Summary of our Three Passes Trek

Trek Summary

Travel with: http://www.nepalhightrek.com Anjan was awesome and made the trip!

All rumours of Wifi throughout the Khumbu Region have been greatly exaggerated! Well, it exists but it is slower than a the old dial up network!

In the mean time if I can get to connect to said internet snail link I will upload this summary of our trip so far, minus photos. 

After a one day delay we boarded the plane at Kathmandu airport and flew to Lukla, and amazing flight with an awesome landing! Take off will be just as interesting.

Day 1. Lukla (2840m) to Phakding (2610). An uneventful day, the highlight was getting on an aircraft to Lukla and the flight from Kathmandu. We where ushered into our first teahouse for a cup of tea and prepare for the walk to Phakding. The first stage was all down hill, this doesn't bode well for our return. We were totally blown away by the porters and what they were carrying. It was our first introduction to the villages and the people.  

Day 2. Phakding to Namche (Namche Bazar – 3440m) This was our first real experience above 3000m and we were coping well. After following the river valley for have the trip the track pointed skyward and climbed from our lunch stop at Jorsalle (2740m) to Namche (3440m). This step climb would prepare us for the days ahead and the constant climb up hill.

Day 3. Rest day in Namche, so to speak. We still need to acclimatize so we took the work to the highest hotel in the world, the Everest View Hotel. Unfortunately the clouds weren’t helping is and all we managed to see was brief glimpses of Ama Dablam. Hint to anyone venturing the the hotel....DON'T eat the club sandwich, it contains cat food!

Day 4. Namche to Tengboche (3860m). This was a spectacular walk through the mountains culminating with the arrival at the monastery. We has a fantastic room that over looked the valley towards to Mt Everest. In the morning we were blessed with our first view of Mt Everest and spectacular views of Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Ama Dablam would become our friend over the coming days.

Day 5. Tengboche to Dingboche (4410m). This was essentially a stop over prior to reaching Chhukhung. Walking thourgh spectacular mountains, river valleys and more views of Ama Dablam.

Day 6. Dingboche to Chhukhung (4730m). Everyday we are walking deeper and deeper into the dominating peaks. We are now surrounded by Ama Dablam (6856m), Imja – (Island Peak – 6189m). Lohtse (8414m) and Lohtse Shar (8393m) and many many other mountains that Anjan refers to as hills because they don’t reach the 5000m mark.

Day 7. Acclimatization day, but unfortunately I had a slight bowel issue, (ten issues actually!). So, it was decided I needed a day to recover. I think we were all grateful for the rest and spent the day reading, writing, drawing and playing cards.

Day 8. We completed our walk to Chhukhung Ri (5550m). Unfortunately the weather was not playing ball with us and we made it to 5400m before deciding to retreat. It was also a very steep unstable walk, which wasn’t worth the risk of going higher. Still, we made 5400m and another stage in preparing for the next week.  

Day 9. The big one! Kongma La Pass at 5535m was would be the second highest we would reach for the entire trek. It was tough for several reasons. The first being destroying my camera as it plummeted down a step hill before coming to a stop 50m below. Lens totally destroyed and the camera in bad shape! The walk was spectacular and extremely challengeing, steep cliff walks, sharp inclines and declines over boulders and rocks. This was finished off with a exhausting walk across the Khumbu Glacier. Our final resting place some 10 hours later at Lobuche (4910m). Without doing the actual altitude gain and loss, we commence our walk at 4730m, peaked at 5535m and ended at 4910m, in what was to be one of our worst teahouses for the trek.

Day 10. Lobuche to Gorek Shep (5140m).  This will be our highest teahouse for the trek and was a reasonably good one. After the previous day the trek to Gorek Shep was very easy and we decided to head onto EBC (5364m) after lunch. This was not so easy but it had to be done! 

Day 11. Gorek Shep (the refrigerator)  to Dzonghla 4830m. Prior to setting off we walked to the summit of Kala Patthar (5550m), this would be the highest altiude we would reach for the trek and it certainly felt it. We walked over snow covered ground as we climbed steeply to the top! The views were  unbelievable. After we we commenced our walk back down the mountain. This too, was a long walk as Liz had initially planned to stop at Lobuche, I am glad that we didn’t as Andrea was unwell overnight and we had our own ensuite which made things much more bearable.

Day 12. As Andrea had been unwell over night we ended up having a fantastic rest day, playing cards and meeting many people who were staying out our teahouse. We meet two Jewish boys Mor and Yarden who have been with us all the way through to Gokyo.

Day 13. Another Pass, this time Cho La Pass (5420m). This was a fantastic day and the highlight of the trip for me. We walked across open plains surrounded by extraordinary mountains, climbed up steep rock walls to find ourselves walking across snow and a glacier before reaching the Pass. The walk down was extremely long again but much easier than our Kongma La descent. We made the decision to stop at Tangnag (4700m). We were the only trekkers in the teahouse and enjoyed an afternoon and evening with the family.

Day 14. Saw us crossing the Ngozumba Glacier prior to heading into Gokyo (4790m), the ultimate goal of the trip. Arriving at the top of the hill and looking down on Gokyo Lake was a magic moment. We were all relieved that we had crossed our last Glacier but also actually made our goal of enjoying the vista in front of us. It didn’t take long to head down into Gokyo and select the best teahouse with our own private bathroom including toilet and shower! Once again, we have made good friends with the younger kids, playing cards, chatting and enjoying each others company (stuff the old farts!).

Day 15.  Our second day at Gokyo and we climbed Gokyo Ri (5360m). A very steep climb that afforded views over the gokyo valley, Solu and through into Mt Everest. Unfortunately, the clouds spoiled the day with only a couple of pictures taken of Mt Everest and the surrounding mountains.

Day 16. Gokyo – Renjo Pass (5360m) and Lungdhen (4380m) Heading off at 6.30am from Gokyo came with mixed feelings as this would lead us to our last challenge – Renjo La Pass. The climb would afford us our last glimpse of Everest and the clouds didn’t fail to get in the way. Fortunately, halfway up to the pass the clouds cleared and we were able to get photos of the highest mountain in the world. Renjo Pass is the easiest of the three passes, while still a challenge. Nothing is easy when you are walking at 5000m. Once we took photos and had some snacks we left the pass for the long down hill walk to Lungdhen nearly 1km below. It took us 7 hours. Tired but very pleased with ourselves as we had met all the challenges and won.

Day 17. Lungdhen (4380m) – Namche (3440m). 17 kms today to get to Namche for a two-night stay. Breathing at this altitude is soooo easy compared to the last 14 days. Waking to a crisp cold morning with the sun filling the valley. Still surrounded by mountains twice the height of our tallest and yet they don’t carry a name because they are insignificant compared to the 5000m+ peaks that we have been waking up and down and through! We have may head up to Kumchung tomorrow, then it is down to Phakding and finally, Lukla.

I will add the last couple of days in the coming days. 

On a sad note I destroyed my camera on the way across the Kongmala Pass. I stole Andrea's camera which is good, but not quite to the standard of the DSLR.