November 15

I slept fairly late. Lal was up first, and brought me tea and a wash basin. For breakfast, I had an apple pancake and and omelet. The pancake was fluffy and topped with thinly sliced apples. It was the most realistic pancake I had seen here yet. Usually they look more like a chapati. I put some honey on the pancake, since the apples were not sweetened.

On the way out of town, I stopped to take pictures of the stupa, because it was now clear, and I could have mountains in the background. Then we quickly walked down the steep hill into the valley. It seemed much smaller than when we came up it. The only delay was when we got stuck behind a slow yak train. The yak in the back got whacked. Passing yaks is tricky, because you must wait for a wide place to get a safe distance from the horns. Yaks are usually rather docile, but you never know when one will get angry. They give little warning, and can do serious damage if they want to.

We crossed the high bridge at the bottom of the hill and followed the river to Monjo, where we crossed the really shaky bridge. We passed some very large Japanese groups going the other way. Then we climbed the steep hill to the national park entrance. I was tired, and walked slowly. There was a delay at the entrance while we waited for my permit to be checked. Lal took care of this while I rested inside the office. From here down, there were tea houses every few minutes. The landscape was greener, with many flowers and gardens. It was overcast, and soon became cold. We stopped for some tea, and continued on to Phakding, where we stayed the first night, for a leisurely lunch of Ra Ra soup and tea. We had to decide whether to stay here, or continue on to Lukla and try to get an early flight back to Kathmandu. Lal said we had until 5 PM to change our ticket, so I decided to continue to Lukla.

The walk from Phakding to Lukla was mostly uphill. No wonder the first day had seemed so easy. Now, with legs tired from several days of long walks, often steeply downhill, the hills were painful. I slowed down and rested a lot, while Lal went on ahead. He stopped at a tea shop where the trails to Jiri and Lukla split, and waited for me there. Then we had tea, and continued toward Lukla. On the way, we passed a group of obviously drunk Nepalese men and women, who waved and shouted ``Namaste!'' It was election day, and a lot of people were on the trail, traveling to vote. There were political symbols on many rocks, mostly Communist, and many swastikas. I was not sure at the time what the swastikas meant. They are popular in Nepal, and often appear on Tibetan rugs and cooking pots. There is a Swastika brand of soybean oil, which is the type of cooking used in Nepal.

Some of the towns we passed through had many signs of Buddhism, with mani stones everywhere, and a large prayer wheel. I also heard some drumming coming from upstairs in one of the tea houses. Lal told me it was coming from Buddhist lamas. When the trail became steeper, Lal went ahead of me again to get to Lukla in time to change our ticket. Occasional helicopters were visible ahead, so it was clear that Lukla was close. I took my time on the hills, since my legs were very tired of walking by now, and sat occasionally to rest. A couple of Germans who had just arrived in Lukla told me I was the first person they saw carrying a full pack, like they were. Since they seemed to admire this, I didn't tell them that I had a guide carrying half my stuff, and that he was probably in Lukla by now.

I continued on up the final hill into Lukla, the largest town since Namche Bazaar. I went through town to the Panorama Hotel, where we had left our return tickets upon arrival. I met Lal there, and he told me that because of today's elections, we were already too late. The Royal Nepal Airline office closed early, and they did not even have a full schedule of flights today. We could still try to get on a plane tomorrow, but it would be difficult because of the heavy post-election traffic.

We had a nice private room, where I rested a while before going upstairs to order dinner. I really didn't want to get up, but there was a stove upstairs, and the room was comfortable. A number of people I had met along the trail were there, including the couple from Washington state I had met in Dole, and an apparently gay couple from San Francisco. Through the windows, I could see that one of the other lodges up the hill had strings of flashing Christmas lights around its windows.

I was told this lodge had fresh home-grown tomatoes, and I was really hungry for tomatoes, since they were so rare in the region. I ordered a tomato-cheese pizza, which was covered with thick slices of fresh tomato, and had a dab of tangy pizza sauce on top. Apart from the soggy crust, it was delicious. Many people were curious about the `potato-cheese balls' on the specials board. Finally, the men from San Francisco ordered some. They were a kind of deep-fried potato croquette, and looked very good. The pizza was small and I was still hungry for tomatoes, so I ordered a bowl of tomato egg drop soup which, as I had been informed, was loaded with chunks of fresh tomato.

Sherpa musicians in Lukla

A German group finishing its trek ordered a chocolate cake to celebrate. They couldn't eat it all, and passed it around to everyone. It was a little dry, but chocolaty, and had a tasty icing. One of the Nepalis on the inn staff worked here during trekking season, and on a large farm in Durango, Colorado in the summer. He told us about the large machines they use there. After dinner, he got out a `Sherpa guitar' with an elaborate dragon head shape at the top of the neck, and played Sherpa music. He was joined by a man with a skin drum and another with a harmonica. Soon, some of the German group's porters were coaxed into dancing, and eventually, many others joined the Sherpa dances, including Lal. A few trekkers also tried the simple dance, which didn't really have any steps to learn. This went on fairly late, until around 8:30. I was sleepy and went to bed then, but others stayed up a while longer. I found that this inn had a deluxe outhouse, with a porcelain flush toilet and running water. It was still a squat toilet, however, since that kind is traditional here.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1994. All rights reserved.