Double the Passes, Double the Fun in Nepal

With conquering EBC behind us and a surprisingly good sleep above 16,000ft we were ready to take on the backside of the loop! We had two hard days left, alternating with easier days, until we started back down. Including the two passes, we were back to Kathmandu just one week after reaching the EBC!

Day 9: The First Goodbyes

That morning we said our first goodbye to our friend from South Africa, she was closest to my speed, so I really missed having her on trail with us. She was taking a helicopter from Gorakshep to Kathmandu, and with the weather so clear likely had a lovely view. We had to start our trek before she left but it sounds like she was on her way by the time we stopped for lunch and probably saw her helicopter among the many that flew over us that morning.

We had a very busy trail between Gorakshep and Lobuche, our lunch spot, with everyone else coming up to do EBC like we did the day before. To make things even slower it had snowed overnight and there are some narrow areas with rocks where groups had to take turns and we saw at least 3 trains of yaks going different directions!

We stopped back at Oxygen for lunch, which was the teahouse we had stayed at in Lobuche on Day 7. This was where I eneded up getting the carbonara with canned meat that I wasn’t expecting, but it was pretty good.

After lunch, we continued on the trail for another 20 minutes until there was a split in the trail and our Austrailian friend continued alone (with the assistant guide) back to Namche and then onto Lukla to finish his trip. We said our goodbyes and then continued to cross a small frozen lake and then up along a narrow path carved into the somewhat steep hill. We followed the hill around getting more stunning views everywehre we looked! Sometimes it reminded me of scenes from Lord of the Rings movies.

It leveled off for awhile with more up right at the end. It was really nice to have left the crowds behind as nearly everyone, and especially the larger groups, just do the EBC. Our next stop was the town of Dzongla which was slightly lower than Gorakshep, so no more nights above 16,000ft.

We had our normal stews for dinner and turned in early.

Day 10: The Highest Point

We woke up early again as it was going to be a big climb day, and were packed, breakfasted and on the trail by 6:30am. The trail started out on what I’ve come to know as “Nepali flat”, which is what your guide might remember as flat but for those not used to mountains probably includes a decent amount of up. It was a gradual hill for the first few miles up a valley until we turned a corner and saw this wall of rocks that was somewhat like a rock scramble. It really reminded me of the 2nd section on the hike to the summit of Mt. St Helens, but this was much shorter. After a break for some pictures we had a bit more Nepali flat before we reached the glacier.

Just before climbing up on it we all put on our microspikes and there was some larger steps cut or created in the ice from those who’ve gone before but once on top it was mostly just snow. Since it was so sunny the snow was pretty sticky so we might not have needed the spikes. It was a long ways of a slight uphill. There was a snowman someone had built off to one side. Once across we took off the spikes again to climb the last few steps with aid of our guides and some steel ropes for balance.

It was amazing how much better I felt climbing here than up to the EBC and had no asthma issues, but I was taking in cough drops to prevent major coughing spells. We enjoyed our snacks and took some photos from the top. We had some good views of the mountains that had been our companions for most of the trek, but also the new mountains we saw from the other side of the pass.

Going down was its own adventure, it was very steep but they had the metal rope attached with anchors into the mountain to help you on your way down. Thankfully, we didn’t meet many people so it was just our group making it down. I found it easiest to go backwards and use the rope almost as if you were repelling but I walked since I didn’t have a harness. The poles were a bit of a nuisance and by the bottom I just carried them both in one hand.

It was maybe 45 minutes to descend the 500 ft steep section, and then we had a mostly flat walk for awhile. There were a few sections of rocks to walk over and some smaller hills. Eventually we met up with the rest of the group at a rest stop but for some reason my cough started to get much worse.

The rest of the group started a few minutes before we did so we could get a bit more rest. The new assistant guide came with Mr. Wander and I, up until now he had been the lead porter but was training to become a guide.

