Sunday, 21 April 2013
Day 13 – Phakding (2,650m) to Lukla (2,800m)
Average trekking time: 3-4 hours
Today was our final day of trekking. For my last breakfast
on the trek, I ordered the now customary toast and omelet and black coffee. I
looked forward to the trek with renewed anticipation – not to reach my
destination but to enjoy the final walk in the Himalayas .
As usual, the three of us hit the trail together, but soon I
pulled ahead and away. I wondered if my behavior came across as self-centered
and anti-social, and perhaps I was a little of both, but in all honesty I just preferred
to walk by myself and enjoy the scenery alone. Once in a while, I glanced back
to see how far behind they were. And once in a while, I stopped to take in the
landscape and the views. I breathed the air deep into my lungs, almost wishing I could
suck the scenery into my brain and permanently imprint it there. Today was
the last day that I would walk on this land and I wanted to enjoy every step and
every view.
On our first day here, the weather had been sunny and the
trail dry and dusty. Today, the clouds were heavy and thick, the air cold and
wet. The rain had cleared the trail of dust, and the trail was, in complete
contrast to the first day, wet and muddy. I decided that I preferred the rain
and the wetness over the heat and dust. The fickle mist came and went, as did
the rain. I walked slowly, taking care with each step so as to not slip and
fall.
 |
| Beautiful rainy day |
 |
| Porters used plastic covers to shield their loads from rain |
I let him take my pack while I took the umbrella that he offered, as I thought it would be awkward for him otherwise. The walk to Lukla was fast, wet and smelly. We were stuck behind a herd of Yaks on the narrow trail. I didn’t want to hurry so we hung back. When we reached the lodge in Lukla, he took me to the dining hall where I waited for D. I thought she wasn’t far behind and that we could eat before we settled into our room. I bought a tube of Pringles (again!) for Rp400, and munched through half of it while I waited. Kaji burst through the door about an hour later, but without D in tow. I learned that they had already arrived some time ago and that she had already gone to the room to clean up. I was almost angry at the miscommunication that had left me waiting for nothing. But I let it go and silently lugged my pack and headed for the room. D had already come out of her shower by then. The room décor was tacky but it had beds and warm blankets, not that any of that mattered, in the promise of a hot shower.
Ah… my first hot shower in 10 days. This was the longest I
had ever gone without a shower. As I was drying up, I noticed my towel was
rubbing fluff and stuff off my skin. It was 10 days build-up of dust, dirt and
sweat that had literally glued itself to the skin! A second and third shower
quickly followed, with more intense scrubbing and rubbing. When I was finally
done, I was sure I was 50% clean. The rest would have to wait till we got to Kathmandu .
It was 3pm by the time we were cleaned up, changed and ready
for lunch. To celebrate, I ordered the Chicken Sizzler from the menu, which was
actually just mediocre in retrospect, but nevertheless delicious at the time
probably from the long abstinence from meat. Outside, Lukla was blanketed in a thick
fog. It was raining heavily again, and the thought of getting wet and dirty
again put us off any desire to explore the town. So we sat in the dining hall
and ordered snacks of pop corn, peanuts and marsala tea as the afternoon wore on.
I got onto the lodge’s free wifi, and called home. It was Sunday and 5pm in Malaysia , so I
knew my husband and daughter were probably just lazing around at home. We
chatted for a while and after that, my daughter started sending me messages
through Viber text. I had taught her how to use Yahoo! Messenger before, and
today she was IM’ing me. I was so proud of her.
Maybe it was the lack of physical movement (we had been
sitting there since 3pm), or my body had become unaccustomed to digesting meat,
but by evening, my stomach was terribly bloated. I ordered a light dinner of
Sherpa stew but continued to feel bloated and burpy afterwards. A few tables
down, the same English group of trekkers whom we met on the trail yesterday, were
celebrating their trip. The lodge owner had put on some loud dance music and
they were drinking and dancing while we looked on. Kaji bought us shots of dark
rum as a toast to ours. But we drank it the Sherpa way, or so he told us, which
was rum topped with warm water. I normally enjoyed a few drinks but
unfortunately today was not one of those days, not with gas building up in my
gut.
| Previous Day > Day 12 - Kyangjuma to Phakding | Next Day > Day 14 - Lukla to Kathmandu |
No comments:
Post a Comment