The Himalayas Pt. 1 - If Stink Could Kill

For those who know me, a few days in the same shirt makes me one stinky man. So, you could probably imagine how 17 days, 2 changes of clothes and no showers must have been like for me, especially when you add on that I was going through all kinds of strenuous hiking during that time. Yes, if odour could kill, those around me would \
be in trouble. Fortunately, it seemed to have little permanent effect on anyone, though perhaps I haven't made many new friends over the past few weeks.

I'm down from the mountains now though, and ecstatic to be clean and relaxing again, but sad to have left the hills behind. It's a wild place, up in the Himalayas, and I would be stoked to make it back once more for some hiking.

Shannon and I took 17 days to trek from a small town called Lukla up to the Everest Base Camp, then west to a town called Gokyo, and back south to Lukla where we flew back to Kathmandu. It's hard to describe accurately most of the sights we saw, but I'll try and cover a few highlights:

Lukla

This is, without a doubt, the wildest airport I have ever been to. Imagine a low-flying flight, gently weaving through mountains, when after 40 minutes you are now only a few meters off the ground. As several people struggle to control their screams, the plane suddenly lands on an UPHILL runway, tucked beside a mountain so that you never actually get to see the spot you're about to land on (unless you're the pilot). On the flight home, one girl actually cried, and everyone cheered once we finally landed safely in Kathmandu.


On the Everest trek, every town is there for the tourists. In fact, even the towns that have farms and other non-tourist activities generally shut down in the
off-tourist seasons, as there's no reason to be there. When you finally reach Lobuche and Gorakshep, there really is nothing but "tea-houses" (guest lodges) to make up the town. Everest Base Camp is really not much more than a few tents and shit holes (sorry, latrines. But really, when you see them, you generally don't use such nice, gentle words as "latrines" when looking at them) making up the camp.

We did a slightly less common detour going west over the Cho La Pass, taking in both Everest and Gokyo. I thought the Gokyo part was by far more picturesque than Everest, though taste in scenery, like all things, is subjective. What I really liked about it was the pass itself, a nasty 7 hour day that took us from an amazing valley, over a glacier, and down one of the more awkward loose-rock slopes I've ever had the displeasure of climbing down. I'm not sure why I liked it so much after writing how difficult it was, but it felt somehow rewarding. Oh, and as we were
struggling our way over parts of it, a freaking MARATHON came bounding over the pass towards us. I mean, wow, take one of the most physically taxing things you'll ever have to do, then try and go as fast as you possibly can for 5 hours, and holy crap, were those people nuts.


Anyway, I'll write more about the perils of the trek tomorrow. The trek itself was plenty interesting, but when you read of all the troubles people had, you'll be rather shocked. So long for now, thanks for reading.