We had one more tall hill to climb which took some time as the clouds started to roll in. By the time we were to the top it felt like we were in the middle of a cloud! The visibility was maybe 20 feet as we started a gradual decline through what felt like scottish moors. Eventually we came up to a river rushing through the rocks in the valley which became our companion through the rest of the trek. It felt like it went on FOREVER. I was getting so tired, at one point i had forgotten to keep my poles up as we walked across large rocks. I slipped a bit and as the poles were still looped on my wrists I tried using them to catch myself and still ended up hitting my right knee and bending the pole a bit. After sitting for a minute I deemed my knee okay just a bit bruised and the guide tried to fix the pole. Mr. wander reminded me to take the poles off my wrists next time we cross rocks. I had a few more close calls, he specifically remembers me doing “the best curtsy he’s ever seen from me” as I used my legs to catch myself.

Despite not being able to see very far, our guide knew exactly wehre we were and how much time was left, which helped a ton. Suddenly we could see a building appear in the mist as we were approaching its fence for the small front yard, and we had finally arrived in Dzongla. Ours was a few more buildings down and it was nice to finally be able to sit down for a long time and get some lunch. It felt really late because of the mist blocked the sun but it was only about 1 pm.

That night I had my usual shakpa stew but this time it was curried! Normally it’d be nice to have more flavor but with all my coughing my throat was quite raw so it was painful. Between this, and some affects from elevation, I wasn’t able to finish all of my dinner.

Day 11: Beautiful Gokyo

We got to sleep in a bit today since it was a shorter hike, but not necessarily easier. I fueled up in the morning with cinnamon porridge (oatmeal) and really had to force myself to finish it, knowing I needed the calories for the hike.

The trail had us climbing up a ridge where we got a good view of the Ngozumpa Glaicer, which is the largest in the world! As it was getting to the warmer season it was mostly covered in rocks but you could see a few glacier pools and sometimes see the ice where there were ridges. WE didn’t have to use microspikes as it was mostly rocks and gravel, but it was a tad slippery at times so we had to be careful.

The path wasn’t easy to follow either becuase I”m sure it changes constantly and there weren’t relaly stakes telling you, just some spraypaint on rocks here and there. It took a good hour or more to cross until we reached the other side. We rested a little, but then we had a bit of a sketchy section with gravel we had to climb. While we waited a bit for a group to pass us going the other way we saw a mini rock slide behind us but thankfully it was VERY small, but it was a bit close for comfort. So we all pushed a bit to get up to the higher part of the ridge that had grass and was more stable.

Once on the top we had a little flat section to go until we got to the other side and we had a lovely view of Gokyo and the lake! We took a bunch of pictures and started down the hill until we got to our tea house, the Namaste Gokyo Hotel.

After lunch I decided to visit the international clinic attached to the hotel to see if they had anything a bit stronger than the anti-cold to help me sleep. Our guide came with me which did help translate a bit but mostly it was pretty basic. He just checked my pulse and oxygen level and asked some questions about other medication and what the cough was like. He gave me some cough syrup and I only had to pay about 1000 rupies ($7 USD) and he logged a few basic details and sent me on my way. I took one dose and then tried to relax a bit before dinner. At least I could say I visited the highest elevation clinic in the world! (probably)

It didn’t work right away but by the time we were in the main room for dinner my cough all but stopped and I felt good enough to play a few games with Mr. Wander and one of the other couples. The food was really good here and I was looking forward to getting some good sleep that night. It was also nice as this was the first spot in several teahouses that not only had flush toilets, but there were 2 western styles on our floor and even a sink to wash hands! What luxury!

Day 12: The Tricksy Pass

Unfortunately the cough syrup wasn’t completely magic, and I did end up coughing through part of the night and into the morning so it was looking like a difficult day. This was our last really early day and we were on our way by 6:30am. We did have some amazing views right out of the gate on the lake as it was so still it was a lovely mirror. We started up almost right away climbing along a narrow path up the hill.

