Day 12 - Kyangjuma to Phakding

Saturday, 20 April 2013

Day 12 – Kyangjuma (3,570m) to Phakding (2,650m)

Average trekking time: 5-6 hours

I woke up, did my morning routine and headed toward the dining hall, but it was empty. I headed downstairs and found D sitting at a table in the kitchen with the Sherpas. The heat emanated from the kitchen felt good, a warm welcome to the frigid morning.

I headed outdoors for my daily dose of morning mountain air, and was greeted by an incredible sight. The entire landscape and surrounding mountains had been transformed overnight, by an apparent heavy snowfall. Mountains and hills that had been brown and green yesterday were now entirely white, covered completely with snow. Outside the lodge, tables, chairs, roofs and surfaces were covered by inch-thick snow. Trees and cherry blossoms that flanked the street and path were decorated with heaps and specks of white. It was like winter, in Kyangjuma! Kaji joked that we had gone to sleep in Kyangjuma, and woke up in Switzerland :) It was one of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights I had ever seen in my life.

Heavy snowfall transformed the landscape overnight

Girl scraping snow off frozen surfaces

'Winter' in Kyangjuma

As gorgeous as the scenery was though, I was not looking forward to trekking in it. The air was brutally cold, the ground was muddy and wet, and by the time we hit the trail, the fog had rolled in, and it had started to drizzle. At some point, visibility was reduced to a mere 50m. I kept my pace slow, making sure Kaji and D were not too far behind. This went all the way to Namche. 

When we reached Namche Bazaar, Kaji led us down the path that ran along the edge of the town, instead of walking us through the town itself. The rain was getting heavier, and the wet muddy ground was slippery and unpleasant to walk on. While we gingerly picked our way down the muddy stone steps, the locals traipsed up and down in their rubber slippers like it was nothing. When the crowd got denser, I realized that we were walking toward and then through a market. It was Saturday and this was probably their weekend market. Kaji confirmed it. There were vendors with crates and boxes filled with anything from dried noodles and fresh vegetables, to jackets and shoes, housed under canvas canopies, away from the rain.

Namche Bazaar

Vendors selling goods at the weekend market in Namche Bazaar

I was clumsy and got a little irritated as I pushed my way through swarms of human bodies with my bag pack on my back and trekking poles sticking out of it, that kept getting snagged on the canopies. I was relieved when we finally came through.

As we pulled out of Namche, I glanced back to take a final look at this wondrous jewel of a town. The weather remained wet and gloomy, and the trail wet and muddy. The trek ahead would be long and steep. I got restless, and pulled ahead of Kaji and D, just wanting to finish the day’s trek and get out of the rain and muddy path as soon as possible. Soon, my impatience got the worse of me and I was annoyed at every little stop we made. Finally, I decided to just go at my pace and I didn’t stop to look back. When I reached the Hillary Bridge, I decided to wait for D and Kaji. We were coming close to Jorsale and I shouldn’t disappear at this time. It was raining and cold as I sat on the rock by the bridge by myself. I needed a moment of solitude and stillness to get my mind back.

Kaji and D emerged moments later, as did a group of 6 or 7 trekkers from England. I recognized one of the ladies in the group – she had been very ill in Lobuche, and we had met her again at the tea house in Pheriche. All of a sudden, the bridge was jammed with traffic. We let the English group cross first before we got on. On the other side, a large group of mules were waiting to cross. As the path was narrow, we waited for some 10 or 15 minutes for the mules to cross the bridge in a single file, before we got back on the trail.

The trail continued further downhill all the way to the river. I was still feeling impatient and was too engrossed in my selfish restlessness to even greet travelers coming from the opposite direction, a behavior I am not proud of in retrospect. We crossed 2 more suspension bridges before we reached Jorsale, and stopped for lunch.

Yesterday, we had decided that we would head for Phakding today, instead of Monjo which was the original plan. This would make the final trek to Lukla a lot shorter and easier tomorrow. From Jorsale, we reached Monjo in a short time. Monjo was a small quiet village, with farms and vegetable plots everywhere. I was actually glad we were not spending the night here, as I would very likely be bored out of my wits from idleness. I quickly trotted ahead, leaving Monjo behind.

Upon reaching Benkar, I walked along the street and noticed 2 familiar Himalayan Glacier bags sitting on the bench outside a tea house. Upon closer inspection, they were ours, which meant Phuri was here. A moment later, Kaji and D came by. Kaji went inside to find Phuri watching TV in the lodge all by himself :) We decided to have a cup of tea here but the lodge owner was nowhere to be found. In fact, there wasn't anyone at all in the lodge! So we went to another lodge some 50m down the road. 

We hit the trail, and soon I pulled away again. I caught up with Phuri and when he saw me, he wanted to walk with me. But I wasn’t having it, not with 30kgs of load on his back. I told him to go on, and just like that, he disappeared down the path as quickly as he always appeared.

My mood had lightened a little. The trail took me up and down and through several small villages, and in spite of the rain, I found myself slowing down, and enjoying my walk alone. After what seemed like hours of walking, I began to worry. I didn’t remember Phakding being so many hours away from Benkar. Had I missed a turn somewhere? When I reached Zamfute, I took out my map to check my location, and was relieved that I hadn’t missed Phakding. Trudging through the now heavy rain, I finally reached the lodges and signs that said ‘Phakding’, and stopped at a fork in the path. Uncertain of which way, I waited in the downpour. Minutes later, Kaji appeared and indicated to the path on the left. I let him go first as there was no point walking ahead at this point when I had no clue of the directions. We reached the lodge 15 minutes later. It was the same lodge that we had stayed in on our first night here, but our room was in a different building. The room was lovely and cozy and a luxury compared to those we had been staying in, save Hotel Namche. It had an attached bathroom but no hot water, but I was very glad regardless.

I had my last Thukpa on the trek that night. I ordered the Chicken Thukpa after checking with Kaji that it was safe to eat. I had not eaten any meat in the last 12 days. To this day, this remained the tastiest and most delicious Thukpa I had ever eaten. On the TV in the dining hall, was this very interesting documentary about Everest climbers and the lives of the Sherpas who assisted in the climbing expeditions. I knew my eyesight/shortsightedness had worsened during the trek, and I had assumed it was caused by the dim lighting every night in all the lodges. But I hadn’t realized how bad it was until then. I couldn’t see the TV screen clearly that was just 10 feet away. After straining my eyes for some 30 minutes, I decided to call it a night and retire to my room. I was suddenly feeling melancholic and lonely too. I called and talked to my husband for a bit. It just felt good to hear a familiar voice of a familiar person. 

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