A Good Trek…a wonderful time in Nepal

By Scott H Delisi 

US Ambassador to Nepal 

We hit the day´s‚ and the trek´s‚ highest point of 13‚000 feet. And just as we did‚ the clouds parted‚ the sun broke through‚ and there before us was Everest
The US Ambassador Scott H DeLisi got a chance to see a unique part of Nepal, learn more about the Sherpa culture and, in particular, experience something truly special with the people of Pangboche. In May this year.Here are the excerpts from his travelogue on facebook.

Day 1
Landing in Lukla is like being transported to a different world. The air is pure, the pace measured, and life is, quite simply, different. No automobiles, no buses, no trucks, no motorcycles… none.

After a quick cup of tea, and a few deep breaths of the clean, but thinner air at 9,100 feet (2,800 metres or so), our group prepared to set off. As we moved out of town, down the path that sloped sharply downwards, we had our first challenge. My wife Leija lost her footing and tumbled. In the battle between her forehead and the rock that filled her vision as she fell, the rock won. We applied some trail first aid and retraced our steps back to Lukla, climbed the hill behind the airport to a small but well-prepared clinic. The young Sherpa doctor on duty could not have been kinder as she and her assistants cleaned the wound, stitched it closed (nine stitches!) and provided what we would need to care for it in the days ahead. With clearance from the doctor to continue the trek, we returned to the road.

A tea stall en route gave us a chance to catch our breath before we continued on. By late afternoon we made it to Phakding where we quickly settled into our guest house, pleased to have in-room toilets even though the hot showers were not in the cards after a very challenging first day.The first day was not easy but, as we were to soon learn, none of the days would be!

Day 2
Our destination was Namche Bazaar, perhaps another five miles or so from Phakding but oh, what five miles. We were destined to climb approximately 2,000 feet in altitude and for those not accustomed to 11,000 foot elevation (approx 3,333 meters), let me just say that climbing on a steep incline is NOT what you necessarily want to be doing.

The day started gently with ups and downs along a forested trail paralleling the Dudh Kosi river. So beautiful, and my quest for my 1,000th lifetime new bird continued as I spotted a Rufous Sibia. (On the first day I had added the Gray Wagtail and the Gray-backed Shrike). We had a good climb to our lunch stop in Monzu where we all enjoyed dal bhat.

After lunch, we entered the Sagarmatha National Park. As we started out, we actually went down again, all the way to the river, so that we could once again climb and climb to the suspension bridge that we would cross to get to the Namche side.
 
After the bridge, we climbed… and we climbed… and we climbed. The views were incredible and we watched the river getting smaller and smaller. During one of our stops to catch our breath we saw two Red Pandas clambering over nearby rocks and then we saw the Danphe, Nepal’s national bird — at truly gorgeous pheasant in the forest. One more bird closer to 1,000.
Day 3
This was our ‘rest day’. Right. What a tough morning. Starting out from the hotel we started to climb immediately… and equally quickly discovered the difference between 9,000 and 11,000 feet! As we tried to climb the hills outside of town, step by step we were breathing harder but taking in less oxygen. Not a good combination. We had an agenda that was to take us to 12,600 feet and back down again, spending a second night in Namche to get acclimatised.

After a rest break at the top of the hill, we made our way along a ridge top to the Everest View hotel. With stunningly beautiful (but brief) views of Everest, Amadablam, and Lhotse and other glorious peaks, we again caught our breath while I looked for birds and spotted a few Rufous-vented Tits — my 1,000th species — a new milestone in my career as a birder.

We headed to the twin villages of Khumjung and Kunde. It was a good hike that was highlighted by a sighting of a Himalayan wolf. Very cool. Also a chance to see two more new bird species — Snow Pigeons and a Blue-fronted Redstart. We visited the secondary school at Khumjung that has served students throughout the region since 1961. It was such a delight to sit and chat with the students at the school and hear their hopes for the future.

Lunch was at Ang Rita’s mother’s home. Then we made our way to Kunde, at 12,600 feet, our highest point of the day. There we visited the medical clinic established in 1966 by the Sir Edmund Hillary Trust.

I couldn’t have been happier to finally get down to our lodge in Namche knowing that a hot shower awaited — the last one we could expect to have for at least a few days.

Day 4
Knowing how hard climbing had been on Day 3, we had arranged for two horses to join our party. We were making our way to Phortse, a small village off the normal tourist path at 12,460 feet.Along the way we saw our first Himalayan Tahr — a type of mountain goat. At lunch we could look out and see Phortse, but seeing our destination and getting there were two different things!

After lunch we all hiked downhill again, once more meeting the Dudh Kosi. It was another beautiful walk but one that was still demanding. Downhill can be as tough, or tougher, than uphill at times and this was no exception especially as we wound around the hillside. On top of that, we knew that for every step downhill we’d have an equal number going uphill later.
 
