Glorious Blue Skies

Kathmandu (Day 2-4) to Lukla, Nepal -- 2840m (9,320ft)

Today was totally awesome. Finally, glorious blue skies, sunshine, and crisp alpine air. It is so nice to be in the mountains, and the Himalaya no less!

We finally got ourselves out of Kathmandu after four days. As usual we used the first few days in our new country to plan and get organized. We were a little more schizophrenic about our plans this time as we were holding out hope that my older brother, Don, could join us. Unfortunately, despite being retired, he had real commitments with friends and family (Thanksgiving, for example) that just made it impossible.  

In the meantime we considered a couple different trekking options, either the full Annapurna circuit (~18 days), or two shorter hikes -- the much less popular, but still spectacular Langtang Valley hike closer to Tibet (~8 days) followed by the Annapurna Sanctuary hike (~10 days). It wasn't until two days ago, Thursday afternoon, while Meg and I were sitting at the Pumpernickel Cafe across from our basic hotel, that we made the final decision. We had not  seriously considered the Everest base camp hike since I had already done it. However, we had just learned that two good friends, Craig and Kevin, decided to go through with their Nepal trip and would be arriving a few days later on the 7th. Although they would be doing a more adventurous (I.e., strenuous) Three Passes hike over 3 ½ weeks, the first few days would be the same and the prospect of seeing them tipped the scales.  

Whew, at least we had made a decision and could finish our planning! Now we just needed plane tickets to Lukla (the 9300 ft high start point); park entrance passes; TIMS cards (Trekking Information Management System); and money!

In line for hiking permits

Lots and lots of cash!

And lots and lots of chocolate!

The latter item -- money -- turned out to take us almost four hours yesterday during which time we visited five offices at four different bank locations and called our bank twice. ATMs have served us well during most of our world trip. Here in Nepal we were warned about using our credit cards and most transactions are done in cash (rupees or, preferably, dollars if you have them). Unfortunately, with our gear purchases, permits, plane tickets etc, we've been using a lot of cash and every single day, one or both of our ATM cards have been locked for suspected fraud, i.e., our frequent and repeated ATM withdrawals!

Since we planned to head into the mountains for three weeks, we needed enough rupees for food and lodging for 21 days. Conservatively, we've been told to allow up to $35 per person per day. That works out to a couple giant stacks of 1000 and 500 rupee notes or about 300,000 rupees ($2,800)! We spent almost four hours walking around town on Friday trying to find a bank that could give us a cash advance using our ATM cards. At 2:15, we finally found a bank that could do the transaction only to find that, after the successful transaction with my card, Meg’s card was locked... again! This was extremely frustrating given the fact that we had just called Schwab the day before (and the two days before that) to unlock them, had spent three hours walking to four different banks, and now had 45 minutes before the bank would close for the weekend!  Long story short, we got the card unlocked and the needed stack of bills, but not without a lot of angst and fretting along the way.

Getting to Lukla today, however, was its own adventure and a ton of fun. We left the hotel before 7:00 and had a few minor panic attacks when we first thought that we should have been in the international terminal, not the domestic, and then again soon after when we couldn't find anyone at the Sita check in counter even though we were less than an hour from departure. (Deep breaths.) We finally found the Sita office and the nice young woman there assured us someone would be there soon and we wouldn't miss the flight. Since it turned out she was the woman that showed up at the counter, I understood why she was so confident.

In any event, we did eventually get checked in and into the waiting area where we met a delightful couple from Bristol, England just embarking on a 9 month world tour. Andy and Charlie seemed a little nervous about what lay ahead, but had the support of a guide to help smooth out the rough spots.

The plane ride here was great fun. We climbed aboard a small, twin engined, 15 passenger plane for the half hour flight to Lukla. Although the plexiglass windows were crazed around the edges and mine was warped and scratched, the views were still awesome flying out of the city and into the green tree covered foothills. For at least the first 20 minutes, despite increasing ruggedness of the hills, every bit of land not covered with trees was beautifully terraced. Dirt roads zig zagged along the hillsides and ridges with metal roofed, stone structures dotting the slopes. On the left side of the plane, looking north were the jagged snowy peaks of the Himalaya.  So cool. As we neared Lukla we were just barely skimming over the hilltops. Though I was in the back row, I could just see out the front cockpit window. Only mountainside was visible as we plunged onto the short inclined runaway.

After finding a basic $2 room at the Tara Lodge, we grabbed some food and headed out of town. The only goal was to walk and walk up. I doubt many of the thousands of trekkers that pass through here ever set foot on this particular trail as it leads away from Everest, but it was spectacular nonetheless. There were at least four towering, snow capped peaks, all at least 6000 meters (almost 20,000 ft) high -- puny by Himalayan standards, but huge, jagged and breathtaking by any other measure. I had forgotten how colorful the stone structures are with brightly painted doors and windows, not to mention the colorful prayer flags fluttering against the sky. It felt awesome to get out on the trail especially after the weeks and weeks in the crazy chaos of crowded, noisy, and smoggy Indian cities.

Unfortunately, Meg's headache that had started In Kathmandu was throbbing, and after an hour she decided to return to the lodge for a nap. Headaches are one of the early signs of altitude sickness, so we all are trying to drinks lots of iodine treated water. The good news is that we are planning to be here at 9300 ft for two full days before heading along the trail. Better yet, the first stop along the trail is actually no higher than Lukla giving us three full days before ascending the grueling three thousand feet to Namche, the biggest town in the region. I can hardly wait.