What Goes Up... (39)

A hike down an impossibly wide valley brought us to Pheriche (4243m), where we enjoyed the increasing levels of oxygen in the air. The next day, we descended further to Phortse (3750m), a hike on which I suffered from belated altitude sickness with a dodgy stomach (although my stomach may have been rejecting the food it had received for the past week).



This alternative return path provided us with some of the best scenery of the whole trek. From Pheriche, we continued on to Phortse (3750m), and after a night here made our way back to Namche Bazar, overcoming a descent down some very steep steps along the way.



On the way to Namche we stopped off at the amazing Khumjung (3790m), one of the biggest towns we visited on the trail, which also had it's own Buddhist monastery (which allegedly has a Yeti skull), as well as the Edmund Hillary school.

Once we reached Namche, we knew we were at a low enough altitude to celebrate a little, and celebrate a little we did, with beers and cigars.



This, unsurprisingly, was one of the most enjoyable moments of the thirteen days.

Day twelve, and our routine hike back to Phakding was made more interesting by the fact that Friday evening and Saturday morning are market day in Namche, meaning that the trail was jam packed with market goers, and many yaks, heading in the opposite direction to us.



Yak Attack 2
This state of affairs led to our second yak attack. This time I was at the rear. Coming over the brow of a hill, I could hear some commotion up ahead. Then John, who was in front of me, informatively shouted “Oh shit!”, and dived into the ditch next to us. Looking up, I was faced with a yak charging straight towards me. I just about managed to dodge it, otherwise I don't think I'd be capable of writing this blog entry.

After a boring night in Phakding we arrived back in Lukla the day before our early morning flight to Kathmandu. With no flights in or out of Lukla that day due to inclement weather, there was a healthy population of trekkers eager to celebrate, not least of all us.


“The Irish Pub”

Believe it or not, Lukla has an Irish bar, with the imaginative title “The Irish Pub”. As is usual around these parts however, it's an Irish pub only in name, more resembling the basement of a rich American with Irish roots. The celebrations continued on for the rest of the night, culminating in traditional (or maybe not) Nepalese dancing from all involved. Only John was caught on video though.

The airport departure room (calling it a lounge would be a stretch) the next morning was like a big reunion of all the fellow trekkers we had met in the past fourteen days. I reckoned this is what a school reunion must feel like.



Our collective attention was drawn by some commotion on the runway before the first plane of the morning had landed – a local child had somehow escaped it's house and made it's way on to the landing strip! Cue army officers rushing to remove the toddler from danger – a sight I don't think I'll see at any other airport. A downhill takeoff was also a sight to behold (and cause fear).

So the highpoint, literally, of our whole trip ended up a complete success, and is something that I'd recommend to anyone. If you're prepared to rough it a little for a couple of weeks, the rewards make it all worthwhile. An incredible expereince.