The Indian Subcontinent: Trekking Day 10: Shomaré to Namche Bazaar

Lauren celebrating with Mt Thamserku just outside Shomaré

Shomaré to Namche Bazaar: The Stats

Distance Walked: 18.6km

Hours and Minutes Taken: 9 hours, 9 minutes

Origin Altitude: Shomaré, 4064

Destination Altitude: Namche Bazaar, 3450

Approximate Total Metres Ascended: 644m

Approximate Total Metres Descended: 1243m

Weather: A cool clear morning with the weather warming as we descended in altitude.

Morning Temperature in our Tea House Room: 8 degrees Celsius

This morning, finally, Chris did not have a headache. He did however still have all of his flu-like symptoms so we were sticking with the decision we had made last night...to descend.

Chis had his trusty muesli with hot milk for brekky while I stuck with the oat porridge. Once we packed up our things and said goodbye to our friendly guesthouse owner we walked down into the village, filled up our water bottles from a pipe in the stream and set off on our way. Apparently it would take us about 4 hours to get to Namche...yeah right! We estimated at least six hours but it turns out that even that was optimistic.

Down the hill we went, back past the yak pastures, eventually arriving in Pangboché. As we passed through Pangboché we took note of a check point for a 65km race that had been happening on the trail. We could barely walk it let alone run it so had copious amounts of respect for the contestants. As we continued out of Pangboché we could see Tengbochè in the distance and knew we had some way to go to even get there. We passed back over the steel bridges and through the woods again going through Deboché. With Chris' flu holding him back and making every breath difficult it was slow work as we got passed by many a trekker. Mind you, very few of them were carrying their own bags so we did feel a bit better about our progress.

Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam

Chris, barely able to lift his arms

From Deboché it was uphill to Tengboché. On our way down the hill the slope had felt gradual but today, uphill, the slight gradient resembled a mountain. Arriving in Tengboché, breathless, was well worth the climb. The mountains stood out against the blue skies forming a perfect backdrop for the Tengboché monastery. Mt Kantega, the snow saddle, was clearly visible as was the Kwangde Range as Thamserku. We snapped a few photos of Everest peering over the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge while we caught our breath then continued on up, across the meadow, so we could begin our 570m descent down the steep hill.

Tengboché monastery

Lauren and Chris with Kantaga and Thamserku, outside Tengboché

Lauren, unhappy with all of the walking

The path rapidly descended, zigzagging its way down the hill. It was a steep, slippery slope of uneven ground causing me to almost fall on more than one occasion. The rhododendrons were in full bloom though and the weather was slowly warming up so it wasn't completely unpleasant. In saying that, as we approached the lower portion of the hill and caught glimpses of the river below, we were ready for some uphill, our thighs burning. Watching the porters with their gigantic loads made complaining difficult...their strength still never ceases to amaze us.

Another Sherpa with another load

Chris with the zigzagging slope down from Tengboché barely visible

Anando had taken off ahead of us on the downhill but this was not uncommon. Usually he would wait for us every few hundred metres or so but, because we were moving so slowly this morning, we figured he'd just gone ahead to where we had arranged to eat lunch. So, when we finally arrived in Phunki Tenga (at the same restaurant we had visited on our way up) and he wasn't there we were surprised to say the least. Could we possibly have passed him when we took the Sherpa path rather than the regular path for that short stretch coming down the hill? We ordered some fried potatoes and fried rice, both with cheese this time around, and hoped he'd turn up. He didn't.

I sent messages with fellow trekkers going both ways, up and down the mountain. "Keep your eye out for an Indian in a Canada jumper...we lost him somewhere on the hill." When I went looking for him for a second time, there he was, walking across the bridge towards Phunki Tenga, minus his backpack. I walked up to meet him and we returned to Chris at the restaurant so Anando too could have some lunch. Turns out Anando had been waiting for us somewhere on the hill, then near the check post just before Phunki Tenga, and both times we managed to somehow miss him.

Once Anando finished his lunch we began the huge hike up the hill to Sanasa...an increase in altitude of 400m. And, it was steep. So steep that on our way in the opposite direction we had done well not to slip and slide down the hill on our backsides.

But, with the oxygen levels higher than they had been for days, I was feeling great. The hills felt more manageable and I was happy to keep pushing on and on to see just how far we could walk today. Even Chris' jokes were funnier with this much oxygen in the air. Unfortunately, while the decrease in altitude must have helped Chris' 'mountain disease' somewhat he did still have the flu. The man flu at that. Struggling to breath out of both his nose and mouth it was no wonder that he was struggling up the hills. Add to that the 20kg he was carrying and he was doing well to be walking at all.

We hoped that once we reached Sanasa that the hills would level out and we would finally have just descent to worry about. No such luck. The ups and downs continued all day.

Chris, exhausted, on the walk into Namche

The walk into Namche was the longest part of the whole day. Every corner we walked around we expected to see the town awaiting our arrival. There were at least six such points, all looking the same with chortens on their corners and long paths going up and down and up and down between them. A guy passed us, out for a run, and we cursed him, barely able to walk let alone run. The walk down the stairs into Namche felt long as we knew our destination was near. There was unfortunately no way we could push on to Jorsalé today. The day was coming to a close and our legs just couldn't manage the downhill that we knew was on the other side of Namche.

When we arrived back at Khumbu Lodge, where we had stayed on our last visit to Namche, I was disappointed to be ignored and then shunned by the staff. After encountering such beautiful, kind people in the hills and knowing that Nepalis for the most part were just like this, we weren't about to waste our time with somebody like this. We went next door, paid the same price and knew our money was going to a lovely lady who was nothing but generous.

We drank tea and ate dal bhat and cheesy macaroni before bed. We were exhausted after today and knew we had just as big a day tomorrow.