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Reisavontuur: From Namche to Lobuje via Tengboche
| Avonturier(s): | Booz |
| Continent: | Azie |
| Land: | Nepal |
| Aanvang: | 21 Mei 2003 |
| Einde: | 25 Mei 2003 |
 fter my luxurious stay in Namches
"Khumbu-Lodge",where I slept in a part of the " Jimmy Carter Slept Here
Suite" (OK it was a closet with a bed in it, but anyway maybe i slept
on the same place where jimmies pants were hanging), I felt much better
and healthy again, so I decided to trek to Everest Basecamp. I met many
many people in Namche Bazaar who all were heading for either Gokyo
(West) or Kalar Patar/everest basecamp (EBC - East) so I was pretty
confident about that I would meet up with one of them one my way there.
In the morning I left alone to walk to Tengboche (3900mtr). This little
village is mainly known for it's monastry and the monks that live here
(40 monks). The Head of this monastry is the 2nd reincarnation of Lama
Dorje and is called Ringboche (?) at least thats how I understand it, I
am not much of an expert on lamas. The story the monks told me, is that
one very old lama, Lama Dorje flew out of Tibet and left his footprints
somewhere on a stone in Tengboche, pretty nice stories they tell about
the history and it was really intresting to listen to. Their religous
habits and sanctuary stuff seems much more honoust to me as how the for
example the Vatican handles theirs. But probably that is because of the
fact that buddhists have wise people as big bosses and the catholics
have a senile pope. Anyway, of course where a historical holy place is,
there are a lot of tourist, so the people of Nepal had chosen this
sacred spot, to be the place where all the 50th anniversery festivities
would take place. And so there was a giant blue partytent standing on
the grassfild in front of the monastry. Pretty funny to see all these
activities. I checked in in a lodge after meeting a few people I met on
the Jiri-trail and went outside to sit on a plastic Curver Gardenset
(yes, incredible what they all brin up here, I mean, remember that
there are no roads up here and that helicopters can hardly fly here in
the mountains and/or in thin air).
Sitting in the sun I met 2 australians who didnt wanna go trekking
anymore, and one of them was even smoking marlboro's, pretty cool,
finally I met a fellow smoker they are getting rare the higher I get.
We had a nice cloudless afternoon and the views on Everest were
beutiful from here. In the late afternoon, when I was reading I got
invited for a cup of tea by an australian girl, who was trekking with a
bunch of other aussies and climbed Mera peak as well. I got introduced
to their group and spend the whole evening chatting around with them.
This is really the nicest group (6persons) I met so far, warm, gentil
persons with stories to tell instad of the usual chit/chat. We really
got along fine. the next i wanted to leave at 5.00 to go for Periche,
but after a morning walk I ran into the australians again, and they
told me that there were rumours that there would be a special Puja
(ceremony) at the monastry especially for Reinhold Messner and Peter
Habeler and that the Ringboche himself would be there too (usually he
isnt in public pujas!) so I decided to stay a little and wait for 10.00
to leave. afterwards I had breakfast and while I had some, I told the
man next to me the rumours I heard. He looked m into the eyes and
started laughing his ass off, I was looking better and saw it was
Reinhold Messner. Oooops, there i sat with my big mouth, for the first
time this trip I didnt know what to say or do, felt like a little
schoolboy and started laughing also. I really felt like i wanted to go
away so I did. Later after breakfast I told the story to the
australians who also laughed their asses off of course, and met Messner
again at he grassfield outside of the monastry, i asked him to sign my
walking-axe and another aussie I met took a picture of me and him. Some
later the Canberra connection and I tried going to the puja but we were
too late, it was already over. We did go into the monastry though to
check up onto this weird paintings they have. Really nice, made me
think about Hieronymus Bosch, the earliest cartoonist i know :-) after
making some group pictures and saying goodbye I left to go for Periche
(4300mtr) this was really a nice walk, and i noticed that the higher I
got, th easier the walking became ... in stad of 14 hours days of
walking i could easily get where i wanted in 3/4/5 hours, pretty nice,
had the whole afternoon for sleeping readng and relaxing. Because of
the heighth I decided to acclimatise at this altitude and next day I
left for Dingboche (4400mtr) on the other side of the hill, I saw an
amazinly big Lammergeier on my way up there and even managed to make a
pic of it (which of course doesnt shoe how I saw it) to Dinboche was
only a 1,5 hour walk so i relaxed the whole day in th garden of my
lodge by talking to the visitors and eating nak-cheese and drinking
yakmilktea. In the evening I found out that I left my Petzl headlight
in the lodge in Periche ... grrrr..... Next morning i got up at 5.30
and after a milktea i prepared to go back to Periche to get my
headlight, I asked the lodgeowner how long it would take and what was
the sortest route. He told me that it should be possible in 40 minutes
to go there and come back ... the group americans i met the night
before started laughing (i took them 3 hours to do it ...grin) and told
me that if I could o to Periche and back within 45 minutes they would
pay my lodge bill (which was high because i came in early the day
before 1600rs-20us$) If I lost I had to carry their porters backpack to
Lobuje too. I accepted the bet and started running to Periche, I was in
Periche real fast and asked in the lodge if they found my light, they
didnt found it the owner said.... grmbllll ... not nice. i smoked a
cigarette and just wanted to go back, when from the HRA post (High
Altitude Research Centre) a guy came running with my light in his hand
:-) I thanked the guy and took my light and started running back to the
ridge of the mountain (remember this is above 4000 mtrs!) i did had
enough time to make it in 45 minutes and since i knew they would atch
me with my binnoculars I recalcitrant as I am smoked a cigarette on the
ridge as well, I ran down over the trail to the lodge crossing the
yakfields with stone fences and made it in time :-) so that was a cheap
day :-)
afterwards I left for Lobuje (4930mtr) on my way there at the height of
Thukla there was a wilde river running that I had to cross, of course I
didnt wanna do it the normal way, but wanted to cross over some old
trees and stoned just like the Sherpas, I slipped and fell enormously
on my elbow and then in the river, a few Sherpa's who were washing took
me out 4 meters further. The other Sherpas (30 guys part of a trekking
group I guess) all laughed thir ass of about my fall into the river,
Luckily I wore my climbing pants and jacket and amazingly, besdides my
head everything was dry (including my backpack) the only thing I had
was 2,5 numb fingers which I still have today, they are not dead (blood
is flowing through them) but I just dont feel them anymore (you can
stich needles in it, very funny to do so in company of others
especially in bars :-)) according to one of the docs I met it goes away
in 4 to 6 weeks and happens often when you get hit on your funnybone
(or telephonebone) real hard. well it doesnt really bother me so I will
be fine anyway.
After Thukla it was a steep way up to Lobuje from 1 hour or so, the
landscapes up here are really amazing, the trees have al gone and
instead of that there is only sand and rocks and sometimes a little
glacier river running through little valleys far below. In Lobuje I met
Bob the "always stoned" englishman. He was quiet funny actually and a
smoker too, so we became friends right away. He was travelling with a
rather international orientated mess of hippies. A few americans just
joined their group and even after 1 day of walking together they were
already sick and tired of the them so he had to make plan to get rid of
them which was pretty hard being so stoned, I bet he is still working
on it now. After a quiet night in a bunk I left the next morning early
to go to Gorak Shep only a 2 hour walk with a few people I met from
Bangladesh and the 37KG all-equiped-backpack-american Christopher. (he
took just about everything, laptop, digital camera, digital video,
tent, food but forgot to bring his fitness so other people were
carrying his stuff :-)
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