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  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    Day 33

    Day 33: Kathmandu to Pokhara

    April 22 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Pokhara is Nepal's second city, and at 200 km from the capital, you'd be forgiven for thinking it'd be a relatively brisk bus journey from Kathmandu. But no, this is Nepal after all, and the result of the country's crumbling infrastructure was another 9 hour sit-fest on turbulent public transport. Still, we had managed to get a decent price for our tickets with the help of my hardline negotiator philosophy (If Thomas is good cop, then at least I get to play bad cop (i.e just be a bad person as usual, if you can call it that when tempting a Nepalese bus man out of a few hundred rupees.))

    The reality of the Kathmandu-Pokhara connection's shortcomings, though, lie in one fatal flaw: roadworks. The entire route is mired in dusty disarray, whole chunks of road otherwise chopped up, churned inside out, or straight up neglected. It's like if the only connection between London and Birmingham was to drive on the HS2 tracks - while they were still being built - except according to some sources online, a bit like if HS2 had been being built since literally the dawn of time (so basically, pretty much the same as what HS2 now is anyways.) Besides my strange HS2 aside there, we stopped only at what can be described as a roadside services (but not as you imagine it) to tuck into a festering buffet style Nepalese lunch, while I snacked by continuing my craze for cheese balls (crisps, not my poor personal hygiene) and coke (cola, not the class A drug I'd been offered the previous night in Kathmandu.)

    It had been relatively late once we finally unloaded from the taxi to our Lakeside hotel in Pokhara, a city we would later come to love. We then feasted on some dinner in our continued state of then-trek-hangover, before wandering out to gander at Disneyland Pokhara. Yes, you read that right, Disneyland Pokhara! A wild theme park with, name-aside, an uncanny lack of resemblance to literally anything to do with Disney, and rides which were about as child friendly as battery acid, including a Ferris wheel that span so fast it probably had a Euthanasia setting. We loved it all the same! And with that, we waddled back our room where fate would have Thomas about to philosophise the meaning of a stable stomach (it hadn't been a good few days of stomach security for him, see next...)    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    3
    Day 32

    Days 31 - 32: Kathmandu

    April 21 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Right, this blog is slightly in ruins but we will persist anyways. After returning to Kathmandu from our trek, we planned on taking a day to take it easy. And take it easy is exactly what we did: chill out a bit, kick back, order too much food at the restaurant across the street, that sort of thing. Munch down some chocolate. Though I should specify, that's only what *I* did. Thomas had come down with some sort of strange ailment where every time he stood up, he threw up. Yes, really, strange I know, and not a lot of fun for him, but hey, if it were to happen anywhere then at least it was here, where being horizontal was at the top end of the plans we'd made anyway. The second day was a little more productive on my behalf, sorting out some chores, (laundry, restocking, that sort of thing) during which every salesman on the street either tried to sell me cocaine, heroin or some sort of magnetic chess set (I think people tend to judge my character quite differently). Thomas was a little more sprightly this day too, and even joined for a couple of excursions.Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    Day 30

    Days 29 - 30: Paiya to Kathmandu

    April 19 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Day 29: Paiya to Salleri
    So let's pick up where we last left off. This entry is very much going to be about one mode of transport: the jeep. Now, we'd just finished our trek to Everest Base Camp. We'd planned to ride the jeep back to Salleri (where the actual 'paved' road begins and thus might get a bus back to Kathmandu from there) but figured it'd be too late to happen today by the time we got to Paiya, so probably wouldn't happen until Friday. As it so happened, when we reached Paiya for the Thursday 3 pm, we were ushered straight onto said jeep. Well, I say jeep, what I really mean is mobile-earthquake-simulator.

    Straight out of Paiya, the jeep jerked violently back and forth on the crooked, rocky track, causing all sorts of limbs to rattle against the vehicle's roof as we came concerningly close to the sheer cliff drop. Thomas claimed that he felt like he was in an episode of 'the world's most dangerous roads', while I joked that I was impressed with the quality of Nepalese roads (hitting my head on the roof in the process.) Maybe we were in our element, with the feeling of invincibility apparently yet to wear off in our naive youth, even as the driver got out to rearrange the road for the dodgiest cliff hang into the abyss yet.

