person wide) with a 1000-pound yak coming at me from the other direction. I avoided that all but once.
We stopped at the Mao check point, which has become more of a toll booth than an act of terror. It indicated that the suggested "donaton" was 100-Rs per day of trekking. Since we were trekking for 8-days I paid 800-Rs, about $12 USD. We got a receipt for our "donation" and proceeded on our way. As a Britisher had described the experience, "it's the first time I've been robbed and got a receipt for it!".
We continued on trekking and had considered staying at Phakding but decided to push on to Munju to make the following days trek to Namche Bazaar easier. We stayed at the Manju Kailash Hotel. We were the only ones staying at this Tibetan guest house. This is where I began drinking lots of "Hot Lemon". You could buy a "small pot" which was a thermos bottle with about liter of hot lemon, for about $2 USD. For Nepal this is quite expensive, but we had started into the remote regions where everything has to be carried up on someone's back or on a yak. I think the gallons of hot lemon I drank on the way up helped in me avoiding altitude sickness. I kept very well hydrated.
At the Kailish hotel I joined the Kekam and the guest house family in the kitchen around the only active source of warmth in the building, a wood cook stove, and we shared boiled potatoes as a snack before dinner. ABout 6 p.m. Kekam asked me to put in my order for dinner, I ate, and then off to bed. Not a lot of entertainment after dark in the village of Munju. I'm thankful I brought my MP3 player to try to lull me off to sleep! I have some Tibetan chants a Tibetan friend in China gave me that can put you to sleep standing up!
Kekam arrived at 5:3o a.m. and we headed to Kathmandu airport. We caught the Sita Air flight which left at 6:30 a.m. We were the first plane into Lukla. From my seat, just behind the cockpit, I got a bird's eye view of the landing and a new meaning for the word "committed". The runway is 450-meters (1265-feet) in length (very short), and slopes up in such a way that the top of the runway is 60-meters (170-feet) higher than the bottom. At the end of the runway is a mountain. The landing strip is on the edge of a cliff. The pilot dropped the wheels on the runway a few feet from the beginning of the strip, reveresed the engines and made a hurried decelleration as we approached the top of the runway. Step one of the Everest trek accomplished, a successfully landing at Lukla.
We ate breakfast and started out trek for the day. We immediately started cathcing glimpses of the awesome peaks that define this region. Mentally I unconsciously began my mantra for this region, "I am continuously filled with feelings wonder, excitement and gratitude for all around me!"
Kekam met many of his friends along the way and stopped to chat, giving me some time to try to get a bit ahead so I wouldn't slow him down more than necessary. The reality is that the Everest trek is not a race. In fact, you're body needs time to acclimatize, so most treks stop in Nanmche Bazaar and Pheriche for a rest day. My short schedule didn't allow this, but on the other side, I was trekking very, very slowly, and keeping constantly aware of my health for signs of headache or nausea.
Kekam had a new cell phone and 6-MP3s of Tibetan and Nepali music he loaded onto it. I became quite familiar with these tunes. BY the way, thankfully, the cell phone did not work in the Everest region. I think there is finally one place left on earth without cell towers!
We are traveling pretty light. Kekam is carrying some of my clothes, but not much and didn't bring a along much for himself. His day pack is barely larger than mine. He had come to my hotel room the night before to select what to bring. He is definitely a minimalist packer!
We've started crossing suspension bridges for people and yaks. These consist of two thick cables supporting a metal, see through grate flooring. In between the cables and the floor is some chain link fencing as a safety net. It took me a while to figure out that you don't want to look at the grate flooring to see where you're feet are going to go, because you also see the river a 1,000 feet lower and your eyes just can't keep both in focus. I started looking near the end of the bridge towards where I was going and things went much better. Call me chicken, but I don't like crosssing suspension bridges (2-person wide) with a 1000-pound yak coming at me from the other direction. I avoided that all but once.
We stopped at the Mao check point, which has become more of a toll booth than an act of terror. It indicated that the suggested "donaton" was 100-Rs per day of trekking. Since we were trekking for 8-days I paid 800-Rs, about $12 USD. We got a receipt for our "donation" and proceeded on our way. As a Britisher had described the experience, "it's the first time I've been robbed and got a receipt for it!".
We continued on trekking and had considered staying at Phakding but decided to push on to Munju to make the following days trek to Namche Bazaar easier. We stayed at the Manju Kailash Hotel. We were the only ones staying at this Tibetan guest house. This is where I began drinking lots of "Hot Lemon". You could buy a "small pot" which was a thermos bottle with about liter of hot lemon, for about $2 USD. For Nepal this is quite expensive, but we had started into the remote regions where everything has to be carried up on someone's back or on a yak. I think the gallons of hot lemon I drank on the way up helped in me avoiding altitude sickness. I kept very well hydrated.
At the Kailish hotel I joined the Kekam and the guest house family in the kitchen around the only active source of warmth in the building, a wood cook stove, and we shared boiled potatoes as a snack before dinner. ABout 6 p.m. Kekam asked me to put in my order for dinner, I ate, and then off to bed. Not a lot of entertainment after dark in the village of Munju. I'm thankful I brought my MP3 player to try to lull me off to sleep! I have some Tibetan chants a Tibetan friend in China gave me that can put you to sleep standing up!
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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