We are back from Nepal

We are back in Chicago from 31-day trip to Nepal with short stops in Qatar. We had very good time hiking , slower than anticipated, but made it to all the places as planned (with only minor adjustments): Gokyo and the Lakes along Ngozumpa Glacier, Gokyo Ri, Renjo Pass. Five of the 15 World’s highest mountains were  within our sight: Cho Oyu (8188) and Gyachung Kang (7952), Everest (8848) and Lhotse (8516), and Makalu (8485). Our trail was 152 km long with, 13 km total ascent, hiking between  1490 and 5375 masl. As we hiked slowly, high altitude was not a big problem.

We had good weather most of the time, perfect on Renjo La for snapshots with Everest and Lhotse. It was supposed to be mostly sunny and clear in November, but each day clouds rolled in around noon or earlier (one full day was all clear, but one completely cloudy) and afternoons were really cold. But no rain or snow which was great. Overall the weather was actually not as cold as we expected despite cloud cover in the afternoons. Very warm when the Sun was out.  We hiked in sub-freezing temps (-6℃) only in the morning on the Renjo La day and temps down to -1℃ to -2℃ on a couple more days with cloud cover. We had only one night with sub-zero temps in our room (down to -1℃). Joanna’s sleeping bag was not very warm, but it worked well with thick lodge blankets – all lodges were well prepared for cold weather in this respect.

We both struggled a bit with Khumbu cough and colds. We treated all cold drinking water with UV/Steripen, but mostly drank tea and other hot beverages provided by the lodges, didn’t eat any meat and avoided uncooked vegies. Had some very minor stomach issues a few times, but not really affecting hiking all that much. We were quite tired when we came back to Kathmandu. Heavy air pollution in Kathmandu valley wore us down quite a bit at the end.

Nepal 2018 itinerary
Oct 28 Sun ORD ➜(Quatar Airways) ➜
29 Mon Doha ➜DOH➜ Doha evening walk [@ Hoiliday Inn]
30 Tue Kathmandu DOH âžœ(Quatar Airways) âžœKATâžœ Kathmanduprep for trekking [@ Dil’s Homestay]
31 Wed Kathmandu Prep for trekking
Nov 1 Thu Phaplu Kathmandu ➜ (jeep) ➜ Phaplu [@ Lodge]
2 Fri Taksindu Start of trekking [@ Taksindu Resort Lodge]
3 Sat Jubing Trekking [@ Gorkhali Lodge]
4 Sun Khare Trekking [@ Lodge]
5 Mon Surke Trekking [@ Thamserku Lodge]
6 Tue Monjo Trekking [@ Mount Kailash Lodge]
7 Wed Namche Trekking [@ Khumbu Lodge]
8 Thu Khumjung Trekking [@ Hidden Village Lodge]
9 Fri Khumjung Khunde (Piotr), rest day (Joanna) [@ Hidden Village Lodge]
10 Sat Dhole Trekking [@ Alpine Cottage Lodge]
11 Sun Machermo Trekking [@ Sherpa Land Lodge]
12 Mon Gokyo Trekking [@ Cho Oyu View Lodge]
13 Tue Gokyo Gokyo Lake V [@Thanka Inn]
14 Wed Gokyo Gokyo Ri (Joanna), rest day (Piotr) [@Thanka Inn]
15 Thu Lunden Trekking Renjo La [@ Renjo Pass Support Lodge ]
16 Fri Thame Trekking [@ Valley View Lodge]
17 Sat Monjo Trekking [@ Mount Kailash Lodge]
18 Sun Lukla End of trekking [@ Lodge]
19 Mon Lukla Stuck at LUK [@ Lodge]
20 Tue Kathmandu LUK âžœ (small plane) âžœRHP âžœ(bus) âžœ Kathmandu [@ Dil’s Homestay]
21 Wed Kathmandu Thamel ➜ Durbar Square [@ Hotel Giarmondo]
22 Thu Kathmandu Thamel ➜ (taxi) ➜ Bouddha ➜ Pashupatinath ➜ (taxi) ➜ Thamel
23 Fri Kathmandu Thamel ➜ (taxi) ➜ Ratna Park ➜ (bus) ➜ Bhaktapur ➜ (taxi) ➜ Thamel
24 Sat Kathmandu ‎Thamel ➜(taxi) ➜ Swayambhunath ➜ Asan Tole ➜ Thamel
25 Sun Kathmandu Kathmandu ➜ (bus) ➜ Patan ➜ (taxi) ➜ Thamel
26 Mon Doha KAT ➜ (Quatar Airways) ➜ DOH ➜ Doha[@ Al Liwan Suites]➜ DOH ➜
27 Tue Chicago ➜ ORD
Phaplu-Gokyo-Lukla

