Nepal – Namaste -Dangabat

It’s time for a new adventure – EBC and 3-Passes-Trek here we go

06.04 – day 1

Flight from Kathmandu to Lukla and all the way up to Phakding (2610m). Once we got there, we decided to go further up to Monjo and at the end maybe it wasn’t the best idea, because I got a little headache. After taking a pill against altitude illness it got better and we started to play shit head. What an awesome card game! I’m pretty excited to see the final result of all our countless games at the end of our journey. One more and very important fact. It was the first time in my life I have eaten Dal Bath. What should I say. It was soooo delicious and you get a „refill“. So it’s definitely the best food up here, if it comes to costs vs. the portion of food. And I can tell you, it wasn’t the last time I ate Dal Bath on our time in the Himalaya Mountain ?

Trip:
5:11:37 hours
8,13 Miles
1386 Calories
320 altitude

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07.04 – day 2

On the next day we started our trip to Namche (3440m). It was a decent walk and luckily not that long, because we decided the day before to go all the way to Monjo instead of Phakding.

Trip:
3:11:47 Hours
3,31 Miles
668 calories
760 altitude

08.04 – day 3

The first acclimatization day – we climbed all the way up to the Hotel and restaurant that is called Mount Everest View (3880m). Up there we met the people from our plane to Lukla again (Luise from Norway, Mathias from Chile and Albert from Spain). We didn’t see the Mount Everest yet, but it was an awesome walk with a nice view over Namche! One of our favorite places in Namche was right next to our Lodge (Valley View Lodge), it’s a German bakery which is called Hermann Helmers Bakery. We got there always a hot black tea and of course free WiFi and charging as well.

Trip:
2:23:27 Hours
4.14 Miles
704 calories
430 altitude

09.04 – day 4

On the 4th day we planned our ascent to Tengboche, the next common stop which is recommend on the itinerary of the three passes trek. We arrived in Tengboche (3867m) at around 12:30pm and we decided to go further to Pangboche (3960m). It was „just“ another 100m of height to deal with, but at this height 100m can be a lot. That was the first time I really struggled and I couldn’t even walk faster. I felt like just „falling a sleep“, but we pushed ourselves and we finally made it to Pangboche (Everest View Lodge). I would guess, it wasn’t the best idea again to go further than we planned to go. And of course I got a headache, but after taking a pill I was sort of fine.

Trip to Tengboche:
3:41:38 Hours
6.22 Miles
991 calories
970 altitude

Trip to Pangboche:
1:50:16 Hours
2.93 Miles
393 calories
290 altitude

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10.04/11.04 – day 5 & 6

After 2 1/2 hours of climbing we arrived in Dingboche (4349m). Up there we met Luise, Mathias and Albert again and had a lot of fun introducing and playing shit head. This lodge, Green Tara Guest House, was so far the best Lodge. The owner was really funny and did some samurai moves in the common room that one night. On our last night we stayed longer in the common room and the daughter of the owner started playing music. She is a really good singer and we started our own little karaoke night with some of the guides until 10pm. And it was the first time it started to snow. There is one more and really important fact to say. On our second acclimatization day we climbed up to Nangkartshang (5073m) and knocked out the 5k the first time.

Trip to Dingboche:
2:29:02 Hours
3.93 Miles
710 calories
390 altitude

Trip to Nangkartshang:
2:42:12/1:11:47 Hours
2.06/1.70 Miles
624/332 calories
700 altitude

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12.04 – day 7

Once we woke up the next day, everything was so snowy and pretty. The sun was out there and the mountains were full of snow. At 9am we started our trip to Chukhung (4730m). It was just a 2 1/2 hours ascent and I’m glad it was a slow and steady ascent. One more important fact to say, our windows were frozen. So I guess it was under 0 degree in our little room. We stayed here for two nights in the Yakland Hotel and it’s more a place where all the guides stay, but we met the Asian guys, from our plane to Lukla, again.

Trip:
2:16:33 Hours
3.25 Miles
596 calories
380 altitude

13.04 – day 8

On our third acclimatization day we went to the Island Peak Base Camp (5170m). I didn’t make it to the top, because I felt tired. So I decided to go back and it was so far the best decision I made. The next day was supposed to be the hardest trip on our journey – crossing the Kongma-La Pass (5535m).

Trip:
3:59:07 Hours
6.24 Miles
1141 calories
440 altitude

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14.04 – day 9

Crossing the Kongma-La Pass – this trip was so far the hardest and craziest ascent. We climbed up the Kongma-La Pass with an elevation of 790m. Once we reached the top of the pass we realized, that the way down wouldn’t be just fun. We had to go over an glacier and once we reached the glacier it was an up and down with another few meters of elevation. So I guess in total it was more than 1000m of elevation. This night was so far the worst one. I didn’t really sleep and we were supposed to climb up to the Mount Everest base camp the next day. Obviously we didn’t go to the EBC the day after, because I felt tired and still had a little headache in the morning.

Trip:
7:17:07 Hours
7.24 Miles
2611 calories
950 altitude

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15.04 – day 10

A “real” rest day without doing anything besides relaxing at the lodge. Flo climbed all the way up to Kala Pather.