    The worst of the exposure was over come Thamdanda, though, and after picking up some stray locals along the way, we were up to 11 people crammed into the jeep. Eleven! For a jeep big enough for maybe 7-8. With four in the front, the driver was practically hanging out the window, but thankfully retained enough tact to avoid the biggest boulders in the way. It was hardly comfortable in the back either, with not even enough leg room for an outstretched thigh causing severe cramps for the both of us. Our convulsions over the calamitous road continued for 6½ hours, and we drew a sigh of relief when our jeep did *eventually* turn on its headlights for the darkness.

    Yes, finally at 9:30 pm, we had reached Salleri: paved road! But the uncomfortable bit wasn't over yet as we were told we'd have to be up by 4 am tomorrow for the onward leg to Kathmandu...

    Day 30: Salleri to Kathmandu
    Why the ellipsis, you're probably thinking. Surely that's the bad bit over with, you're on paved roads now? Well, not so much: this next journey was to last 12 hours. At 4 am we were escorted onto another jeep along with our merry band of accomplices from the previous leg: a Czech pair, a Réunion woman, a Korean woman, and a few Nepalis, even taking the same seating formation as we had the previous day.

    I have to say, I'm surprised there aren't more Nepalese drivers in Formula One. Though to be honest, if there were, I think you might see a lot of time penalties for foul play handed out. The driving around traffic is insane! Genuinely insane, as our driver careered recklessly around every slower moving vehicle, pulling out to overtake on blind bends without compromise, even when there was no road with which to be able to. Briefly being stuck behind a slower moving bus (though probably still going 50 mph), we caught sight first of chickens strapped to its tailgate, then goats clinging on from stood on the roof! Nepal is a bit mad, that's my conclusion.

    Between regular police checkpoints, where drivers would race to be the first to hand their slip of paper to an officer, we also stopped a lot. We stopped to eat Dhal Bhat here, ice cream there, fresh market fruit at another place, then crisps at another place, and another place etc. Feeling still a bit under optimum myself, I didn't have it all, but Thomas ate SO much this day. And it probably wasn't aided when we finally reached Kathmandu, returning to our favourite little restaurant opposite our hotel where we choked down pizza and chips (Thomas) and a burger and beer (JJ), then chocolate as a treat.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    Day 28

    Days 27-29: Pangboche to Paiya

    April 17 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Day 27: Pangboche to Namche
    A fairly dull and drab day as we continued to retrace our steps and I continued to not feel great. Up until this point, we'd been approached by several yaks, all of which had moved majestically around us when passing, allowing us to admire them as the beautiful beasts they are. Today was different; on three separate occasions we had to practically run, dodge or manhandle oncoming yaks to avoid being impaled on their bullish horns. Maybe we just caught the entire species of yak on a bad day, but when they don't want to move for you, you either damn well move for them, or choose to be turned into hiker jam. Once we'd returned jam-free to the local centre of Namche, we chose to stay at the same teahouse as we had originally, copping an ensuite room where we were both able to wash for the first time since we'd last been able to in Namche (and god, that felt great).

    Day 28: Namche to Chaurikharka
    I enjoyed this day. We woke up bright and early and gave our legs a well versed workout by heading back up to the Tenzing Norgay statue and lookout. Previously, the distant view to Everest had been blocked by clouds, but a beautiful morning meant we could enjoy the view in its splendour. The clear weather remained all day, and we made good progress on our descent, minus the part where I was attacked by a cow (no, seriously). Wandering along the path in my direction as hundreds of animals had done daily, this cow clearly decided it just did not like the look of me (who can blame it), and swerved its head steadily but menacingly towards me, its horn catching my arm. Still, other than causing confusion, no damage had really been done and we continued onto Chaurikharka. At our teahouse here, we were back to much quieter surroundings and the owner's 5-year-old energetic son, Kaji, was overjoyed to play catch with us using what seemed to be a tuft of yak fur as a ball (it was as wholesome as he was sweet, bless him.)