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Phaplu-Gokyo-Lukla trail profile

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Key waypoint distances and elevations on our Gokyo trek
km masl latitude longitude
November 1 Thursday Kathmandu 1292 27°43’05″N 85°18’28″E
Phaplu 0.0 2479 27°30’55.79″N 86°35’4.27″E
2 Friday Ringmo 11.8 2736 27°35’15.18″N 86°36’14.86″E
Taksindu La 13.5 3066 27°35’31.96″N 86°37’2.70″E
Taksindu 14.3 2931 27°35’35.30″N 86°37’18.33″E
3 Saturday Nunthala 18.2 2198 27°35’20.47″N 86°38’49.18″E
Dhudh Koshi (river) 22.3 1490 27°35’38.12″N 86°40’42.52″E
Jubing 23.3 1651 27°35’53.00″N 86°41’11.00″E
4 Sunday Kharikhola Monastery 25.5 2050 27°36’13.68″N 86°42’1.25″E
Bupsa 29.0 2348 27°36’51.05″N 86°42’53.99″E
Khare 30.8 2590 27°37’29.98″N 86°43’4.48″E
5 Monday Paiya 35.3 2760 27°38’29.44″N 86°43’50.94″E
Surke 41.0 2300 27°40’20.55″N 86°43’7.54″E
6 Tuesday Ghat 48.4 2580 27°43’27.33″N 86°42’53.48″E
Phakding 50.4 2620 27°44’24.90″N 86°42’45.44″E
Monjo 55.6 2870 27°46’25.34″N 86°43’20.74″E
7 Wednesday Namche 60.2 3423 27°48’15.85″N 86°42’37.34″E
Park Headquarters 60.8 3560 27°48’11.13″N 86°42’54.29″E
Namche 61.5 3423 27°48’15.85″N 86°42’37.34″E
8 Thursday Khumjung 64.4 3763 27°49’18.20″N 86°43’0.44″E
Khumjung Gompa 65.0 3797 27°49’30.04″N 86°42’58.95″E
Khumjung 65.5 3763 27°49’18.20″N 86°43’0.44″E
9 Friday Hilary Hospital 66.9 3864 27°49’25.12″N 86°42’17.02″E
Khunde Stupa 67.4 3822 27°49’16.35″N 86°42’25.25″E
Khumjung 68.8 3763 27°49’18.20″N 86°43’0.44″E
Khumjung Viewpoint 69.0 3826 27°49’16.61″N 86°43’5.00″E
Khumjung 69.1 3763 27°49’18.20″N 86°43’0.44″E
10 Saturday Mong La 72.6 3970 27°50’21.91″N 86°44’9.38″E
Phortse Thanga 74.4 3660 27°51’1.39″N 86°44’35.86″E
Dole 77.0 4032 27°52’1.52″N 86°43’52.37″E
11 Sunday Machermo 82.3 4390 27°54’12.34″N 86°42’58.08″E
12 Monday Gokyo 89.2 4754 27°57’13.70″N 86°41’36.35″E
13 Tuesday Scoundrel’s Point 95.0 4990 28° 0’5.99″N 86°41’10.33″E
Gokyo Lake V 95.4 4965 28° 0’6.86″N 86°41’0.03″E
Gokyo 101.1 4754 27°57’12.25″N 86°41’37.54″E
14 Wednesday Gokyo RI 103.0 5350 27°57’40.99″N 86°40’59.03″E
Gokyo 104.8 4754 27°57’12.25″N 86°41’37.54″E
15 Thursday Renjo La 109.2 5375 27°56’50.71″N 86°39’30.21″E
Lunden 116.0 4350 27°54’19.01″N 86°38’12.92″E
16 Friday Thame 125.5 3800 27°49’52.02″N 86°38’56.82″E
17 Saturday Namche 134.2 3423 27°48’15.85″N 86°42’37.34″E
Monjo 138.9 2870 27°46’25.34″N 86°43’20.74″E
18 Sunday Lukla 151.9 2847 27°41’14.29″N 86°43’55.10″E
19 Monday Lukla
20 Tuesday Kathmandu
Piotr’s packing list: total 15.7 kg
TOTAL 15.7 kg
clothing 7.3
equipment etc 4.6
shared equipment/supplies 3.3
water 0.5
ON ME 3.9 kg
boots 1347 g Vasque Breeze 2.0 Mid GTX
wool socks 73 Smart Wool
underwear 62 Exofficio
pants 320 Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible
belt/suspenders 110
tshirt 165
buff 38 Buff
hiking cap 58 Outdoor Research
hiking gloves 73 Ergodyne ProFlex 812
trekking poles 476 Komperdell
pocket knife 90 Gerber Torch
sunglasses 34
camera/battery 488 Olympus E-PM2 14-42 mm
scope 190 Alpen 8×25 monocular
phone 215 iPhone XS
watch 38 Timex Expedition
passport/money 115
ON MY BACK 11.8 kg
backpack/liner/cover 1208 g Granite Gear Crown 60 (long 65 L)
sleeping bag/sack 1397 Sierra Design Ridge Runner (Down 600 15 F/-9 C)
liner 253 Sea to Summit Thermolite
downjacket/bag 907 Mountain Hardware hooded 650 down
jacket 504 Columbia
rainpants 175 Mountain Warehouse Pakka
daypack/organizer 69 Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil
pants 340 Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible
fleece 286 North Face
3 x wool socks 321 Smart Wool, Darn Togh
3 x underwear 216 Exofficio, Calvin Klein
2 x tshirt 315
3 x top 594 Terramar
2 x bottom 356 Terramar
2 x gloves 180 Fleece, insulated
2 x wool beanie 150
light shoes 554 Nike Quest running
slippers 76 Holliday Inn Doha
light/batteries 281 Nitecore HC65/NL1829LTP 2900mAh
chargers/batteries 399
repair kit 50 Homemade
temp beacon 14 Blue Maestro Tempo Disc
spare glasses 31
4 x mesh shopping bags 46 Shopping Mall Nairobi
2 x emergency blanket 96
guide/map 198
money 100
towel 71
steriPEN Ultra 134 Katadyn
thermos 376 GSI MicroLite 1000
water bottle 88 Nalge 1000
cup & spoon 62
soap & meds 1245
lyophylised fruit/chocolate 215
water 0.5 kg
Diagram of hiking temperature ℃ on Renjo La day
Food menus

