尼泊尔4个星期行。。 完结篇。。。谢谢观赏

yoyyo2000

第六片， 去珠峰路上。 等我下个星期回warrnambool继续法照片
 
Monday, 02/05/11 
We are staying at this hotel called Hotel Camp De Base in Namche Bazaar. It’s owned by Sherpa. They have running water, hot showers for 300 rupees, and a restaurant with pretty extensive menu. They also sell beers, but I think I will stay away from them for now.
 
As you trek closer to the base camp, you will notice the price of food, phone, internet increases dramatically as well. Where I am staying now, the internet cost 500 rupees per hour.
 
We have two trip assistants on our trip as well. Pemba is 22 years old. He has done 4-5 trips so far. He lived 3 days trek away from Lukla. Nara is 25 years old. He has done 14-15 trips around Nepal. He lived 1 day trek away from Lukla. They are very helpful and funny. One always stays behind to make sure everyone is ok during the trek.
 
We can see Kongde (6086m) from our guest house. It’s covered by snow and it’s beautiful. You can also see frozen waterfalls streaming down the side of the mountains as well.
 
Namche Bazaar is 3440 m above the sea level. It’s the main trade and administrative centre for the entire solu Khumbu region and has trek shops, restaurants, bakeries, pharmacies, hotels, post office, even internet café. They use hydroelectricity for lighting and cooking as well as powering the video parlours.
 
We had lots of nak cheese with our milks. We used to call it yak cheese, but apparently yak is male, so you can’t really call it yak cheese. When we were trekking yesterday, Malcolm, the new Zealand guy nearly got taken out by a yak. Ram took my walking pole and fended it off. I have been using walking poles a lot. They are easy on my knees for the downhill, and help me get uphills as well. Also they are good for fending off yaks and donkeys.
 
You can really feel the oxygen level here. I get puffed really easily. I don’t get muscles soreness after long days of walk, but I feel very light headed and sometimes get stomach cramps.
 
It’s rather cold and rainy here. I bought a 700 “north face” down jacket for 5000 rupees and  a water proof bag cover for 300 rupees.  Last night Ram said make sure you sleep with mouth and nose open, and I got all stressed out that my mouth might not be fully open at night.
 
03/05/2011
 
Last night we played cards after dinner. Ram taught us this card game called Shitheads. He won the first 3-4 games, and every time he won, he was really cute and laughing like a child. We went to bed at 9 pm, trying to remember to keep my mouth and nose open while sleeping. I woke up in the morning with a slightly dry/sore throat and feel a bit tight in my chest. Not sure if it was my oesophagus still hurting or it was actually my heart. I took my resting pulse; it was 80 bpm, 20-25 more than my usual pace. Garry the doctor said it was normal because the high altitude. 
 
Today is acclimatisation day. I thought it was a rest day, I was wrong. What acclimatisation meant was a strenuous day walk to a high altitude then come back down to Namche Bazaar to sleep.
 
After breakfast, we headed off to the Sagarmatha national park museum; it was half hour hike up hill. I was really puffed when we were walking. When ever we stop to have one minute break, I felt heaps better. This is a very small but comprehensive museum. It has a good collection of photos and articles about people, culture, religion, flowers, native animals, history, and mountaineering in this region. From there, we had our first view of the Everest, Ama Dablam, Lhotse. Those mountains looked magnificent in between clouds and mist. The photos just won’t do the justice.
 
Next stop was Shyangboche Panorama. It was hell of a hike up. The hike was very steep with lots of rocks and stairs.  We even walked passed the local airport. Imagine you have to walk up more than one hour to go to the airport. When we arrived in Shyangboche Panorama, we had a 10 minutes break, admiring the mountains and try to catch our breath.
 
After that, we hiked to Khumjung (3784m). It’s a small, quiet town surrounded by beautiful mountains. We have gained 340 metres at that point. I felt a bit light headed. We visited Khumjung Hilary School, I think it’s sponsored by Sir Edmond Hilary because his statue was in the school. Lots of the school buildings were constructed via foreign aids. Some were built by Japanese, and some were built by Belgian. I think there were others but I was too tired to check. The school also has computer lab and a large soccer ground which is very impressive.
 
In Khumjung, we also visited a small monastery. It was under construction, and there were no monks. We saw a yeti skull there!! After that we had lunch in Himalayan Panorama view hotel.
 
While we were having lunch, the sky suddenly changed. The rain started pouring down. The whole valley was covered by mist, looking mysterious and cold. I put the water proof cover on the daypack and the waterproof jacket on. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any waterproof pants. When we first started walking, it was freezing. However, the way back was much easier. Even though the road was wet and muddy, I was just glad to be walking down the hills. I definitely felt more oxygenated the more I came down.
 
Ram pointed out to me the construction materials for hydroelectricity and houses on the way and said they were brought in by helicopters. He said this region had got most of its money from tourism. 90% of local people were involved in trekking and expedition related tourism. Obviously nepali people living far away from tourist route are still struggling.
 
When we were walking down, there was a cute dog following us as well. When we stopped to take photos, he would stop as well. I took a photo of him looking at Namche Bazaar in the mist. Stunning.
 