    Day 29: Chaurikharka to Salleri
    In the morning, the teahouse owner presented both of us with a white scarf, called a khata in Buddhism. The khata is a symbol of purity, honour and respect, and is given as a gesture of safe passage, for which we were flattered to receive. The day's walking itself was pretty miserable in my books though: again, feeling dodgy, retracing familiar scenery, faced with monumental climbs, and slowed by the constant flow of abused horses (and their everpresent dung). To continue the theme of animal attack, one horse even squared up to me too. Thereafter, we even found ourselves doing some vertical bushwhacking through steep, overgrown vegetation to find our way to the top of the Chutok La pass. Once at the top, we overheard the ominous crashing of landslides while stopping for lunch. It wasn't until over the other side that we found out what the crashing really was: landslides, yes; but man-made landslides from the hurling of colossal boulders over the cliffside. The idea here was to extend the reach of the jeep road, with heavy machinery drilling away into the cliffs, offering any debris up to the determination of gravity, much to the misfortune of anyone below. Despite the questionable construction health and safety policy, we passed the diggers and wearily ambled into Paiya. And thus, our 300 km trek was complete! It had taken 27,000 metres of elevation change and almost zero underwear changes, but we had done it. We didn't have long to mull over the situation though, as we were immediately coaxed into a jeep ride to Salleri... (See next)    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    Day 26

    Day 26: Lobuche to Pangboche

    April 15 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    Bleary eyed, and chronically short on altitude hindered sleep, it was time for another day. After the events of yesterday, we planned a later start but still my throat remained shredded from the incessant coughing and spluttering caused by the parched alpine air. And nor had it been just me struggling with the altitude, Thomas wavering between lightheadedness and headaches in his lack of sleep. As per yesterday's post, we had a decision to make: Gokyo and glory, off to more challenging trekking and dreamy views, or descents and sensibility, down to care for our own ailments.

    We decided on the latter. Given the agonising speed at which we'd conquered Kala Patthar the previous day (and without our bags for that matter), we decided we'd best not push our luck, and regrettably descended back the way we came. Rather than riding the ridge back to Dingboche though, we deviated from the path, taking a lower route through a wide river valley to Pheriche. This was a gorgeous section: easy, quiet and vast. At Pheriche, we then found a cracking café-bakery to stop for some lunch. Thomas enjoyed rich chocolate cake while spotting yaks roaming high on the mountainside, while I finally got my fill of burger I'd been craving for a while now (and boy it was good.) The rest of the day, we retraced our steps in the blustery conditions and found ourselves having descended over 1,000 m to Pangboche, which will hopefully aid in our acclimatisation.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    2
    Day 25

    Day 25: Kala Patthar

    April 14 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -12 °C

    Everest Base Camp may be what everyone sets out to do, but in my opinion, Kala Patthar is the real jewel in the trekking crown. Kala Patthar is a 5,645 m vantage point with gorgeous vistas over mahoosive peaks in every direction. It sits some 300 metres above Base Camp and comes with an even more stark view of Everest unlike any we'd seen before. So with the hour barely 6 am as we departed Gorak Shep, we were delighted to bear witness to the perfect conditions: shimmering snow, unblemished blue skies, and the sun's rays gently easing in the day from over the Himalayan horizon. It was peaceful bliss. Or at least it would've been if not for the punishing ascending altitude we were about to undertake.

    As we began our ascent, we were surprised to see other trekkers descending already, at 6 am? That's keen, we thought, as we continued to shuffle our way up the icy incline. Thomas seemed to be coping okay but I've got to say, it was the hardest 'easy' climb I've ever done; wheezing for breath after every few steps and ascending in painful slow motion. I say 'easy' climb because, if not for the altitude, it really should've been. But my god, altitudes that high can be crippling not only on the legs, but on the lungs, and even the brain too, taking sheer determination to stagger to the summit. It had taken us three hours to complete the 500 m of ascent, and our prize: front row seats in an amphitheatre of dramatic snow-capped mountains, headed by its showpiece: Mt Everest, the tallest on Earth. Perhaps ironically though, Everest was probably one of the less impressive views, with Pumori, Lingtren and the nearer Nuptse jarring into the sky, all appearing larger. Still, we lingered on the view out in every direction, and gawped at the climbers' route up to Everest's summit via the wild Khumbu icefall and lumpy Hillary step. Here, we also enjoyed some more enthusiastic celebrations and snapped plenty of photos in the still solitude of the summit. I also got to wave my Kala Patthar hat from the very place it described.