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Nepal video clips

Highlights

Nepal, day 19-22: Thame-(Namche)-Monjo-Lukla (Trekking Day 16&17 and escape from Lukla)

Relaxed and with nice weather, we continued to walked down beautiful and quiet Bhote Koshi valley. To Namche for chocolate cake at Namche Bakery and then down to Monjo, where we stayed for the night in the same lodge as on the way up (Mount Kailash Lodge). Thame to Monjo is ~13 km. The next day, as we walked another 13 km to Lukla, the weather was still good and we heard all the planes in the air – encouraging sign as we were hopping to fly out of Lukla early next morning. No luck, the weather got worse and we got stuck. Got to the airport before sunrise, checked in and went through security, and spent the whole day there – not a single flight arrived or departed that day because of clouds somewhere between Lukla and Kathmandu. Cargo helicopters were flying, some people payed for helicopters, but still were not able to fly out that day. Groups were rebooked for early morning flights next day, but individuals couldn’t change their tickets until ~4 pm and we got only late 10 am departure slot. Stayed in an overpriced and not so friendly lodge (moved to a different one for the second night). On the second day of waiting for our flight to Kathmandu, we also went to the airport at sunrise, but we’re not able to switch to an earlier flight. Clouds  were on and off and flights were way behind the schedule. With our late slot we had no chance.  After watching how people flying cargo and passengers operate at Lukla, we decided an escape at any cost (perhaps not the $500 they were asking for helicopter flight) was our best bet, although some flights were coming in (and going out).