16.04 – day 11

EBC – we climbed all the way up from Lobuche to the EBC (5346m). It was such a nice day and we got lucky with the weather. And we got even more lucky, because we met Reinhold Messner up there. He did a documentary there with another guy from the 78 class. So it was there 40years anniversary after they first climbed up the Mount Everest. We also went into the the base camp and we took a picture with a German flagg we got from our Lodge. It was the first day I felt really good at the end at this altitude – fingers crossed for the upcoming days and the next and last pass. Just a little side hint. Once you start feeling sick, eat a Garlic Soup – it’s supposed to be helpful against headache and stuff like this.

Trip:
7:10:50 Hours
11.01 Miles
2615 calories
670 altitude

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17.04 – day 12

This one was just a short trekking day from Lobuche to Dzonglha (4830m). It was a nice decent walk with a little ascent at the end. The mattress was really thin and the common room was pretty cold, but nothing to complain about. At least we had warm room and at the end it was just for one night.

2:07:57 Hours
4.24 Miles
713 calories
180 altitude

18.04 – day 13

Crossing the Chola-Pass (5420m) and two glaciers. We woke up at 5:45am, had breakfast at 6:30am and started at 7am right after the first guided groups. The ascent to the pass was better than I expected it to be. Right before the pass there was the first glacier and it was a real glacier – it looked impressive. The way down was even better. We had so much fun. It snowed the day before and a lot of people were afraid to go down. Flori and me we didn’t had crampons or micro spikes or something that could have helped us. At the end we slide down on our butts and we had so much fun going down or should I say sliding down. One guy even took a video of us. At the end it was safer and faster. After a couple hours down we arrived at the 2nd glacier and this one looked the same as the one after the Kongma-La pass, but it was more awful to be honest. At the end we climbed up a little hill at the end of the glacier and we saw Gokyo (4750m) and the stunning Gokyo Lake. At least it was worth the view! On more thing to say – once we got there’d we ate a Sherpa Stew and watched Bayern Munich against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

7:32:22 Hours
9.01 Miles
2581 calories
810 altitude

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19.04 – day 14

Climbing up the Gokyo Ri (5360m) for sunrise. Gokyo is so dar the best spot on this journey. The Namaste Lodge we stayed in, the cinnamon bread, the ascent to Gokyo Ri and on top of that a warm common room all day long. We started our hike at 4:15am and arrived at the top at 5:45am. The sunrise behind the Mount Everest was at 6:05am. So we got there in time. The 360 degree view was amazing – nothing more to say after we got back to our Lodge we had a descent breakfast. After that we headed to one of the fifth lakes of Gokyo. For dinner we treated ourselves right and ordered a Veggie Burger – the burger was so delicious!

Trip 1:
2:34:38 Hours
2.97 Miles
1037 calories
600 altitude

Trip 2:
1:31:54 Hours
2.90 Miles
396 calories
000 altitude

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20.04 – day 15

All the way from Gokyo to Namche (3440m). There were more ups than we expected, but it wasn’t that hard. It was the first time we defeated Maps Me time wise. We ended up in the German bakery and there we met a lot of people again with who we started our trip in Kathmandu. It was a cool vibe there, because everyone is going down and accomplished the same – so everyone went almost to the same issues.

6:33:48 Hours
15.30 Miles
2496 calories
610 altitude

21.04 – day 16

Further down from Namche to Puiya. It was the longest trek so far. We started our trip at 8an and after 7 1/2 hours we arrived in Puiya. Down there I felt really strong and felt like I can conquer more than I ever did before.

7:22:55 Hours
17.12 Miles
2729 calories
670 altitude

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22.04 – day 17

Not the end yet – further down from Puiya to Ringmu. At the end we hiked the longest trip time wise – 8 1/2 hours counted without any breaks. After that we found a taxi that took us to Phaplu. After waiting 45 minutes for a Jeep, the Jeep finally arrived. They wanted us to pay 5.000 rupees in total instead of just 500 per person. He argued that he normally drives just forth and back if he has 10 people in total and we were just 3 (one Israeli guy we met on the road) – of course at 5:15pm. We ended up driving in a trailer of a farm tractor down to Phaplu for 1 1/2 hours (13km!). It was very bumpy – nothing more to say. We started our day trip at 7am after a descent breakfast (double cheese omelet with Chapati bread) and arrived at our place for the short night at 7:30pm. We stayed at a locals place I guess. The owner was so friendly and the food was cheap and the Dal Bhat the best one I had so far.

8:33:00 Hours
15.67 Miles
2696 calories
2040 altitude

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23.04 – day 18

Our day started at 4:30am with a pancake and the Jeep picked us up at 5:15am. At 5:45 we started our journey with a Jeep from Phaplu to Kathmandu. It’s supposed to take roundabout 10 hours. Let’s hope the best – finger crossed. We ended up sitting in the back seats with a older local dad and his young child. They were throwing up a couple of times. And after 1 1/2 hours we had to stop the first time because a young lady, who was sitting in the front seats, was throwing all over herself. We finally got to Kathmandu at 4pm. So everything went pretty well and it wasn’t terrifying at all to be honest. It was time for the first shower, a warm one, after 18 days. The next view hours we treated ourselves right with a veggie pizza, a fresh juice and Indian food at a locals place.

Now it’s time for a little rest for a few days and after that it’s time for another short trek at the Annapurna region ….