    The descent back down was much more brisk, and upon returning to the teahouse, we decided on the first food of the day. I knew something wasn't quite right: I'd felt hungry, but also that I didn't want to eat. Still, I picked away at a pancake and we eventually set off on our way back down. We'd made it barely a few steps out from the front of the teahouse when I then paused to put on my sunglasses, turned, and threw up both violently and repeatedly. Shit. Vomiting isn't a particularly good sign when it comes to altitude, and combined with the symptoms both Thomas and I had been experiencing over the previous couple of days, we decided we needed to take more responsible action and adapt our plans. We had previously intended on attempting the giant Cho La pass over a glacier to Gokyo lake, thus hoping to end today in the village of Dzongla. But feeling rough in ourselves, we instead descended back to Lobuche, where we'd evaluate our plans going forward.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    Day 24

    Day 24: Everest Base Camp

    April 13 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -12 °C

    Time for a much overdue footprint if phone signal permits. Our experience of Lobuche was relatively pleasant and the night nowhere near as cold as we'd expected.

    Our first mission getting going for the day: get to Gorak Shep. Gorak Shep is the highest settlement anywhere before Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 5150 m, where atmospheric oxygen levels are 50% what they are at sea level, so as you can imagine, everything feels a lot more lethargic up there.

    This section was split into two parts: the first, a gentle amble up the valley; the second, a tiring scramble up, down, forward, and back over the glacier's scattered scree. After a few draining hours, we reached Gorak Shep and whacked down our big bags into our room, before slumping into the dining room for some lunch. At this point, Thomas confessed his questionable condition (altitude sickness is a bit like that, you can feel decidedly unwell but sort of confused as to how?), while I was also showing some signs of being worse for wear (namely, extreme tiredness and an aggravated cough famously dubbed as the Khumbu cough.) Anyhow, we mustered our strength and decided to push onto Base Camp while we still had the chance.

    By this point in the day, the regular afternoon clouds had begun to roll in, and the mild-sounding 2 miles onto Base Camp was beginning to drag, as we again navigated haphazard boulder fields which mounted the glacier. Turning a corner, you get your first glimpse of Base Camp itself, practically a vast city of yellow and orange tents which sprawl precariously all the way up to the Khumbu icefall. With our destination in line of sight, we descended a ridge and just like that, we'd made it!

    We afforded some subdued celebrations, hugging each other and enjoying the 5,364 m altitude as our trek's main objective. We then joined the queue (yes, queue) to get a picture with the famous 'Everest Base Camp' boulder and newly installed Hillary and Norgay sign where we commemorated our place under the world's tallest mountain with some quietly pleased pics.

    As we still mooched around at Base Camp, the heavy clouds began to spew spatterings of snow down: the start of the 5 cm of snowfall forecast for the afternoon! Fearing a blizzard, we lumbered our way back to Gorak Shep, admiring the surroundings as they turned from snow-dusted to snow-buried. Still, we got back in one piece (or two pieces), tucked away some food, and hunkered down for the coldest night yet: Gorak Shep is so high and so cold that they don't even have water.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    1
    Day 23

    Day 23: Dingboche to Lobuche

    April 12 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -4 °C

    We tried to navigate our own way around a lump of earth straight out of Dingboche to avoid climbing it (for no reason other than we're lazy to be honest) and in doing so, accidentally took an unnecessarily indirect route to the start of the path towards Lobuche.

    The route which followed was a dusty and gentle incline, but with the altitude it soon became apparent that Thomas was struggling with lethargy and lack of being able to take a satisfying breath. And it's true, everything and anything can tire you out up here and it does make you feel extremely slow. But after he managed to collect some air, we shuffled on towards Thok La pass, negotiating a half-frozen stream set in the moraine on our way. Thok La was the most tiring portion of the day, another upward endurance test where stopping every few steps became basically mandatory. But once we finally reached the top, there were mass monuments to all those who had died on Everest down the years, while the outrageous view from every direction was joined by a new glaciated feature: Pumori peak. With the ground levelling out, we entered the final valley which leads up to Everest Base Camp, and new peaks unfolded as appropriate. Rolling into Lobuche, it's been business as usual in unwinding and recollecting our sanity at a teahouse, this time at an altitude of 4,920 m. If all goes to plan, and we weather the -30°C night (possibly exaggerating but not sure), tomorrow we hit Everest Base Camp.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
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    11
    Day 22