Lukla airstrip

Landing at Lukla airstrip

 
We took an offer to fly to Ramechhap, a local egg and fuel hub, to put our feet on the ground in the lowlands. Five-hour bus ride to Kathmandu completed the adventure. The bus ride required constant active management,  business models of the driver and the passengers were divergent. Despite some hiking fatigue setting in, we missed the high mountains already.

Nepal, day 17 & 18: Gokyo-Renjo La-Lunden-Thame (Trekking day 14&15)

After visiting remote Gokyo Lake V and scrambling up Gokyo Ri, it was time to cross Renjo Pass, one of the famous passes in the Khumbu/Everest region – considered the easies and with best panoramic view of the high mountains. With perfect weather we were not disappointed!

From Gokyo to Lunden (a.k.a. Lungden or  Lumde, first village with lodges on the other side of the pass )  is ~11 km, 4.5 km and 600 m up to Renjo La, and then 1000 m down. Our porter-guide hired for half a day helped us carry the load up, so we could relax and enjoy the scenery. We also wanted to reach the pass as early as possible, as the weather pattern with clouds in the afternoon was what we were getting every day. The trail is relatively easy (without backpacks) with some steep sectors. The ascent is nicer and easier (although longer) than Gokyo Ri. We were on the pass before the clouds and the views were amazing, best panorama on our trek.  We spent an hour at the pass in perfect weather, sun and no wind, admiring the views.

View from Renjo La

View from Renjo La

 
There were probably 40-50 people on the trail that morning. We started hiking shortly after sunrise in subzero temps ( -6℃), but we warmed up quickly when the Sun got higher (in some quiet spots to above 20℃). Hiked down a steep section of the trail rebuilt after 2015 earthquake, took back our backpacks, had lunch at a lake near the base of the pass, and continued to Lunden. Despite heavy cloud cover and temps dropping below freezing again, it was very nice hike down the beautiful Renjo Khola valley with quite magical views of the mountains appearing/disappearing quickly between clouds. We took a wrong path towards Arye (we knew about the “Y”), but quickly realized the mistake and crossed some pastures to return to the correct trail – we surprised yak herder (who spoke perfect English) when we showed up on his pasture out of nowhere. We spent the night at a newly renovated and good Renjo Pass Support Lodge (recommended) with several other hikers who also came down from the pass. Nice rooms with (small) toilets. Very nice host. One fellow hiker was recovering from a bout of altitude sickness after being helped down the mountain (failed attempt to cross Renjo pass).  The next day it was easy and lazy/slow hike down the Bhote Koshi valley, along an old trading route from Tibet. Nice villages, very few people on the trail.  From Lunden to Thame is another 9.5 km. We were too lazy to visit Thame gompa, just looked from the ridge. Stayed in nice Valley View Lodge and played with giggly owner’s daughter. We were the only guests. Thame is a big and nice village. We used our reserve day earlier so no day hike towards Tashi Labsta.

Nepal, day 12-16: Khumjung-Dole-Machermo-Gokyo (Trekking day 9-13)

We started from Khumjung in very nice weather, but soon clouds came in and we hiked in fog most of the day. At 4000 masl and with Sun behind heavy clouds it was quite cold, small streams and waterfalls were frozen on the surface. We were now hiking north up the Dudh Koshi valley towards Ngozumpa Glacier. The tourist crowd disappeared as the main trail to EBC turns East/North-East after Namche. We passed Mong La (pass) and stayed for the night in Dole at Alpine Cottage Lodge (looked good from the outside, but it was our coldest night with temp in the room dropping to -1°C). The good weather returned the next day, sunny mornings but still clouds every  afternoon, as we continued to Machermo.  Nice day, good views, nice trail in the valley, not crowded at all, relaxing. Very good Sherpa Land Lodge with nice hosts, great atmosphere, the warmest fire of the entire trek. We are gaining altitude. Again very nice walk next day to Gokyo with stops at Lake I and II. Hike from Khumjung to Gokyo (two days) = ~ 20 km. Since we heard that sometimes there were not enough rooms in Gokyo available for late comers, we reserved Cho Oyu View Lodge – it had empty rooms, but other lodges were full. It was OK, but old and quite cold (again ~ 0°C at night in our room). We were both fighting Khumbu cough and cold, so we decided to moved for second and third night to (new) Thanka Inn with insulated walls and sealed windows. It was more expensive, but so much warmer – it was 8°C at night! And food was delicious.

