Nepal (1981) Part 6

6 February 1981
Yesterday, Thursday, was a short hiking day and our last excursion below 8000 feet for the duration.  We began with a traverse/descent eastward, through the village of Phueli, through Rani Bon (Queen's Forest) and down to the Dudh Kosi at 5000 feet.  The name Dudh Kosi means "milky river" -- the water is a beautiful aquamarine color. Our trail now heads northward, following the course of the Dudh Kosi to its origin in Namche Bazaar.  The river valley is tremendously steep and deep.

A wedding celebrant.

We climbed several hundred feet up the eastern side of the river.  We paused near a little shack where a wedding procession had stopped.  The bride was brightly dressed and appeared to be about 14 years old.  The groom may have been 16-18.  The groom's family gave the bride's rakshi, I suppose to ease the loss, and everyone was smoking tobacco rolled up in green leaves.  All appeared to be having a grand time except the bride. 

Young women carrying firewood near Jubing.

Our lunch stop was in a Rai village, Jubing, at 5500 feet and only about 10 minutes beyond the wedding scene.  It was quite warm and there was a middle-sized stream where I washed more thoroughly than I have since we started trekking.

Rai children at Jubing.

From Jubing, we climbed about 1000 feet up an incredibly steep spur (it seems that stretches must have approached a 60 degree pitch.  We then traversed northwards around a side valley, crossing a short ridge, and descending down to Khari Khola, arriving at 2:30 or so, very early for a day's end.  In the village, we saw a school in session (the head mistress was a dwarf with a switch) and several shops and hotels.

Tea shop in Kharti Khola.

While everyone stopped at one little shop and drank rakshi (treated by Woody), I went on to camp, washed a few reeking shirts, and munched out on a stash of M and M's we brought from home.

Terraces for farming in Kharti Khola

Today was also a short day, although a tough one, especially mentally.  We began in sunshine with a vertical 2700 foot climb up a spur and ridge line to Kharte Khola, a village featuring about four buildings.  We stopped in the Makaw Hotel and had some roasted soybeans (not bad).  Then we hiked another half hour to lunch.  I felt super strong, climbing 2500 feet in about 75 minutes.

We passed on this lodging option at Kharte Khola.

Mani wall and porter on Bupsa Ridge.

Our lunch was in a forest clearing.  Pleasantly warm and startlingly quiet.  But, why notice the quiet, after being out of the city for almost two weeks?

Pema Dorje, a cook's assistant.

After lunch, the trail did not meet our expectations.  I found myself angry a few times.  It's important, I guess, to take it all as it comes instead of looking forward.  For the past few days, I've been thinking about Namche, the cold we should encounter, etc., instead of enjoying what we have.

Anyway, the trail description read "the trail climbs steadily but gently for 1000 feet."  To me, it was steep, rugged and long.  After one hour we reached the top of the ridge where a small tea shop stands.  I bought a few packages of biscuits for Rs 5 (an inflated price), then polished off one package immediately.  As we descended, the trail was covered in snow and slush, the sky was foggy and cloudy, and the hiking was very slippery.  For a half hour I remained frustrated and upset, but I finally relaxed and began enjoying the trail.

I thought a lot about my work and my life and where it is going.  I guess Ingrid and I will try to have children shortly after we return and I think I am ready for that experience.  I'm beginning to view my career at LBL as finite, although there are still some important things to accomplish -- perhaps 18-24 months more will do it.  Then?  Maybe finish my PhD, if the kid thing doesn't work out.  The other alternative options are to work in the energy industry or in the infant robotocs industry.  I must begin doing some research when we return.

Our camp is reached at 3 PM.  It is in a sort of pastureland in a little (7 house) village called Puiyan.  The fog lifted once for 15 minutes and gave an excellent view of the ridge we just crossed -- snow covered and steep.  Now at 5 PM, it's low clouds and about 40 °F, although it seems colder.

9 February 1981
We made it to Namche and it is FA cold!  The low last night was 6 °F; this morning it is beautifully clear and in the low 20s.

View north along the Dudh Kosi

Two days ago, we continued northward up the Dudh Kosi valley from Puiyan.  The morning was uneventful.  After climbing gradually about one hour, we crested and could see the Lukla airstrip through the trees.  I missed an excellent photo opportunity with a pink-dawn peak.

