We have our wakey wakey, black tea call at 6.30, the sherpas bring tea but there is no milk. I had a very disrupted sleep last night,maybe it was the mouse.
Bags have to be packed and down for 7 for breakfast of porridge with cinnamon and a huge freshly made donnut sort of bread that was excellent
Saying goodbye to our new friend we leave at 7.45 and head for Surke, it will be an 8 hour day.
The cloud is lifting and we can see the high mountains and planes flying. Lukla has opened after 6 days closed.
View from lodge this morning
The sun begins to appear and temperture soon rises, and we can see a lot further
We walk at a slow pace being led by sherpa Pratap, it is a steep climb and becoming very sunny and hot.
we will climb for 2 hrs before the ascent becomes gradual. The group are mixing well and conversations are stupid but always bringing a laugh.
Everyone still in good spirits and no-one suffering from altitude at the moment. We trek through lovely greenery with the sounds of bugs, birds and donkey bells very smoothing, but oh how bad is the smell of donkey poo, and there is no escaping this, especially trekking through 'donkey village' where the path is very boggy with mud and poo, donkeys grazing etc and few shacks. No photo taken as it was get through here as fast as possible without breathing.
About 12 lunch time we arrive at the village Puiya 2785m which is a summer village, high above the Humla Karnali, used by the people of Yalbang and Yangar for grazing their flocks. As we approached it reminded me of films of Vietnam villages.
after which Graeme etc had a game of pinball.
Leaving Puiya we pass a school with children at their lunch break, there seem to be mixed ages playing. As we walk I realise how the people live off the land, taking photos along the way and not really giving it a lot of thought until now. They making their living by farming or handicrafting at home. Plots are small so their production is extremely low, sometimes even not enough to generate for their own use. but if they are lucky to produce more than needed they will sell to boost their income. We see patches of millet, barley, bark wheat and maize. Vegetables grown are carrots, cabbage, potatoes, beans and melon etc which our cook buys along the way for our meals.The land is layered in terraces due to high mountain slopes. Rice is grown in the lowlands.
Most homes in Nepal are constructed from local natural resources, such as stone, mud, and wood. i have noticed that a number of Nepalese accommodations are built on a steep slope, with most roofs simply being made of hay, wood or corragated iron. The houses are dark, unventilated and smoky.
You can see without fresh water and these smokey conditions the people must suffer ill health a lot. We continue going down and uphill, and the path is very slippy in places and very steep steps which proves quite difficult to walk on. There has been a few slips, and Grant suggests spacing out a bit as not to knock down person infront if you did slip. ( good suggestion). We carry on until Roy shows us Lukla in the distance and below what seems miles down where we are heading for and staying the night
stopping for a break before the last leg of the day
At last about 4 we reach our Everest Trail lodge in Surke 2290m for the night, its good to get there, as steps etc were quite tiring and many feet sore. Graeme and Grant disapear to the river to soak their feet, before Graeme does some washing and entertains the lodge owners son.
Grant, Alistair and Lawrie watch planes fly from Lukla
Today our tea consisted of dhal bhat which is what the sherpa's eat twice daily. We are finished by 7pm and at that point some of the group drift of to their rooms, ok the porters were needing their bed too. take it this is where they would sleep. It's way too early though for us to go to bed though as we just end up waking up in the middle of the night, therefore having a restless sleep...which is obviously not good for what we're doing!!
(Pictured above - A tradional Dhal Bhat serving - taken from the Wikipedia page for the food stuff.)
There's not a lot to do at night so it does pass by slowly.
Tomorrow we will reach the Everest highway and be having lunch in Ghat, which is where we should have been on Wednesday. After lunch we will be heading for Monjo where we will be spending the night in a permanent camp site.
We've handed out cards to most of the group, so they'll be able to let their family back home follow the blog which is cool. So yay, big herrrrooooooo to the family and friends of our trekking buddies :)
Injuries so far have included a gashed leg for Peter on the first day, also Sam fell and hurt back. Sue and Grant have had the unfortunate displeasure of having leaches attached to them. *shudder* There's been a few slips and minor things that can only be expected when trekking in this kind of terrain. Thankfully there's been no tummy upsets yet though. Hurrah!! :)
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