We could see Namche Bazaar on the way down. It was surrounded by mist and snow capped mountains. It was magical.  Hopefully I will have my first shower tonight in 3 days and I am really looking forward to it. Today’s trek was only 6-7 km, but the altitude and the stairs made it hell. The scenery was stunning and made it all worthwhile. I am going to do some carb-loading now.
 
Tomorrow we are leaving Namche Bazaar, not sure when is the next time I can use internet. Will try to keep you updated.
 
Love
Wei
 

dugujiujian

我很喜欢你写的游记。我也是一个很喜欢旅游的人。我星期三去文莱玩玩。 我去过西藏。尼泊尔和西藏我想应该很过地方都是比较相像吧。不过，有机会还是想去尼泊尔看看。

谢谢你能和我们分享！

yoyyo2000

哈哈， 谢谢哈。 等你文莱的游记！！我非常想去西藏！！ 你是以澳洲公民身份去的吗？？

yoyyo2000

现在发点去珠峰基地路上的照片 －－ 第一部分

飞前一天我吃的Chicken Burrito。让我一晚没睡好觉。第二天上吐下泄。。。




我们在等飞机，幼稚的我们全然不晓得等待我们的时候。。中间那个是导游Ram。 尼泊尔人。 飞机很乱，和公共汽车站差不多。我们晚了2个小时，还算正常。。。



我们的飞机。可以坐20人左右



Lukla的跑道。是世界上最危险的跑道之一。。短，斜坡，在悬崖上。。。 爽。。 不过那天我食物中毒，根本没有精力害怕。。。


我们的导游的助手， Pemba， 22岁。很可爱的一个小青年。 他的一个哥哥是珠峰导游。上过珠峰3－4次， 那个时候他在西藏那边带人冲顶峰。。




一路上经过很多Mani wall。又mani stone 构成。上面都是本地佛教徒刻的经文，O-Mani-Pemi hum。 要从左边走。。。




路边小寺庙。。



当地Sherpa族妇女。前面的花布代表她已婚。  Sherpa是4－5百年前移民过来的藏族人。他们还保留着他们的文化传统，语言，还有信仰。



我们团在公园门口合照。。4个美国人，1个新西兰人，1个澳洲人，一个英国人，还有我一个中国澳洲人。一共8人。中间那个是导游。



Lukla的本地妇女。



山青水绿




毛驴铃铛伴我行




挤满各地游客的客栈，大家都歇个觉，吃个中饭



过桥了。 那天过了6坐桥。。。




桥上挂满prayer flags...



满地国花, Rhodedendron。 20多中颜色，很漂亮。



本地Porter。很苦力的工作。。重量70公斤起。。一天只有几美元的收入。还有很多外来的人抢工作。




云里雾里的Namche Bazaar。



山上气候变化很大。
Thanserku 上5分钟前。。。


5 分钟后。。。




你看到珠峰了么？




我们导游另外一个助手，25岁的Nara，已经是爹了。



应该是世界上最高的飞机场。。。感觉比Lukla可怕多了。。跑道上还有牛羊。。。




第一个登上珠峰的新西兰人Sir Edmond Hilary支助建照的学校之一。KhungJung村



村里小寺庙




满墙的经书



一遍念经，一遍打鼓。。



下山时候非常冷，云里雾里的驴子。。




真人秀




跟着我们走了很久的一条狗。。。




我们沿着左边那个小道，走阿走。。。


憨厚的牦牛。。你要靠着墙走，不然会背机下悬崖




本地sherpa小孩来和我们分享西藏饺子Momo



冰冷的河水。。。冰川融化的产物。。



客栈后面的Thanserku山，另外一番风景。。






靠着雪山的寺庙。。。




以后继续。。。。。。

yoyyo2000

第七片。。。


04/05/2011 Wednesday, Namche Bazaar (3440 m) .
Last night after dinner, both Anna and I felt quiet tired. We went to bed just after 8pm. I think Anna felt a lot worse and lost her appetite.

I had two boiled eggs for breakfast this morning. It was a struggle because my stomach was still feeling a bit upset.

After breakfast, we had a steep climb up the side of the valley. We could see the snow capped thamserku in the close distance. Then we climbed up steadily up the hill along the valley. The valley was green and lush with lots of rhodedendron of all sorts of colours along the way. The higher we climbed, less flowers and tall trees there were as well. There were significant more small tough dark green shrubs along the way. A few yaks were glazing on the grass.

Ram pointed out the little lodge on the top of the hill which looked out if reach, and said we were going to have lunch there. The lodge was in Mong. The walk from Namche bazaar to Mong was around 4 hours.

The "good " news was that Phortse (3810m)  where we were going to stay that night was on the other side of the valley at the same altitude, which meant we had to climb all the way down after lunch, cross the river, and then climb all the way up again.

Some sections of the path were right on the cliff. I thought we were pretty lucky that no yaks were coming down in those sections of the path.

We saw some wild mountain goats and very rare musk deer on the cliff face which made you wonder why they got there and how on earth they were going to get down?!