When I cleared the ridge top, I was grateful some of our group was still behind me as it gave me a chance to catch my breath and regroup before we entered Phortse where a tremendous crowd from the village was waiting for us. They were burning juniper to welcome us (and bring good luck) and were lined up, khadas in hand. As we settled into our guest house for the evening, we once again were reminded of the challenges of life in these remote parts of the country. There was light rain and the cold and damp readily penetrated the bones, especially as you tried to answer calls of nature in the toilets outside. Brrr…

Day 5
The previous night we had promised we would visit the Phortse Gompa before continuing to Pangboche. So, after breakfast we started up the trail to the gompa which, like most gompas, is located at the highest vantage point in town.

Reaching the gompa we were warmly received, yet again, by the people of Phortse. After a cup of tea and a request from the community for support for their own renovation efforts, we did the obligatory group photos and said farewell, but not without pondering what we could do to help with the goal of redoing the gompa courtyard.

As we got on the trail we realised that our route from Phortse to Pangboche was not the normal tourist trail but rather a far less used path, high on a ridge and with notably sharp drops in many places. It was an ‘attention getter’ and helped to focus concentration considerably. As we hiked we found we had acquired a new companion, a handsome reddish brown local dog we nicknamed Momo. Momo was impressively congenial and cordial, moving from one member of our group to another as we slogged along.

The morning was not without adventure. Momo, being a very smart dog, saw an ornery yak grazing alongside our path. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, Momo chose to use me as a human shield, staying close on my left as the yak grazed on my right. I guess Momo assumed that the yak would respect the Ambassadorial title…I was personally doubtful. We did pass the yak, Momo boldly ventured forth, and the yak then charged wildly after our canine companion. Momo quickly got out of the way…and our three trekking companions who were in the line of fire moved with a speed that almost matched Momo’s as they launched themselves out of the way.We hit the day’s, and the trek’s, highest point of 13,000 feet. And just as we did the clouds parted, the sun broke through, and there before us was Everest.

It was another few hours of wending our way down until finally we reached the chorten outside of town. After a quick lunch, we put ourselves together getting ready to climb (of course) up to the Pangboche Gompa we had come so far to visit.

Day 6
Lama Geshe’s daughter asked us to join her and the Lama for breakfast in Pangboche. The Lama graciously had agreed to come down from his home near the gompa to save us time and spare us the challenge of climbing to the top again. He wanted to offer us his blessing and we were happy to receive it. The Lama shared with us his philosophy, which he had worked to distill over the years into a few lines: “A request to all sentient beings on this planet — give up all intention to harm others from your heart and do your best to benefit them all. If each and everyone feels the universal responsibility to do so, we will all enjoy the feast of peace!”

Once again we took to the trail, making our way to Tengboche which was our tea stop. It was a beautiful trail leading down to yet another suspension bridge and then uphill again to Tengboche. It was a wonderful ride and the path was one of the most scenic and pastoral of the trip. Following our cappuccinos at a bakery in Tengboche we once again headed downhill to the river, through beautiful rhododendron forest which were still in bloom.

Having once again reached the river we made our way up … and up… once again working our way to 12,500 feet and our overnight destination of the Everest View Hotel. It was a long haul, both Leija and I made it on horseback, and then sent the horses back for our other colleagues.

Day 7-8
After a good night’s sleep and hot showers at Pangboche we prepared for our return. It was a short morning walk to the grass airstrip at Shyangboche. There a few of us took a small plane for a five minute flight black to Lukla.

Lukla, after the quiet of the trail, seemed a thriving metropolis. Where we could relax and unwind. A good coffee at the Lukla ‘Starbucks’, pastries from the German bakery, and a chance to check email and an opportunity to do a bit more bird watching in a leisurely manner.
 
By the time we had finished we had a few more birds — olive backed pipit, buff-barred warbler, white-browed rose finch, white-browed bush chat and the plumbeous water redstart. With the short-billed minivet we saw outside of Namche, and the Beautiful Rose finch in Pangboche, I had seen a dozen new birds on the trip which, considering much of my time was spent watching where I placed my feet and not looking at the skies or trees, was not a bad outcome.

Our remaining colleagues arrived from Namche on Day 8, reuniting the group. It had been a good trek…a wonderful time. We had had the chance to see a unique part of the country. The chance to learn more about the Sherpa culture and, in particular, to experience something truly special with the people of Pangboche and all the others we encountered. None of us will ever forget our Pangboche trek and we can only hope that we were able to return to the people we met along the way just a bit of the kindness and graciousness that they showed to us. (2011-5-21)