Melanie and Gavin's Travels

Nearly done the trek - big update

Oh no! I just typed a big blog and then the computer crashed. Appparently a
problem with the power site in the next town. Oh well...

I am in Namche Bazar again, the town that I last wrote from and the biggest
town in these mountains. I guess about 3000 people live here, but it's hard
to tell. When we left here we headed northwest to Gokyo, I could immediately
feel the altitude on my breathing. At 3500metres and over 10,000 feet there
is a lot less oxygen in the air so breathing becomes more difficult. Because
we walked in from jiri and took our time we were in pretty good shape. But
when we started going up the high hills here i had to stop every 15minutes
and the feeling in your heart is quite scary. Out of the 4 of us I was the
only one who really felt it. So we took our time and got to the next town

Altitude sickness is very serious and about this many metres you can really
only go 300m up a day and then you have to sleep at that altitude. If you go
higher than 600m then you are meant to sleep there an extra night to
acclimitize. Otherwise you can get fluid on your lungs or your brain, about
3-4 people a year die just in this valley from it. When you get light
symptoms like my breathing, a headache or loss of appetite you have to take
it easy, if they get stronger then the golden rule is to go down to a lower
altitude and you will usually feel better. So we were good trekkers and took
things slow and didn't get too sick from the altitude.

Another big change on this part of the trek (i think of part 1 from last
time i wrote as they are so different) is the landscape. things changed
dramatically. the mountains became massive and snow covered, instead of
green high valleys with lush areas. It was beautiful in a different and more
dramatic way. There are way more people now, as a lot of people fly to lukla
(1-2 days before here) instead of hiking from Jiri. the trail opens right
up, instead of it being a little goat trail wide enough for one person it
became at least 6 feet wide the majority of the time. this was great for the
most part! We hiked about 2-3 hrs a day and could feel it more in our lungs
than our legs. then there was the cold...

It's cold at this height. And it is quite sunny during the day but at night
the sun sets pretty early behind the mountains or when the clouds come in.
The guesthouses don't have heaters, they have stoves in the kitchens and the
dining areas. So the bedrooms are cold. I usually slept in my -12 degree bag
with thick socks, long johns, yoga pants, t-shirt, 2 long sleeve tops and my
hat. Then I could sleep! The stove in this part of the trek can't be fed by
wood because they are trying to not cut down the forests, so instead they
use the dung/shit from yaks! It's amazing, they yaks do their thing outside
then people collect it and dry it in the sun. they collect bags of it for
the winter time and use it to keep the fires lit. Doesn't smell too
offensive at least but I"m not a fan of breathing too much of it in, it's
smoky.

So as we hiked higher I developed a cold and cough that I have not been able
to shake. It's called the Khumbu cough (for the valley we are in) as so many
people get it. It's just hard to get better. We needed to take some extra
rest days for me but I have been cautious and getting better. Gavin has been
very understanding and helpful! As we got higher up the trail we spent a
night in Macchermo, 4300meters. There we went to an altitude talk which was
really interesting. The clinic is new, the DR is there from Wales for 3
months. they have a helicopter landing pad there for anyone who needs to be
taken away, it lets you know the seriousness of the situations up there. We
have been very fortunate. Also they have a porter shelter. Porters carry the
bags of trekkers, they also carry food and goods between villages. these
guys are STRONG, i mean they carry about 60-80kg at 4000metres for 6 hours a
day. And they usually do it with support over there heads. Photos to follow
in Kathmandu when we get more on our site. So when people here travel in
large groups and camp (which is just craziness if you ask me) some of the
porters sleep outside. If we hired a porter then they would sleep in the
guesthouse dining area. It's horrible they have to sleep outside. So this
one shelter gets them out of the cold for one night at least.

Along the way we also saw a school built by the Sir Edmund Hillary
Foundation, it's pretty amazing in this mountain village of Khunding (sp?).
360 children attend, many walk more than 1hr through the hills to get there.
Others stay there through the week in hostels or dorms that their parents
have to pay for boarding for them. It's hard for the parents to afford it. I
will write more about the socio-economic situation of Nepal another day
though.

And then we got closer to Gokyo!! the mountains got wider, we saw Ama Dablam
(such a pretty mountain!) and Lhotse, beautiful clear blue rivers raging
through the valleys. The yaks joined us on our trails with their heavy loads
of rice and cargo and the guesthouses usually had names like Namaste or
Everest View. the area of Gokyo has 5 lakes and we even had to climb a
little bit over a waterfall at the beginning. Gavin stopped to help a porter
whose heavy load had fallen over and we kept having to add more clothing to
ourselves with the wind and cold increasing. As we got to Gokyo the 3rd lake
appeared and Gavin let out a huge yell through the valley that echoed! I was
truly exhausted. A heavy cold and lots of hiking at altitude makes for using
your mental abilities and a big "I think I can" attitide that I have not
experienced that often before.

The town has about 5 lodges. Lucy and Simon has hiked a day ahead of us (we
had a rest day in Dole for me) so we found them in the Gokyo Resort. After
tea and my first shower in a week i was happy. There aren't a lot of showers
here, usually there is a bucket fully of hot water above the shower room
filled with water and that is streamed through a shower head. But it's
better than nothing. And when it's cold you don't want one anyways. But my
hair was screaming out to be washed, I was happy to be clean. the Resort was
nice and even had a small mirror in the room! There was a sit down toilet
and everything, the norm is squat toilets here so that was nice.

We attempted to climb up Gokyo Ri/Peak on Sat Nov 4th but the clouds came in
so we only got 100m up it. We descended and Gavin and I went to the
morraine/cliffy area behind the lodge. At the top was a beautiful view of
where a glacier once was. I think part of it still is a glacier, it was
massive. We could see mountain views through the clouds. Gavin started to
get a bit funny about me wanting to head back down and when we sat on a rock
he proposed!!! (short version of course!). It was a beautiful moment and I
kept saying yes and we were both so excited. He said he'd planned to ask me
since we planned the trip over a year ago. He gave me a ring he bought me
here in Nepal, it's silver and pretty with a tiger stone. Then in India we
are going to pick out or get a proper engagment ring made. i love the idea.
So I am now an engaged woman!!! We went back to the lodge and celebrated
with cheese sandwiches, french fries and lemon tea.

The next day we attempted to climb the peak again, the skies were bright
blue and all the trekkers were heading up there. The views at the top were
to be of Everest and the area - spectacular. Unfortunately as I walked up I
felt sick - both faint and like I might be sick. So gavin walked me back
down and I slept and relaxed as he walked to the top. I watched him from a
rock outside for a bit and got pretty upset that I wouldn't get to see the
acclaimed view we had longed for. but my health is more important. The
photos were amazing, it looked brilliant.

We have taken about 5 days from then to get back here to Namche. I got
stomach problems in Phortse and after 48hrs of it took some drugs which
fixed me up. but I still have the cold and feel I must have pulled something
under my lower rib from coughing so much. So rest it is!! We will probably
leave here in 2 days and walk down to Lukla then fly to Kathmandu. We had
originally planned to go to Kala Pathar on the northeast side for more views
but I just can't do it!!

Life is good, I am getting my health back and love these mountains and the
people have been wonderful. We probably won't hike the Annapurna due to:
coldness of temps, me being sick, us having to pay the Maoists... But we'll
see.

There is more to say but this update is long enough. the rest of the day
will be spent eating at the bakery, shopping for a few gifts, reading my
book in the sun and possibly going for an hour hike to see everest for a
clear view. Thanks to all for the congrats on our engagement!!!! Love to
everyone, I think of home often

posted by melaniewilkes @ 4:06 PM