Before getting too far up the hill I was already struggling so much that the rest of the group went on a head and Mr. Wander and I were with the assistant guide. I felt like I was eating cough drops but they weren’t completely helping and sometimes my coughs tried to get the asthma to go, which did happen once or twice on the way up. At one point another guy heard my cough and was really nice and asked if I’ve tried the strepsils cough drops, which I had already been finishing. Then offered cough syrup and as it turned out he had also visited the clinic in Gokyo. After the 2nd or 3rd suggestion I said I had tried he asked if I tried cocaine ;). I said we were fresh out. Apparently in Peru, chewing on the leaves is something that is supposed to help with altitude in the Andes.

We continued upwards but I was rapidly losing energy. It was frustrating for me because I think I had misheard the guide say there were 45 minutes left but I think it was 45 minutes of that particular steep section. Later when I heard there was an hour and a half to the top (as Mr. Wander was asking him questions about the mountains and trail) and I may have broke down a bit realizing how much there was to push.The guide kindly offered to help with my backpack and I finally relented (after a few times being stubborn. He was doing extra duty because there was one of our porters that had gotten sick and was struggling almost as much as me on the steep sections so he was helping him bring up his load a few times after leaving his bag and mine with us.

We took things little by little and FINALLY we made it to the top! The rest of the group had pushed on and I later learned they had gone in 2 groups as couples since we had such different speeds and even they didn’t catch each other atop the pass. He told us to sit for at least a half hour to rest and watch his bag as he went back down to help the porter with the last steep stretch.

The views were absolutely spectacular, though. Remember when I said the view of Everest gets better? It was here. Renjo pass is one of the best spots to see Everest and she truly looks like the grandest of them all! We of course took a few more pictures and then it was time to start down the other side. There were really nice steps carved and stacked in switchbacks coming down the mountain.

The guide told us that during Covid since the people depend so heavily on tourism for income, the country/national park hired people to build these steps to make it easier to cross this pass. It is amazing the work that was done and you know it was all done manually! In all the towns where there are paving stones, rock fences, or foundations made of rock, they are all shaped by hand and you hear the “tink tink” of many hammers during working hours every day.

It was a good 45 minutes to descend the first 400ft, and then we had a good section of mostly flat with a few rolling hills. We had a good 3000ft to descend to get to our teahouse in Lungden.

It took a few miles before I started to feel better and get a bit more energy as we had descended in elevation. After several miles of the rolling hills we got to the end of a plateau that had a lovely view of the valley and we saw the first glimpse of Lungden.

It was pretty steep with gravel with switchbacks in the first section and I couldn’t believe how our guide did it without poles! Then it leveled out and we got into the valley and walked through the town to get to the three passes teahouse, how perfect.

When we finally got into the teahouse and saw the rest of the group and they were like “you did it!’ I broke down a little just with the relief of being DONE. The hardest day and probably my sickest day on trail! We got lunch and some hot mangos (instead of tea) which really helped my throat a ton. We relaxed in the rooms until dinner where I heard thunder and by the time we got to the dining room we realized it was snowing outside! After ensuring the sherpa stew wasn’t spicy this time, we had dinner and collapsed into our beds.

Day 13: From Snow to Sun

We got to sleep in a bit, which was great because the syrup was staring to work better so I got a few more hours of sleep that night, even though it probably still wasn’t too restful being above 14,000ft. I was able to eat all of my breakfast that morning for the first time in a few days, and we could stop taking the altitude medication so that was a good sign. There was a nice layer of snow on the ground when we started out but that didn’t take long to disappear as we kept heading down.

The normal interary has you stop in Thame which we were able to reach by 10 in the morning, and instead we got lunch in the following town, one of the best meals I had all trip! I got a pasta that had some fried potatoes and plenty of fresh veggies and herbs that my body was craving. When you are at the high elevations only potatoes and maybe carrots are able to grow, but here they had their own greenhouses and an amazing chef who used to be a guide or sherpa for 30 years, so he knows exactly what people need or are craving on a trek like this.

