Trekking Day 1: Lukla to Phakding

20 March 2015

EBC & Kalapathar Trek: Day 1

A dangerous flight. Mani stones. And a cold shower... My first taste of the Himalayas.

Our first bridge in the Everest Region

05:00. Our guide from Himalayan Planet, Madan, met with us at our hotel. I only had a few hours of sleep since I spent the night packing. But I was too excited to be sleepy. I also didn't have much of an appetite the last few days, so I only ate a fourth of banana from the breakfast our hotel packed for us. Himalayan Planet gave Victor and me 2 duffel bags to put our stuff that the porter would carry. But we both wanted to carry our own stuff. We only utilized one of the duffel bags which contained our sleeping bags, some food and our extra water (they couldn't fit our bag anymore). We used the other bag to store our normal Kathmandu clothes and left it at the hotel. When we arrived at the airport, we learned that our bags combined were in excess of a whopping 14 kg, which Victor assumed as his’ (my 32+10L bag with 2 liters of water weighed 11 kg). We considered dumping all our water but Madan said the excess baggage fee was cheaper than if we bought water in Lukla.

06:00. I was very eager to experience the flight to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla (we took Goma Air). The Lukla flight had been dubbed as one of the scariest flights in the world due to its short landing strip atop the mountain. I had read that the left side of the airplane offered a good view of the mountain but I wasn't really sure if this was going to or from Lukla. Coincidentally, as I was pondering on this on our way to the airplane, Madan told me to sit at the left side. We were also lucky that the other passengers were sitting on the right side of the plane (I guess their guide didn't tell them this tip). True enough, when we were on the air, we had a view of the Himalayas (although it was a bit foggy). For me, the best part was flying between the mountains. On a normal flight, you’d be above the clouds. In this Lukla flight, for about 20-30 minutes, you could see the mountains just right outside your window, beside you. The landing and taxi was fast—well, duh… with an airstrip this short, what do you expect?

Lukla Airport Runway

08:00 After some tea in Lukla, we officially started our trek. It was cold when we arrived in Lukla but after a short while of walking, the sun started to come out and I stripped off my jacket and trekked on my thermals. The first part of the trail was going down and I walked along with Victor and Madan without much ado. Madan said that he was told I was slower than Gina but I didn't seem slow at all. I told him that’s because we were going down. Wait until we start going up. And when the trail finally started going up, the distance between Victor and I started to grow and my companions were exposed to my puffing. I asked Madan if I was slower than Gina but he was going to give his conclusion when we've finished our entire trek.

11:30. After 3 hours and 30 minutes, we arrived in Phakding… our first tea house. We passed through several small villages and delightful prayer wheels and Mani stones along the way. Our trail was along green terrain but we could already see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.  I was particularly amazed by the river, which was the bluest I've ever seen. Although the weather was cool, it looked so enticing I wanted to swim in it.

 

Delightful villages en route to Phakding

12:30. I wanted to try something new for lunch and so, I ordered Vegetable Pokola. Naba told us yesterday that it takes 16 days for the Sherpas to carry food to the villages so, although my appetite wasn't back yet, I finished my Pokola (with Victor’s help). After lunch, Victor and I went around the village. Phakding, like most villages in the Himalayas, was small. So, after a short while of walking, we ended up back in our rooms to rest (i.e., to sleep).

16:30. Phakding was one of the only two villages where we could take free showers and our bathroom was en suite. Although I hate taking showers, I’m a Filipino and I’m accustomed to taking showers twice daily. However, I was determined to bring it on and not take a shower for 8 days once the showers weren't free (Don’t judge me—I think it’s a valid reason not to take a shower when it’s 0 degrees). I let Victor take a shower first so he could warm up the water. He warned me that the shower wasn't that warm, so I was prepared to take a not-so-warm shower. What I didn't expect was that by the time I took a shower, there wasn't any warm water anymore. And so, I took a COLD shower.

 

Phakding

18:30 As it is in the Khumbu region, we had our dinner early. I had Sherpa stew and chili potato. It’s not gourmet but it was an interesting. After dinner, I stayed up just long enough to pack a bit, write on my diary and check my gadgets. I was glad that my mobile (which was on airplane mode and I only used as a camera) was still at 93%. It was doing better than I have expected. I charged it nonetheless (while charging was still free). And after a cold toothbrush, my first day in the Himalayas ended.