From the ridge crest, we descended steeply on the north side, across an icy trail.  I bottomed out once.  George went head over heels. (!)  And yet some of the porters were almost jogging down.

Two young girls in Surkhe

We crossed a tributary of the Dudh Kosi at Surkhe.  In this village, we stopped at a tea shop and had roasted soybeans.  There was a woman in bed in the room -- she had just had a baby a week before.

Our lunch stop was by another stream about 500 feet above the village.  The cooks were on one side, the trekkers on the other.

Children on the trail along the Dudh Kosi

Broad stone trail near Chauri Karka.

After lunch, things got a bit more exciting.  We walked through an interesting and large village called Chauri Karka.  The trail was broad and newly stone paved.  Beyond Chauri Karka and for the rest of the long afternoon, we passed people returning from the Namche market, which happens every Saturday.  We passed several hundred people traveling opposite to our direction, most carrying partly empty baskets and walking sticks.

Elderly couple on the way to Namche Bazar.

Along one stretch of the trail, near the end of the day's hike, the road crew was out.  Dozens of people were working with hoes, spades, sledge hammers and crow bars to clear rocks and level out the soil.  They were even blasting -- drilling (?) holes in large rocks, filling them with blasting powder, and running a hefty foot-long fuse from them.  As we were passing such a section, the whistling began and the porters and other travelers started running past us.  After a few minutes, the blasts began -- about five within one minute, with very loud and long echoes.

We finally made it to camp at 4:30.  We had a camp fire before dinner.

Woody had gone to Lukla with Nancy Jo and Sardar Sahib to replenish our supplies.  The supplies were carted back by dzos (half yak/half cow).  He brought us each chocolate bars -- a wonderful treat.

Bridge across the Dudh Kosi at Phakding.

This camp was our last at low altitude (below 10,000 feet).  The village name: Phakding.

Mani rock north of Phakding

Sunday began with a pleasant walk along the Dudh Kosi.  We crossed a few bridges, passed some small towns, and went by a wonderful mani rock, with its 10-20 foot face covered in 6" letters, carefully carved.

We stopped in Jorsale at a tea shop for rakshi, chang, tea, popcorn, and soybeans.  The place was extremely neat and pleasant.  Woody had met one of the woman's daughters in Kathmandu.  The woman's husband was one of three people in Jorsale who had died when an avalanche fell into a lake causing a tidal wave through the Dudh Kosi valley.

Just beyond this stop, we came upon the Hatago Restaurant and Hotel, a sharp Japanese run place, unfortunately closed for winter.

A man with a young child stopped us on the trail asking for medicine.  The child had a severely infected ear.  Woody suspects scabies and told him to go to a doctor in Namche as soon as possible.

Our lunch stop was on the banks of the Dudh Kosi.  The water was 34 °F.  Nancy Jo, while wringing some socks she was washing, fell in to her waist.  Brrrh!

After lunch, we began a 2000 foot climb to Namche.  I hiked very slowly, not allowing my breath rate to quicken at all.  Still, I made it in 2.5 hours.  Near the top, we saw an impayan pheasant, Nepal's brilliantly colored national bird, and a lammergeier, a huge vulture with a wingspan of up to 9 feet.

Trek leaders: Woody Underwood and Lhakpa Tenzing

Namche is set in a west facing horseshoe bowl.  There are about 100 buildings and shops with all sorts of goods.  Ingrid and I bought chocolate bars and put them away.  I bought a wool hat and scarf for Rs 95 (about $8).

After some shopping and signing in at the police checkpost, we walked to Lhakpa Tenzing's home, where he served us rakshi, chang, and boiled potatoes.

The weather was pretty poor, with corn snow falling most of the late afternoon and early evening.

Glenn was rather plastered on rum and rakshi.  Yuck!

We ate in a Himalayan Journey's office (?) sparsely appointed with wood benches and tables and no heat.

We've bumped into a few other trekkers up here, but not too many.

On the (empty) streets of Namche Bazar, before departure.

This morning, we are off to a late start, since Tengboche is only a few hours' walk.  Most of our group is stocking up on chocolate and other supplies.

The day is beautifully clear and it should be very warm in another hour or so.

Spinning a prayer wheel on the trail to Namche Bazar