Nepal

A six day trek to the top of the world or at least within sight of the top- one of the perks of living in Asia.

There were seven of us, ages ranging from 25 to 70 and the ‘over 60 crowd’ outnumbered the young whippersnappers. (Jan is still in the young whippersnapper group, being well under 60.)    

The first day was grueling: an 1150 meter ascent which was to take 3-4 hours. We had a late start as we had to get our trekking permits and take an hour long bus ride out of Katmandu. We traveled uphill from 11:30 to 7:00 arriving at our first village just before dusk. We learned that we would have to add 50-60% to the trek time found in the guidebook.

 The second day was only an 890 meters ascent in  altitude and 970 down. The trek was northbound towards the large mountains which we weren’t going to climb but the guidebook promised jaw dropping views of them on the third day. Unfortunately, the jaws did not drop because the clouds had. We only saw the hills we had been climbing.

 

 By the fourth day, we were actually getting used to the long uphill and sometimes downhill hikes. Our 70 year old Swedish grandmother, Karin, was our inspiration as she pressed on day after day. 

 Of course, none of us were a match for the Nepali people. These women with 50 pounds of wood piled in baskets suspended by harnesses on their foreheads, easily passed us up.  

The fifth day was a two part miracle. First, we arrived at our destination early even though we had added an extra leg to that day’s journey and arrived just before a huge downpour of cold rain. This was at the highest point in altitude where the temperatures were the coldest. First blessing: to get in before the rain. Second blessing: the rain of that afternoon cleared the skies so in the morning we woke up to the jaw dropping views that we had missed the day before. 

 The sixth day, the guidebook had us going down the mountain for the final leg. If you had asked us on the first day- that grueling uphill ascent- if we would like to add an extra day to the hike, I expect that we (at least the over 60 crowd) would have vetoed it with a resounding ‘NO!’ but by the final day, things had changed. The guidebook gave us an alternate route which pressed us on to another village before we descended to the valley on the final day.

 The most delightful part of that day was the lodge. Each lodge had a common room where the cooking and eating was done and this final lodge was no exception, except that the room on this last was simple elegance.  After our wonderful home cooked meal, a British lady and her daughter who were trekking the same route, taught us a new card game which was loads of fun.