When we arrived in Mong, I was half dead. We had a long lunch break at a Sherpa restaurant. There was a three year old Sherpa boy in there as well. His name was Pemba Sherpa. He was super cute and can speak a little English. He was playing with Chrissy & Dawn, and then were free-loading some momos off them. After lunch we went down the side of the valley. We crossed the Dudh Koshi Nadi river over a flimsy wooden bridge. The river had thus clean turquoise colour and there were  lots of big white rocks on the river bank. When the water crushed over the rocks, it had this beautiful white milky colour, hence it's name, milky river.

There were a lot of Trekkers on the trail. Everyone was very friendly and greeting each other namaste.

I really struggled going back up the hill again and I was trying to play the "om mani peme hum "song in my head to keep me going. When i arrived in Phortse (3810m), I crashed and burned for 2-3 hours and had nightmares about trekking. I told people I was traumatized by trekking at that point. Dawn told me when i said that my face was green and my lips were purple.

I woke up in cold sweat when Ram knocked on the door to tell us to go to dining room. The heater was on, he said.  The heater used yak dung, but you can't smell any shit literally. It was nice and warm. We played some cards. I had stirfry cabbage and rice for dinner. I was really craving for some fresh fruit and vegetables. Cabbage couldn't survive in such harsh environment, thus it's a luxury. I think I might get scurvy after twi weeks. I should have brought some vitamin c tablets or something.

In Phortse, we stayed in Thamserku View Lodge. The owner Kama Rita Sherpa has summited everest 5 times. And he won second in everest marathon in 2007 ( 4:32:51). Unfortunately he was on an Everest expedition, so we didn't see him. His wife was cooking for us.

Phortse is a very small town with 100-200 population. Most people working in the farms and lodges were women. Apparently most men were involved in trekking and expeditions.

Tomorrow we are walking to dingboche (4410m). It will be a longer walk, but not as steep.

Thus is probably the hardest thing I have done so far, both physically and mentally. To ensure survival, I have been snacking on snicker bars and trail bars which are probably that good for my teeth.


05/05/2011  Thursday Dingboche (4400m)
Last night i had a pretty good sleep, I woke up in a bit of sweat and could breathe ok. I had muesli and hot milk for breakfast.

It was a vert tough day today. We gained lots in altitude (590m). The trail was rough and literally on the face of the cliff. The surface of the road was getting rockier. You could really feel the change in oxygen level and altitude as the surrounding area started to look more like a death zone. There were no more big tress with flowers. There were little thrubs, more wild Himalayan mountain goats, impeyan peasants ( national bird). Male peasants were very pretty with 9 different colours in their feathers. I saw more musk deers which were very rare. We didn't see any yeti though.

When we arrived in dingboche, I was knackered (spent). We were staying at peak 38 view lodge. I had a nap for 1-2 hours. At dinner time, I had plain rice with fried vegetables. I saw some Chinese spam ( luncheon meat ) in the lodge. I had those as a treat when I was traveling with my mother on long distance train when I was really little. at that time, processed can food just started in china and was really fancy. I was always very excited about train rides because all the processed food I could get.

I asked Pemba how much the spam was. He said 600 rupees!! Cost more thank two litters of everest beer in thamel! I really craved for some meat, so I said how about You halve it. I would have half tonight and half tomorrow night. It was good, but not as good as I remembered. I also noticed it was manufactured in 2007 and was going to expire in 5months, score!!. It must have been very popular.  Tonight I am going to sleep really well. Tomorrow night we are sleeping in the same town. Tomorrow is going to be another acclimatization day which meant vigorous walking up to higher ground and back.

In the peak 38 lodge, we could see island peak ( Ijma Tse ) and peak 38.


06/05/2011. Friday. Narajun Hill

Woke up with a splitting headache today. I could feel my front lobe was pulsating. And my scalp felt really warm and puffy. My heart rate was going over 100 rpm. I was unable to speak, I had to sit in bed for 5-10 minutes before I could get out of bed. I tried to force down muesli and hot milk, but ended up vomiting everything a minute later. After that, I had to force down a few spoons of muesli to make sure I have the energy for the climb today.

There was a retired yak hanging around the lodge. It was very cute, always liked some company.

Today is another acclimatization day. We were hiking up narajun hill and tried to reach the peak. I was exhausted, I think I made 2/3 way through ( maybe around 4600-4700 m). We saw a different angle of Ama Dublam and peak 38. It was pretty amazing to see yourself standing at a height that even helicopters find it hard to reach.

The view was stunning, but I was too sick to appreciate. I took a couple of photos and then headed down. I had lunch with leftover luncheon meat. I crashed and burned on the couch in the dining room for 3-4 hours. When I woke up, I was feeling slight Better and started reading "into thin air" again. And it brought me to tears thinking what kind of dedication those climbers had or hardship they had to go through to conquer those mountains. All I am doing is walking to the base camp and I feel like death. Not too far to go now. Just a few more days.


07/05/2011. Saturday. Lobuche (4910 m) alpine inn

Last night, Dawn gave me some high altitude pills and advised me to take every 12 hours. I was very very grateful. It was so dumb that I was so underprepared.