After lunch several of the group visited the nearby monestary where they listened to young monks in training practicing their chants and mantras.

The final destination was to arrive back in Namche to stay at the same teahouse as our 2nd and 3rd nights on trail, the Green Tara hotel. It was a lovely trail back into the pine trees (I had missed them) and among rhododendrons. The red ones are the national flower of Nepal.

We had some downhill but mostly “Nepali flat” as we hiked back and forth along the edge of the hills until we passed the helicopter pad for Namche. Its actually pretty high up so anyone needing to take an emergency helicopter from there would have quite the climb to get up there. After many steps and winding through the town we made it back in familiar territory.

Once we were close to the hotel I snuck off to nearby shop to buy large quantities of cough drops to be on the safe side, as Mr. Wander’s cough was starting to get worse.

We all checked into our rooms and started passing around the key to the shower so we all got a turn before the hotel got too busy. It was SO NICE to get a good wash with a hot shower, honestly my first since we left there on day 3! After I was clean I had to pack away the hiking pants I had worn every day because I just couldn’t stand them anymore!

Now that we were down below 12,000ft I really felt good and many of us had a beer or tried some local beverages and we all had some apple pie with custard. One of the couples split a glass of a local spirit that reminded me of sake a little bit. Mr. Wander had been eyeing up this Tongba since the last time we were there so we decided to split it.

It’s an alcoholic drink made with what must have been fermented millet put in this large metal mug with a lid and straw. You pour in boiling water and let it sit for several minutes. Then using the straw with a filter you can drink it and it prevents any parts of the grains from coming up the straw. The flavor was earthy in a good way and reminded me of something but I still can’t place it. The owner of the teahouse came over to talk to us to see how we liked it, I think he was excited that someone was trying a traditional drink. You can refill it with hot water 2-3 times, we did 3 total mugs (refilling twice) before I felt too full to drink any more. It was interesting that the second fill was the strongest and most flavorful, followed by the first and then the third. I’m really glad we tried it, and magically both of our coughs stopped as long as we were drinking it! We all enjoyed our evening chatting and feeling good at the lower elevation.

Day 14: Nepali Traffic Jam

After sleeping in a bit we started back towards Toktok. The original itinerary would have had us stay over night in Thame and then Namche, so we would have had to go all the way to Lukla in one go. Instead since we had a long day the night before we got two shorter days and this one we had almost completely downhill, with all those steps and suspension bridges from before.

Since we joined back up with the main EBC trail it was VERY busy, and not just with trekkers but with mule trains as well. There was one spot on the steps where we got stuck for a good 10 minutes as maybe 2-3 groups of mules were headed towards Namche.

Eventually we started seeing the people coming up on their 2nd day of hiking, goinng up all those stairs their facial expressions looked VERY familiar. We stayed in the same teahouse in Toktok and a few of them did an extra hike to the next town to the bakery to get some desserts after lunch.

They were so sweet to bring us back a slice of cheesecake and some cookies for the guides and porters. It tasted SO GOOD.

Day 15: Genuine Home Cooking

Today was the last day of trekking! It was probaly the busiest with oncoming traffic for the first 45 minutes until we got past the town tht everyone else usually stays in. I couldn’t believe how big some of these groups were and it made me glad we had such a small group. They are usually kept all together which probably makes some people frustrated and others extra tired. While it would have been nice to talk to more of the group on trail I was glad we could all go our own pace to whatever suited us best for the long haul.

