Below (in green) is the “raw” news sent out from Namche Bazaar. This was Day 2 of the trek. I started off from Lukla nearly 4 hours late due to a combination of delayed flight and a local porter who suddenly decided to have lunch when we were about to move off.
My original plan was to shock everyone by arriving at Namche on the first day. The porters were exhausted at Monjo. Sumek insisted on letting them rest there for the night. So I didn’t manage to shock everyone on Day 1, but I’ve never stayed at Monjo before, so it wasn’t such a wasted experience. The teahouses nowadays are vastly different from those of yester-years. Toilets are greatly improved. There is water and a manual flushing system. Rooms are more comfortable and almost every teahouse has a TV set in the dining area. What shocked me more were the type of programmes on TV. Let’s say that the content has “matured” a lot.
From Monjo, it was a relatively short hike to Namche. I reached there in time for an early lunch. Our original plan was to buy some fuel and move on to Tengboche, but most of the shops at Namche were closed for the winter. A group departing from Monjo that morning were looking forward to fresh bread from the bakery. Boy were they going to be disappointed. Fortunately, there was this cybercafe which was open.
Sumek scoured the Sherpa capital for propane canisters. We finally managed to get enough fuel (or so we thought). But it was late. We had to spend the night at Namche.
Namaste!
(min. -5 deg C, max. 12 deg C)
As you can see, its freezing cold at Namche Bazaar.
OK, let’s backtrack. I departed from Kathmandu early yesterday
morning. The flight was delayed due to morning fog. I landed safely
at Lukla 2850m at about 8.30m. We started off at almost 10am. Rather
late. Further delay was caused by a porter who suddenly decided to
take lunch as we were about to leave Lukla. Still, I managed to
reach Monjo at about 3.00pm.
My plan was to trek all the way to Namche. But believe it or not, my
porters were protesting. I was climbing too fast for them. Isn’t it
ironical that my plan to trek at Sherpa speed met with resistance
from Sherpas? I had no choice but to overnight at Monjo. After an
uneventful night at Monjo, I continued the rest of the trek at about
8.30am to Namche and arrived here at about 11am. Apologies, my
challenge was delayed a bit.
At Namche, I found to my horror that most of the shops and lodges
were closed. We had planned to buy some gas here, but was only able
to find one canister. My guide is scouring the rest of Namche to
find more.
A challenge is seldom a one-man thing. If my porters get into
trouble, I’ll get into trouble. When shops are closed and unable to
supply us, we’re also in trouble. It doesn’t matter if the
challenger is strong enough to complete the challenge. It’s really a
team effort that depends on everybody directly or indirectly
involved.
I just had a nice and heavy dhal baat lunch. I feel great and ready
to move on to Tengboche, but not everybody in the team is ready.
Check out pics at Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knapsack/sets/72157613218596727/