I had a reasonable sleep. I woke up a few times feeling cold. In the morning I woke up in sweat. I had a slight headache, no tightness in the chest. My fingers and toes were tingling as a side effects of the medication. Today's trek felt relatively "easier" compare to yesterday. Team mates said I had got a bit more colour on my face as well.

We had a steep climb in the valley. The trail was really rocky with very minimal vegetation. we walked passed a memorial for past dead Trekkers and mountaineers. One of them was Scott Fischer. The other famous one was Babu Chiricahua Sherpa. He summited everest 11 times. Two Summits in a week, he spent 21 hours on summit without oxygen. Apparently he died taking photos for other people while walking back too far(??? Need to confirm).

We headed to Thokla (4620 m) for a break. Then we walked uphill among all the big rocks and we made our way to lobuche (4910m).

I was feeling generally Better but still very exhausted. After lunch ( garlic soup with Tibetan bread), We did a vert steep 30 minutes climb to see the Khumbu glacier. It was freezing. After we came back, I had a 3-4 hour nap. Tomorrow is another big day! Everest base camp!!!

08/05/2011 Sunday gorak shep, 5140m. Snowland highest inn.

Ram's quote,
"look, this is the Everest, ing crazy mountain. Lots of people fief there"
"those porters are carrying human waste down from the base camp. 150 rupees per kilo".

Today was the toughest day I ever bad. We got up at 5 am, couldn't really complain. We had breakfast at 5 30 am, and left lobuche (4910 m) at 6 am. It was foggy and freezing. Everything had been covered by a thin layer of frost including a few wandering yaks. Then it started snowing. I didn't not think I have been this cold in my life.  I had a layer of thermal, and a layer of fleece. i also had a bandana scarf to cover my mouth and face which I had to constantly take off to breathe. A beanie which covered my head and ears. The skin around my nose was constant sore from the constant blowing. My nose had been blocked for days, which was a good thing because I couldn't smell myself.

The walk to gorak shep was uneventful. Nothing looked alive except a few people/yaks that passed us.

when we arrived, we had a 9 am early lunch. Then we headed off to the base camp. We were walking on the edge of the Khumbu glacier, many times on the landslides. There were lots of ups and downs.

The trail was mainly consists of rocks and dust. Small rocks tend to be vert slippery, had to be very careful. Big rocks can be worse, because you don't want to step on a loose piece of rock or get your foot stuck in there.

We were literally ( for real, not figuratively speaking) walking on the top of the glacier. During monsoon season, the glacier will become very unstable and cracks constantly, as a result, no trekkers or climbers will go there during that time. The glacier was partly covered by dry landslide ( which we walked on) and partly exposed. The exposed part was turquoise like from some fairytale.

The wind blew off it was very chilling. Some patches we walked on had gravels mixed with ice and water.it was slightly worrying. It took good three hours to get there. Distance wise, it was not very far, but the altitude, up & down hills and road conditions made it feel like a million miles when we got there (5364 m). We saw around 100 tents pinched over the glacier. We stood around for 20-30 minutes, and took some photos. Gary and Eric the father and son combo from wyoming are the fittest in the group. They  even walked to one of the tents and visited their friends from back home. This couple are planning to summit the everest in the middle of may. You should have seen the Khumbu icefall they have to cross numerous times to get to camp 1.

I think the craziest thing I would do is just to get to the camp. I can't imagine base camp is actually the starting point for them. They must be crazy.

I was not sure what I was thinking when I sighed up 2-3 months ago. I must had been a blind hopeless romantic who didn't know what she got herself into. And I still can't believe Anna agreed to come along.

This is probably one of the most physically and mentally challenging  thing I have done in my life. I think my next holiday will be an easier one. Thailand would be a good start.

Lobuche and gorak shep were completed set up for Trekkers and mountaineers. There were no local people other than people working in the lodges. The only green plants were the fake ones on the window seal. There is no potato or barley growing here. It's a complete dead zone with sand, rocks and ice.

We had really good luck today with weather, the sky was clear. We saw Ama dublam, pumo ri (7165m), nuptse 7864m, lobuche west 6135, lobuche east 6090, lhotse 8516 m,  shar tse (peak 38) 7591m, cholatse 6335 m. We even saw saw four climbers near the summit of lobuche west.

