A personal journal recording and reflecting on my walks around the world.
Jubing 5,499ft to Tragsindho 9,612ft
I’m sitting in the lodge in Tragsindho watching sport on a Television, Aston Villa v Norwich on ESPN. Civilisation it seems is looming ever closer. Last night we were warm and muggy at 5,499ft in Jubing. Tonight in Tragsindho we are at 9,612ft and the heater is back on in the dining room. If you include all the up’s and downs of the day we have climbed over 5,000ft. Continue reading “Nepal – Jubing to Junbesi”
Namche Bazaar 11,306ft to Choplung 8,727ft
After the hard work of the last week we enjoyed a well earned rest day in Namche yesterday which we spent drinking coffee and eating cake. Today, we are back on the trail and saying farewell to the high mountains that have been our companion for the last week. In some ways I have completed what I came here to do, I have fulfilled my dream of seeing Everest, and more having trekked back to Namche via the Cho La Pass and Gokyo valley. But what we have done up to now is what many trekkers do on a visit to Nepal. What we are about to do however is a bit different, we are going to walk out to Jiri and the road head. Continue reading “Nepal – Namche Bazaar to Jubing”
Dzongla 15,846ft to Dragnag 15,387ft over the Cho la pass 17,782ft
We were up early, 5.30am for what will be a long day today heading up and over the Cho La Pass and then down to Dragnag in the Gokyo valley. It was freezing overnight, -16c but I slept OK in the tent thanks to a good Rab sleeping bag and wearing all my clothes except boots and down jacket. It was good to get into the lodge for breakfast however and warm up a bit. We left Dzongla at 6.50am, just as the Sun was starting to light up the peaks around us.
Continue reading “Nepal – Dzongla to Dragnag via Cho La Pass”
Loubuche 16,175ft to Dzongla 15,846ft
Today has that feeling to it, the feeling that you have after your own wedding, the birth of your child or some other major event in your life that has been months or years in the waiting. That feeling of relief and happiness that it has finally happened, mixed with a slight sadness that it is actually over. For months you have planned and prepared for the event, the day has arrived and then, all too suddenly it is over and you are left, seemingly with no purpose anymore.
Lobuche 16,175ft – Gorek Shep 17,008ft – Kala Patar 18,192ft – Lobuche
I slept fitfully and not very well at Above the Cloud lodge, this was mainly due to the fact that all the rooms were booked solid and three of us ended up sleeping on the communal/dining room benches. It was at least warm though due to the heat from the Yak Dung burning stove, which lasted for a while into the night even when the stove was put out. The fifteen or so porters whose bed was the hard wooden floor of the room also added to the warmth, if not the quiet! At 5.30am we were up, the porters having vacated some time earlier. A breakfast of porridge and tea and we were out by 6.30am. Continue reading “Nepal – Lobuche to Kala Patar”
We walked for twenty three days on our Nepal Trek. The Germans have a word for it, Zielwanderung or ‘destination walking’. Going on a long walk, where you find yourself walking through a landscape and its culture day after day, is good for your mind, body and soul. As each day passes you will find yourself slowly easing away from the tensions that can be part of your normal daily routines of work, life and how to get everything done that needs doing and you find yourself entering into another, far simpler, better world. A world where carrying all your worldly possessions on your back and setting off walking every day suddenly becomes extremely liberating, an almost rebellious act in our busy, materialistic, goal obsessed world. Continue reading “Nepal – Epilogue”