    Day 22: Nangkartshang

    April 11 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -7 °C

    We woke up at 6 am to a frosty morning, with our window iced over blocking our view out to Ama Dablam. Hauling ourselves out of the warmth of the sleeping bags and into the frigid air, we downed a feast of porridge, omelette, jam toast, fried potatoes and tea for breakfast, before heading out to tackle Nangkartshang. The conditions were once again lovely, and the weather here takes a quite consistent pattern: beautifully clear in the morning and clouding over by mid afternoon without fail, hence our eagerness for an early start.

    The 732 m of steep, steep ascent up to Nangkartshang's 5073 m pinnacle was a laboured one, with us stopping regularly to catch our breath in the thinning air and question quite how we could possibly only have ascended about 50 metres each time we'd stopped for a break. Still, the early morning stillness, combined with the peaceful solitude and grand vistas out to some of the largest peaks not only in the region, but also the world, encouraged our efforts. The increased leverage brought us level with some giant glaciers and a great angle of eagle eyed observation over the valley. The views from the vantage point as we broke the 5000 metre barrier were so beautiful in every direction and we agree that they rank among some of the best we've both ever seen. But how were we managing in the altitude? So far, okay. Minus a pang of dizziness from Thomas at the top, which was easily solved with some ibuprofen, we've been doing pretty alright so far (without trying to tempt fate. 🤞) And so, we sat at the mountain's pointy bit for well over an hour, just staring out at the jagged peaks while big birds of prey circled overhead (and Thomas spotted a marmot.)

    The route back down was relatively straight forward, and after a spot of lunch, we spent the rest of the day taking it easy, topping up on snacks from a nearby shop and tackling each other's wit with more vicious card games (today I'm the curlywurly. 😔) Thomas also has plenty of fun facts on Edmund Hillary now after having finished his book so hit him up for that if you're feeling nerdy.    Read more

  • Himālaya & The Silk Road
    3
    Day 21

    Day 21: Tengboche to Dingboche

    April 10 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -5 °C

    With the night's freshly laid snow turned to ice, we set off for another early start, passing through thick wintry forest right out of Tengboche, much to Thomas' delight. This wooded section took us down through Deboche and Millingo, after which we crossed the Imja Khola via an icy hanging bridge, whose slippery metal panels had my heart rate in tatters. Across the other side, heart rates didn't settle for too long as we then ascended up to Pangboche. Any ascent at this altitude can easily draw breath from the lungs* but truth be told though, it's been a relatively easy day; the whole not-sleeping-500-metres-above-where-you-last-slept thing means that our calves have been coping fairly well (though maybe we've just been distracted by the views all day), especially compared to the ascents we had been putting them through earlier in the trek.

    *Oh, and especially for Thomas who complained about difficulty breathing only to then find out it was literally just because he tightened his backpack's chest strap too tightly (this is an Oxford Scholar we are talking about btw 🤦‍♂️)

    Following Pangboche, the path opens up into a stunning wide valley, where the river torrents under the towering watch of white peaks, including Everest, Nuptse and friends. As we headed up and beyond the conical summit of Ama Dablam, the views became panoramic and we enjoyed the depths of the Himalayas in their full glory. Once again, we managed to reach our destination, Dingboche, before midday and chose a teahouse (which is delightfully quiet) almost at random. As a result, we are sleeping at 4,410 m, which is similar in altitude to the height of the Matterhorn (although comically still remains closer in altitude to sea level than to the summit of Everest itself.)

    After a lunch lull, where we fuelled up on food and I had a nap again, we decided to head up the valley towards Chukhung, stopping at every shop to ask for their price for Oreos on the way. Our leisurely stroll took us up towards a peak decorated with a textured glacier, which we speculated to be Baruntse while we also saw some real meaty yaks roaming the tundra. And that was about that for the day! The views just keep getting better and better, and we look forward to tackling 5,073 m Nangkartshang for our acclimatisation day tomorrow.

    (Also, we absolutely LOVE yaks, they are such majestic creatures.)    Read more

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