Keep in touch
Love, wei

不负有心人

只能表示仰慕

mileswu2000

真好～～～

yoyyo2000

尼泊尔最后一片，到达珠峰基地营。。。  下一篇 泰国。。。

路边小牦牛，好可爱的。想牵走。。




山上佛教徒堆砌来的石头





冲小山顶上往下看农田。




有人的地方就有pray flags



很难爬的一个山 Ama Dablam 不同角度看。 海拔6,812米




如在仙境



仙境




团友歇个觉




荒原和雪山。你可以看到山上我们走过来的小路




读过Into Thin Air 的人都会知道Scott Fischer是何人。




旁边是冰川。 冰川一直通到珠峰基地。基地就在冰川上面。




荒原，冰水





我睡过最高的客栈，海拔5千多。





美国的一个助理导演，以后可能会很有名



你认出珠峰了么，旁边的是Loptse and Nuptse





基地过来的牦牛们




左下角黄色的帐篷，就是基地了




基地照



珠峰基地




仙境




如果你在基地生病了，要走路2天到这个地方，飞直升飞机回去。差不多要5000多美元。但是天气不好的花，还不能飞。。。每年都有不少人死于Altitude sickness







最后看一眼，我要下山，头痛，眼花，想呕吐。。




下山路过Tengpoche的寺庙

















当地妇女和儿童



终于看到了生物



苦




我们在lukla去了Starbucks。Starbucks也是佛教徒，里面供着米。。






要回加德满都了，看我们开心的！




在Lukla飞机场。因为天气原因。飞机晚点3个小时。我们继续打牌




回到加德满都，在罢工，哪里都去不了。。。街上没公共汽车，没出租车。。



晚上去吃6澳元的牛排。。



最后的合照


拜拜尼泊尔，拜拜加德满都。。。

[ 本帖最后由 yoyyo2000 于 2011-7-6 17:41 编辑 ]