We planned two day hikes from Gokyo: to Lake V and possibly Lake VI, and summiting Gokyo Ri. We went for a relaxed walk to Lake V first despite discouraging weather which made some other hikers turn back. It was a great day (with packed lunch), wonderful views of Ngozumpa glacier, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse.  View of Everest was the excellent from this angle. One of the best days of the trek. Lake VI was beyond our reach, we ran out of time as we spent a lot of time around the lower lakes and on the side moraine watching the glacier and all the big mountains around. Taking pictures. We were almost alone there. Quite stunning views from the moraine above the lake (Scoundrel’s Point).

Ngozumpa Glacier view from Scoundrel’s Point

Ngozumpa Glacier view from Scoundrel’s Point

 
Hike from Gokyo to Lake V and back = ~ 12 km. The next day Joanna made it to Gokyo Ri summit. I took my rest day and slept most of the day. Gokyi Ri trail is short (~4 km round trip) but very steep  (600 m altitude gain), straightforward but  strenuous hike. The views on the way up and from the top were great –  four 8000 m peaks (Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu), lakes and the glacier. Clouds started coming in up the valley when I was approaching the summit, making for some interesting photos. I stayed there about an hour.

View from Gokyo Ri

View from Gokyo Ri

 
There was no wind.Very few or at times no people at the top (I started later than most). Going down was much easier and fast. The clouds were  getting quite thick in the afternoon. Long sleep in warm room, and Piotr started recovering from the cough.

We were quite lucky as a group of guides/porters who came with tourist staying in our lodge had a break the next day and one of them agreed to help us carry our stuff up to Renjo La pass after looking at and weighing our backpacks in his hands:  “Oh, daypacks”.  It made us feel good as we really tried to travel light (most of our warm clothes were on us at this point). He was actually a porter guide and spoke good english.

Nepal, day 9-11: Monjo-Namche-Khumjung (Trekking Day 6-8)

The hike from Monjo to Namche is short,  just 5 km, but quite steep in places as we were gaining 560 m, very crowded in the morning. After checking-in Khumbu Lodge, we walked to  Sagarmatha National Park Headquarters located on a hill just outside Namche – great views of the surrounding mountains. Visited Namche Bakery for sweets and coffee, and to recharge batteries (for free). Namche is nice despite being packed with tourists, but we decided to go to Khumjung the next day and stay there for the night rather than visiting Khumjung and Khunde as a day trip. Only ~ 3 km hike on one of many local trails. Very good decision. Better for acclimatization (3763 masl) and good starting point for the hike to Dole next day. Nice Sherpa village, good lodge, sunny/warm room, fewer tourists. We visited Nauche (Namche) Gompa on the way and walked around Khumjung and to its gompa after lunch. Hidden Village Lodge (recommended)  was an excellent choice. We were the only guests the first night and had good dinnertime talk with our host. There were two groups in our lodge for the second night, but it remained friendly and clean. The lodge and many other buildings are new as the village was badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake.  In the end we decided to stay yet another day in Khumjung, Joanna took her rest day and I wondered around a bit visiting Khunde.  Both villages are very pretty, real villages with school, hospital, monasteries, fields, yaks, fewer tourists. I took advantage of sunny weather to do some laundry, in a big bucket, taking water from the central village faucet. Made some people laugh. Sun or not it took 3 days to dry our stuff. Ended the day walking up a small hill to take sunset photos of the mountains – no luck as clouds moved in. At these altitudes it can get cold, but when the Sun is out it feels almost like summer and the weather was quite warm that year, we were told. The lowest temp we were exposed to so far was 4℃ in our room at night in Monjo. We are in real mountains now with nearby peaks  6000 – 7000 m high and some 8000 m peaks not far away.

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