The final part of the trip was spent in the spectacular Everest Region, on the classic circuit taking in Kala Pattar for views of Everest and the beautiful Gokyo lakes. It was quite a contrast to the first part of our trip, with wide paths, huge commercial lodges with varied menus and flushing toilets and lots of other trekkers. Whilst part of me was saddened by how busy, built up and "Western" the area has become (WIFI, "Starbucks" and San Miguel seeming to be regular features), it is popular for a reason - the scenery is just stunning!
 |
| Momos! Steamed vegetable and buffalo dumplings - our first dinner in Lukla |
 |
| Momo production line - the whole family were roped in to mix, roll, cut and fill... |
 |
| Some of many stupas (white and gold statues) prayer carvings and flags along the path. |
 |
| Colourful prayer wheel - spin for good fortune! |
 |
| Crossing the huge suspension bridge before the climb to Namche |
 |
| 9 crates of beer and a basket full of bottles of Sprite. Well over 100kg. Insane. |
 |
| Another insane load - mostly noodles but still....?! |
 |
| Another 100kg of San Miguel. And probably for less money than the cost of a single can to a tourist. |
 |
| Tempting... |
 |
| Our bathroom in Namche and our first flushing toilet for a month! |
 |
| The path up to the famous Tengboche Monastery |
 |
| Yaks!!! |
 |
| The colourful gateway to the Tengboche Monastery |
 |
| Ama Dablam towers over the valley |
 |
| Intricate stone work |
 |
| And colourful carvings |
 |
| Some post prayer volleyball! |
 |
| And by night... |
 |
| Walking up to Dingboche... |
 |
| Yak dung patties - a.k.a. fuel for the fire! |
 |
| Chilling in Dingboche |
 |
| Harnessing the power of the sun to boil pans of water - amazing considering how cold it was! |
 |
| Dingboche from above |
 |
| Walking up to Chukkung |
 |
| The ridge to Chukkung Ri - a stunning viewpoint! |
 |
| Pretty nice views |
 |
| I'm pointing towards the high pass we'd intended to cross. We are probably only a couple of kilometres from Makalu Base Camp! |
 |
| The yak tries and fails to escape the camera! |
 |
| This one was HUGE!!! |
 |
| And this one was CUTE! Slipping and sliding on the ice... |
 |
| Sunset over Nuptse |
 |
| A sunny but COLD Gorak Shep, the path to Kala Pattar behind |
 |
| The summit of Kala Pattar (5643m) |
 |
| Me shivering in front of Everest! |
 |
| The views were worth the cold though! |
 |
| Tea? Yes please! |
 |
| Walking down by head torch after seeing the sunset... |
 |
| Gorak Shep by night |
 |
| The cool path towards the Cho La Pass |
 |
| Our brand spanking new lodge... |
 |
| Ama Dablam from Dzonglha |
 |
| Tibetan Snow Cocks - big fat birds that cackle! |
 |
| Crossing the snowy but thankfully compacted Cho La Pass (5420m) |
 |
| The top of the Pass and gateway to Gokyo Lakes! |
 |
| Ali gears up for the steep icy descent with the porter trick of string! |
|
 |
| It shared my name and was friendly so we had to stay here! I can confirm it was indeed very friendly. |
 |
| Crossing what remains of the Gokyo Glacier - the guide book from 2008 warns of ice and crevasses... |
 |
| There were still some ice formations though |
 |
| Gokyo! A stunningly located town on the lake |
 |
| Tea in the dining room, lake behind :-) |
 |
| Exploring up the valley |
 |
| The very frozen and very noisy fourth lake... |
 |
| Ali braves the ice... |
 |
| And proves it's solid! |
 |
| We could hear the cracking and groaning of the ice... |
 |
| It appeared to have frozen in curves... |
 |
| Walking up to Gokyo Ri (5360m) for more Everest views |
 |
| A celebratory Boost - carried all the way from Blighty! |
 |
| Gokyo from above |
 |
| Ali pulls out the Blue Steel to model his expedition beard! |
 |
| The view from Mong-La - Ama Dablam dominates again and Tengboche perches across the valley |
 |
| Chilling at Mong-La... |
 |
| Mong-La - pretty cool setting on the top of a pass! |
 |
| Returning to Namche |
 |
| ...and the ridiculous loads on the trails around! |
 |
| The rather ironically named lodge where we sat for five days in snow and fog... |
 |
| No planes today! As this runway lies on the side of a mountain the planes can only fly in clear weather. We were forced to wait, reading a lot of books, watching Bollywood films and hoping we'd get a flight before Christmas! |
 |
| But finally, the day before our international flight, the skies cleared and we headed to the airport!!! :-) |
 |
| But our hopes were dashed, arriving to an empty check-in desk and news of delays in Kathmandu :-( |
 |
| But a few hours later the sirens blared and our plane arrived - we were literally on the first flight out :-) |
 |
| It was rather cosy on board, only 12 seats and cockpit in full view! |
 |
| Bye bye mountains! A great trek but definitely ready for a hot shower and real pizza ;-) |
No comments:
Post a Comment