yoyyo2000

09/05/3011 Monday, gorak shep 5140m to Orsho 4190 m
>>>
>>> I woke up 4-5 times during the night and felt my heart was pounding more than 100 beat per minute. In the morning, I woke up with hot sweat and a vert dry throat.
>>>
>>> For people who felt ok today, they got up at 4 am and left at 4:30 am to trek to Kala Pathar which was a three hour loop. Over there, You will have a panoramic view of the mountains, namely pumo ri, lingtren, khumbutse, nuptse, Everest, lobuche.
>>>
>>> I was feeling ill sleeping at such a high altitude, I think I will die if I trek to kala Pathar ( 5550 m) today. So I gave it a miss. I could feel the pulsing in my scalp. And I had trouble keeping my breakfast down. I was very happy to decent after breakfast. As we were coming down, I felt a lot better.
>>>
>>> Today was very cold, when Dawn was on kala Pathar, her braids were frozen. It was snowing for a little bit. As we went down by 2-300 metres, we started to see more signs of life. There were blue himalayan primeras here and there, thick shrubs/fungi growing near the clear creek. When we reached pheriche (4240 m), we even saw normal local people with their dogs and yaks. Children were playing in the yard.
>>>
>>> There was also a High altitude clinic there. The doctors were volunteers from all over the world. The clinic had a helicopter to deliver patients to Kathmandu. However, the flight is weather dependent. Sometimes, patients with severe altitude sickness can die up here if stranded. We saw a dramatic rescue of a little Japanese female trekker. Her legs were like jellies dragging on the ground when they carried her onto the helicopter. Ram said it happened to Japanese a lot because they didn't complain. When they started complain, it was usually too late to do anything. Today's weather was good, so she got to go to Kathmandu immediately.  A flight like thus can cost you 5-7 grand. I guess life is priceless, especially if you are stuck in a place like this ( it will take us 2-3 days to walk to Lukla to fly back to Kathmandu ). You can also fly from a place near Namche bazaar which is a day walk away which include 1-2 hours up a very long stone stairs.
>>>
>>> The clinic treats 1/3 trekkers and 2/3 local porters ( some of them didn't acclimatize probably because they wanted to earn more money).
>>>
>>> I think it's very lucky it was not one of us who got carried on that helicopter. The altitude illness seemed so real and close when you actually see someone got carried onto the chopper. Ram said you don't joke to the altitude. My eyes were a bit moist at that moment. I was just glad I felt a lot better.
>>>
>>> We had lunch in Thokla (4620 m). After that it was all gentle downhill. The scenery was getting greener. When we reached Orsho (4190 m), we are going to spend the night here.
>>>
>>> As more oxygen started to reach my brain, I started to think how the hell I ended up here. There are many other nice treks around Nepal with more oxygen. I think now I can say I have been to the EBC and I am not in a hurry to go back. Most of the time I bad a throbbing headache and had very little chance to look away from the path I was walking on because distraction could be dangerous. Occasionally I look up and have a look at my surroundings, took a few photos. I think the yaks probably saw more than I did even though they had their heads down most of the time.
>>>
>>> 10/05/2011. Tuesday  Orsho--> Namche bazaar
>>> My colorful dreams had returned last night. In my dreams, the city streets were packed with aladin style castles, everyone were dancing in circles with glamour gold laced genie style fat pants, tall hats and silk veils. There was ocean too, lots of brave souls were surfing 20 m tall waves with dolphins.
>>>
>>> Colour has returned to my lips and nails as well. It was really good to see lots of Himalayan primera and rhodedendron and hear birds sing again.
>>>
>>> I nearly got run into by a donkey today. Today's 6-7hour walk was mainly downhill with a few steep uphill climbs.
>>>
>>> We were asking Ram about nepal's politics. He said there were more than 30 political parties and more than 600 MPs. It was very chaotic and they couldn't agree on anything. Ram has two sons, 15 and 17. He said if they wanted to go to college, he will support them. They are mad about soccer. Ram is going to work for another 4-5 years then he is planning to retire. He already bought a large piece of land in Terai area for farming barley, buckwheat etc. But he said it can get very very hot in summer and very very cold in winter there. Also, there are many Indian criminals there kidnapping nepalese and asks for ramson there. He is going home for 2-3 months after this trip. He has done EBC more than 20 times, but he said everytime was different. He said Nepal is a very small country, but the more he walked, the bigger he felt the country was. He said china is 70 times bigger than Nepal. Ram must be doing very well by local standard.
>>>
>>> Pemba, our 25 year old assistant, is going to run EBC to Lukla marathon after our trip which is crazy. The winner priZe is 1000 dollars. The GDP per capita is around 1400 dollars. The prize seems to be very appealing.
>>>
>>> We went through Tengboche (3860 m) in the morning. It had a very impressive German bakery with expresso coffee machine, microwave and fridge! I had a cinnamon roll, not bad at all!! However it caused me a bit heartburn later on. We also visited a nyingmapa Tibetan monastery there as well. Not puja time, so it was pretty quiet, we wandered around and took some photos.
>>>
>>> We had lunch in Thamsherku lodge (3550m) in Kyangjuma. I had my first apple in two weeks for 150 rupees. Delicious.
>>>
>>> I didn't have much appetite to discuss the food I had been having because sometimes they didn't stay in my stomach very long. Eating was more like a survival skill. You need to make sure you eat enough to walk 5-7 hours the next day, but not something that can upset your stomach. Normally, I felt exhausted and sleepy right after dinner. I had developed some skills to sit there napping for 1-2 hours to keep the food down while people were talking, laughing and playing cards around me. The food I had most frequent was sherpa's stew. It was different wherever we went. Ram warned us not to eat meat in the mountains because they could be unhygienic. So we were vegetarian for around ten days.
>>>
>>> Most Nepali people living in these area are buddhists. They keep their animals because they are very useful. They keep yaks and donkeys for transport, naks for milk/cheese, chicken for eggs. They don't slaughter the animals because they are buddhists. If occasionally they need to, they might hire someone from other area to do the dirty deeds or transport meat from other towns via porters which could potentially take days. That's why the guide said it could be unhygienic because you are not sure how old the meat is.
>>>
>>> I have seen a few old wondering retired yaks around the lodges before and people treated them like pets.
>>>
>>> Back to sherpa's stew, it's basically a type of slightly spicy soup whatever the kitchen can find things to throw in, potatoes, garlic, sometimes pasta, noodles, leftover momo skins, rice. It can be very hearty on a cold day and good for upset stomach. You can also have it with chipati or Tibetan bread.
>>>
>>> I also had fried noodles with vegetables a few times as well. The vegetables tasted really good but not enough in quantity. The noodles were good for carb- loading.
>>>
>>> I didn't have any momos on the road because I knew it won't be as good as garden kitchen in Boudha ( sad face ). And I am not that into pizza for comfort food either.
>>>
>>> The menus were very extensive most of the time. The higher you go, more expensive the food are.
>>>
>>> Another popular item is Dahl baat, literally meaning lentil and rice. Basically you get a big plate of rice with vegetable curry and Dahl soup. The Dahl soup is very runny compared to Indian Dahl. You basically put the Dahl soup on top of your rice and mix it together. In the city you can also get salted spinach and chicken curry as well. It's a big hearty meal because kitchen can always top it up free of charge. I had it probably 1-2 times. Drink wise, I have been trying to use iodine tablets to purify local spring water. You can generate a lot of rubbish by drinking bottled water in the mountains. Unfortunately in our last stop gorak shep, the local water was really muddy. Even the tablets were not doing any good. I ended up buying 3-4 bottles of 1 litre water in one night because the medications I was taking for altitude was a string diuretic as well. Each bottle costed me 310 rupees, which is almost more expensive than beer in Kathmandu.
>>>
>>> I know I kept talking about Money because I am running low from unexpected down jacket purchase in Namche, international phone calls, very expensive Internet and bottled water. And I have left my bloody credit cards back in the security safe in Kathmandu. Because I couldn't sell back my down jacket, I gave it to Pemba. I don't think i will use it again in Australia anyway. I think he is happy.
>>>