I did struggle coughing in some spots because there was fires from people burning things but otherwise it went pretty fast. We had a bit more uphill than the day before and had 2-3 checkpoints but with less traffic they went quickly. When coming into Lukla our assistant guide had been leading the faster ones and when I saw our porters resting outside this house I turned to say hi and suddenly our guide was calling us from inside the house! It was where he lived and he invited us in to join the rest of the group. We ended up ordering our lunch from them instead with each couple getting a traditional fried noodle and shakpa stew to share. After ordering the guide was sent outside by his wife to harvest the vegetables fresh from their garden. It was probably the best shakpa and fried noodles we have had (and I had shakpa at just about EVERY teahouse we stopped at!).

The way our company worked was that all our meals and 1 cup of tea at every meal were covered. The guide paid them for our meals and it was nice to know we were supporting someone we had gotten to know. We got to meat his son and daughter as well, and learned one of the other porters was his brother in law, and a third was his brother. A whole family affair. We learned too that the company employs the guides but the head guide organizes the porters. For him, he calls up the one that had been our assistant guide since the EBC and he calls his friends or family for however many they needed.

We had about a 30 minute walk to get to the part of the villiage where the airpot was and checked into the teahouse where we had that very first lunch.

Mr Wander and I headed out to find a snack now that our appetite had increased with the lower elevation and met up with the toher two couples of the group at a bakery that was recommended by the teahouse. I had an amazing chocolate mousse cake and mr. wander had apple pie and we each had a fruit smoothie.

That night we had a tasty dinner and got beers, and bought a round of drinks for our guides and porters to celebrate and say thank you. We also gave some of our extra gear we didn’t need to a pot that would be split among the porters, for us we gave our microspikes to save us a little weight in our bags. They didn’t need the gaiters we never used and we kept the warm clothing we’d need for a later part of our travels.

Before we went to bed I talked with the guide a bit and realized that he didn’t know how bad my cough actually was until we were in Gokyo, and he said he was thoroughly impressed how I just kept going when things got hard. That felt really good to hear and he was so nice for saying it.

Day 16 and Beyond: Flying Back to Recovery

That morning we woke up to the sound of planes taking off and landing, which is a great sign that we might be able to fly back to Kathmandu on schedule. At breakfast our guide told us he called the airlines and managed to switch our tickets to a different airline because he heard one of the planes might get stuck somewhere. We had some time to wait and got to watch some planes come and go but once we got the go ahead we grabbed our bags and walked to the airport.

After our bags were scanned in the x-ray we had to wait a bit to check in, but then they weighed our bags and we went through the security and then we were in a waiting room. We saw a plane land for our company and we all got up and ready to go. We watched as they unloaded the people and the bags from the nose and rear and then we were brought out and boarded. It was a fun experience and there was even a flight attendant who gave out candies and cotton balls (for earplugs) part way through the flight. It was only 25 minutes and we finally landed in Kathmandu. We got picked up in the same big van and dropped off at our hotel with a quick goodbye to our friends!

We luckily were able to check-in early and went up to our room. We decided to turn in our gear right away so we didn’t have to worry about it later so we unpacked the duffels and put in the sleeping bags and poles and headed for the office. We got to chat with the guide again as he was visiting with the owner and got our certificates and then headed back to the hotel. We stopped at our favorite grocery to pick up snacks for lunch then rested, did a bit of laundry, and ate for the remainder of the day.

We spent the next few days sleeping in, washing clothes, calling parents, and trying to nurse our coughs to go away. One night, on my birthday, we did go out to a pizza place our guide recommended and it was nice getting pizza cooked in an oven. Mr. Wander had pizza few times on trail but sometimes it’s just steamed and if it’s good it’s fried on a stove top to harden the bottom. We had 3 days of rest before we flew West on our way out of Asia!

Next Time…

We were able to book another flight using points (this time in economy) so we took advantage of another 2 day stopover in Qatar. It helped us to avoid a 20 hour layover on our way to Cyprus, where we planned several days at a nice hotel for the sole purpose of recovery. I hope you enjoyed reading about our experience in the Mountains and please leave a comment if I missed anything!!