I overestimated the cold on our first night, and ended up sweating in my fleece and puffy jacket. Emerging from my mummy bag, extracting my bag of electronics and water bottle I slept with to keep them from freezing, I was a bundle of nerves. I had slept poorly, and felt jittery throughout. Em and I met Bishnu for a breakfast of Tibetan bread (basically an elephant ear without the sugar) with honey and jam. I re packed Em's bag, readjusting the weight to relieve her of some initial back pain from our first day.
Tibetan bread.
Today was to be a big, physical feat of a day. With almost a 1000m in elevation gain to achieve by Namche, we were doggedly determined as our trekking poles clicked away from Phakding.
We officially entered Sagamartha (the Nepalese name for Mt. Everest, meaning "head of the sky") National Park, and had to officially register in the tourist logs. It was here, at this checkpoint, that I endured a classically awful bathroom comedy of errors. The toilets in Nepal deserve an explanation unto themselves. In Kathmandu, I found mostly Western toilets, with a few encounters with the squat toilet. The squat toilet is either a hole in the ground you squat over, or a porcelain bowl set into the ground with foot pads for you to stand on as you squat. At first I was frankly intimidated by these squat toilets, but quickly adapted to the careful choreography of avoiding stepping in any puddle or wetness around the hole.
As Bishnu checked in our trekker permits, Em and I went in search of the toilet stalls. Investigating the three stalls situated beside the wooden office, we discovered the only one free had a big disgusting mess left by a previous customer. With no other option, we decided to stand guard outside while the other went in to do their business. Right before I plugged my nose and went in, a man in a red jacket and jeans came around the corner, exclaiming "Oh! Is there a queue for the loo?" From this small bit of sensory information, I gathered two facts before I walked into the stall:
1) This man is a Westerner, and speaks English
2) I can see him, therefore, he can see me AND which toilet I go in to
Proceeding to squat, facing away from the door, the next thing I hear is a brief conversation between Em and the man, explaining that she was waiting for me, and then "No! Not that one!" I feel a breeze of air, my shadow illuminated by daylight, as the man opens the stall door (I take some responsibility here, that I didn't lock it...but Em was outside, and I was avoiding touching things if I could). Horrified, I practically fell into the toilet, the man stammered out about five apologies ("Just close the door!" I scream internally), before he slammed it shut. Red-faced, I emerged from my interrupted toilet experience, doused myself in hand sanitizer, and nonchalantly pretended nothing happened. About five minutes later I was cracking jokes, but in the immediate aftermath, I was indignant. My only consolation is that he was more scarred from the experience than I was.
Right before the bathroom incident.
The walk to Namche is stunning. A river walk, up steep banking trails, to the tallest suspension bridge we will cross, we climbed and climbed. Long trains of donkeys, the bells around their necks spelling their arrival and passing, walked beside us. So well trained are the lead donkeys, that they will halt their progress if a trekker (like me) is standing on the edge of the trail, waiting for the trekker to move to the inside of the trail before proceeding. I heard one first hand account of a trekker almost being pushed over a mountain side by an oblivious donkey, so in a way, these gentle beasts may be the most dangerous aspect of the trail.
Breathless and burdened, we climbed some more, until we stood at the base of a huge natural amphitheater, dotted with the blue and red of Namche's lodges and shops.
After almost seven hours we had made it. Quickly dropping off our bags, we walked up to the top of the village that houses nearly a fourth of the entire population of the Khumbu Valley region, and looked upon the town backdropped by a mountain of white.
Cozy, warm and again with the melody of trekker chatter, we spent our evening in the dining room of the International Foot Rest Lodge in Namche. The next day is an acclimatization day, and we will hike around Namche (sans huge packs!) and see our first glimpse of Everest. Goodnight mountains.
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