>>> I had egg noodle soup and fried veg for dinner. Exactly what I wanted. Yum. Obviously my appetite came back.
>>>
>>> We got room upgrade today from 200 rupees room to 1400 rupees room for free because of low season!! We had private toilet and hot shower. Fancy!! Our first shower in 8 days!!!! We smelt very nice after that.
>>>
>>> Ram told me a former Nepali prime minister died today (?) attempting to climb the Everest. He was 80 year old and died around camp 2!!?!? How is that!?
>>>
>>> Last night I asked Anna, are my teeth yellow from vomiting? She took a look at them and said yes. I thought she was joking and laughed it off. Today after my first shower in 7-8 days, I had a good look at myself in the mirror. My skin looked red and raw around my nose, and it was very dry. My sclera looked grey, and my teeth were yellow!! My 21 ( 9 for my American dental friends ) especially!!! I think it was from too much sugar, black tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, snicker bars, lack of brushing and too much vomitting!! Devastated!!!!  I don't think I am going to smile in thailand or tell people that I am a dentists. Good news was my heart rate was back to 60 pbm at 3440m.
>>>
>>>
>>> 11/02011 Wednesday Phakding 2610m
>>>
>>> Today's walk was relatively painless. We had a late breakfast at 8 am. I had porridge with honey.
>>>
>>> After that had an four hour nepali flat walk up and down the hills. We went through five suspension bridges and reached Bengkar 2630m for lunch. We had lunch in waterfall lodge which was right in front of a small waterfall.
>>>
>>> It was too cold to sit outside so we dined in. When we were walking, I saw lots of familiar lush green vegetables in the farms, spinach, garlic shoots, cabbage and many I couldn't name. I had this sudden cravings for veg right there and wanted it for lunch. So in waterfall lodge, I ordered plain rice with fried veg and omelet. The fresh veg was really refreshing. After lunch, we walked another hour uphill to Phakding (2610 m). We got a nicer room with private bathroom this time, and my health had pretty much recovered except my teeth. Tomorrow we are walking to Lukla!! Can't wait!!!
>>>
>>> People have been telling me my face has been going through the colour of the rainbow through out the trip.
>>>
>>> Btw, this morning, when we were walking, a few little girls aged around 6-7 were walking to school as well. One of them asked me in English " excuse me? What time is it?" I said "9 40, are you Late for school?" and she said no. Apparently they start at ten that day.
>>>
>>> I talked to Pemba a bit more on the road today. He has three brothers. The oldest is 38, a guide for expeditions. He has summited the everest twice and now is in a expedition to summit the everest from Tibet's side at this moment. He said from Tibet side is easier because you don't need to walk so many days. His second brother is working in hotel management in Saudi. And third brother is 16, a monk in Copan monastery. He also has 3 sisters. One is working in hospital and the other two are still studying. The one I visited in Kathmandu!  He has done 11-12 trips this season. This is his last trip this season. After this, he will run the himalayan marathon,  then he is going to an English coaching college in Boudha area for 2-3 months. He said his speaking and listening is ok, but he can't really write, so he will improve on that hopefully.
>>>
>>>
>>> 12/05/2011 thursday Lukla 2840m.
>>>
>>> Today's three hour walk up to Lukla was very pleasant. There were lots of porters on the road today because there was a Thursday market in Lukla.
>>>
>>> The porters are amazing. Many of them were carrying loads between 70- 100km. They were walking on trails/paths we were walking on, sharing with the donkeys and yaks. Some of them looked barely 15-16 years of age. It's a really tough life. And the tourism industry or local industry heavily depended on them because they are like the cars and trucks in the mountains.
>>>
>>> When we arrived in Lukla, the sky was spitting a little bit. The air was nice and fresh with a hint of jet fuel from the airport. Every body was pleased that our walking days were finally over. Lukla feels like a very big established town compare to all the other towns we have been to. When we first passed, I didn't have much time to explore because I was sick. This time, I walked around the main street. It was dotted with tourist shops, bakeries, Internet cafes and a starbucks with free wifi. Unfortunately I did not have my iPhone with me at the time.
>>>
>>> We settled in Mera restaurant and lodge and had lunch. Then we played some pool downstairs in the pub. All the travelers left funny messenges on the wall. There was even an Aussie flag hanging! The dj was not so good, he kept playing music that you suppose to play when you want your guest to leave.
>>>
>>> We had our last meal with the porters, assistants and guide. We gave them the tips and picked up the tab to say thank you. The porters we had were very small framed. They were probably lighter than me. Yet they were carrying bags that's almost their size. They ate all over 20 years old, but they looked barely 16 years old.
>>>
>>> Apparently Pemba used to be a porter for 4-5 years.
>>>
>>> Nara will go to guide school after this trip. He wants to own his own business one day.
>>>
>>>
>>> 13/05/2011.  Lukla. --> kathmandu
>>>
>>> Today was the day we flew back to kathmandu. We got to the airport at 6 am, the plane was delayed by a few hours due to bad weather in Kathmandu. We played some cards, read some books and had hot chocolate. I was hoping we could be flying today because Ram said there was once he was delayed by 5 days. Lukla is one of the most dangerous airport in the world with very short steep runway. When our plane finally arrived, we were all cheering.
>>>
>>> Luckily the take off was very short. Felt like we were going down a roller coaster and suddenly we were in be air. We were flying among the clouds and we could see the tips of many snow capped mountains.  It's very different from Australia where the land is so flat.
>>>
>>> When we arrived in Kathmandu. The weather was nice and hot, and the air was not too smoggy. Then we realized the strike was on Again!!! there was no cars on the street except tourist buses. There were road blocks and demonstrations.
>>>
>>> Our plan to go to patan and pashipati was impossible without taxi. We wanted to rent a pushbike, but they were all rented out. I guess everyone had the same idea.
>>>
>>> We had lunch in this small Tibetan family restaurant first. It's called yangling. The momos and thenthuk were so good and so cheap. We were used to paying 300-400 rupees for main meals on the trail, now we were really surprised when the main meal was less than 100 rupees!!
>>>
>>> We decided to walk to monkey temple ( swayambhunath) instead. We had a map but it was still a bit tricky because there was actually no road names. After asking multiple locals and walked through a few back street, rubbish dumps, farm lands, we finally made it. There were a lot of little kids on the street, playing with half constructed big water pipes, running around, doing back flips, all sorts of crazy things. Every time we walked passed, they were waving at us and saying hello. I guess no school for them today because the strike as well.
>>>
>>> There were quite a few tourists and monkeys at monkey temple today. It was a very sweaty walk up the 300 stairs, but I guess we were all pretty used to it. When we got up there. We had an awesome view of Kathmandu valley. The visibility was really good due to good weather and lack of traffic (air population ). We stayed around for 20-30 minutes then came back. It was a nice walk along empty streets.
>>>
>>> When we got home, Anna checked the tickets. We are actually flying to Bangkok tomorrow. Actually I thought we were going the the day after.
>>>
>>> I was slight upset because I am not really to say goodbye to Nepal yet. I guess it's a very good thing we are not missing the plane by 24 hours.
>>>
>>> Dinner was the last chance that our team dined together with Ram. We went to Rum Doodle bar and restaurant. Rum Doodle was a book that's a parody of the conquest of the everest. The story of how they summited this 40,000 feet mountain was actually believed by many people until it was proven a hoax. If you have summited the Everest, you can eat free for life here. After each trekking teams come back to town, they would all go there and sign their name and write funny things on one big paper foot print and the restaurant would hang it up. We did the same. We had lots of food and beer. The steak was pretty good but different. We said our goodbyes. It was quite said really. I think we will keep in touch by emails and facebook.
>>>
>>> I bought some CDs and DVDs to take home as well. Some Tibetan Buddhist chant, folk music, two movies called Unmistaken child and himalaya.
>>>
>>> Nepal is such a beautiful place. I am very sad to leave. It definitely has its flaws and it was very difficult to walk around the mountains :p I love its people, culture and food! I think I will come again in the future, and maybe will do a different route.
>>>
>>> Namaste Nepal!
>>>
>>> Here we come Thailand!

老猫晒太阳

看来上高原还是挺辛苦的，我考虑一下。-__-b

hr6970

我还是喜欢舒服点的旅程，去高原太辛苦了，我只有羡慕的份。

accounts2010

cocowhite

原帖由 老猫晒太阳 于 2011-7-6 18:18 发表
看来上高原还是挺辛苦的，我考虑一下。-__-b

有的人看上去弱不禁风的，像我这样的，上了高原一点反应都没有；还有些大块头，出发前信誓旦旦的，结果才海拔3千多就开始头晕脑花。所以其实不可怕的，去去就知道了。

老猫晒太阳

貌似体重越轻的反应会越小一些，女的普遍会比男的要好一些。

hr6970

那我要积极减肥，争取去高原。

mileswu2000

很荒凉.....

jgz1918

好蓝的天，非常美，我在海拔3000米没有任何高原反应，lz的英文真好，很羡慕，出去我连中文都懒得写，别说用英文纪录了，汗颜

蛋挞

哇～～好羡慕
学生时候的梦想

yoyyo2000

刚刚看了ABC星期二的foreign correspondence。。
讲Himalayan region的。。。我去过里面的小镇和寺庙。。美好的回忆阿

Fernando

原帖由 cocowhite 于 2011-7-6 21:52 发表

有的人看上去弱不禁风的，像我这样的，上了高原一点反应都没有；还有些大块头，出发前信誓旦旦的，结果才海拔3千多就开始头晕脑花。所以其实不可怕的，去去就知道了。

强壮的人高原反应也许来得快一点，但是也更抗得住，适应了以后体能很快就恢复了

danny1

羡慕lz

earlybirdleo

世界真奇妙

les_fleurs

在悉尼遇到的尼泊尔人都很好，不像阿*。。。

flyt

太精彩了，可惜今天没分了。

autrant

顶！难得在足迹看到这类的游记！

bcfc489

好帖

autrant

想请教楼主，尼泊尔徒步不请向导和背夫是否允许？

xianren50

好贴留着。

pangpang

yoyyo2000 发表于 2011-6-26 17:51
毫巴。。。大家一定要的花。。我就发吧。。大多数都是iphone上快速打的。。。 语法拼写， 就不要批了。。。 ...

八卦一下
Julian 是LZ的另一半
看到LZ南美的贴里有Julian
LZ写得挺严谨，我几乎挑不出语法错误

pangpang

yoyyo2000 发表于 2011-7-2 08:02
第六片， 去珠峰路上。 等我下个星期回warrnambool继续法照片
 
Monday, 02/05/11 

'We went to bed at 9 pm, trying to remember to keep my mouth and nose open while sleeping' -

I am not sure if i could fall asleep when my mouth and nose are open
did you feel dry throat ?