Hiking To EBC Part 6: The Hard Part Begins.
Map is here of course.
Day 19: Namche Bazaar To Chheubas
This was probably my longest single day of walking on the whole trek. I woke up and immediately set out, stopping only for a cup of coffee and cinnamon roll at the bakery on the way out of Namche. I practically flew down the first part of the trail, reaching the first river crossing at the bottom of the valley only 40 minutes after leaving town. From there it was a leisurely walk back along the path I'd taken in from Lukla up to the point where the path back to Jiri splits from the path to Lukla (no sense climbing up to Lukla on the way out - there's plenty of that to come over the next 6 days).
Shortly after the split, the path drops steeply down to cross a river at 2200 meters near Surke before climbing up to Cheubbas at around 2800 meters. I had originally planned to make it to Paiya which was a bit further on but by that point I'd had enough and just stayed in Cheubbas in what turned out to be the worst lodge I stayed in in Nepal.
Day 20: Cheubbas To Nunthala
I had heard stories about what a pain the walk between Jiri and Lukla was from many people and this day was my first real taste with lots of steep downhills and a long long uphill climb at the end of the day. All in all this day wasn't such a bad walk though, except for the very long steep downhill portion to Kharikola in the morning. This was about the time I figured out that the steep uphill climbs were going to end up being the "fun" part of the hike out.
The afternoon started with a short drop back down to about 1600 meters to cross the Dudh Khosi for the last time. After that I left the river behind as the trail from this point on headed west over a series of ridges instead of following the river valleys. The afternoon was a long but pleasant hike up to Nunthala at 2330 meters.
Day 21: Nunthala To Junbesi
This day started with another long climb up to the Taksindu La pass at 3070 meters. About 30 minutes after leaving Nunthala I hit the fresh snowfall from the night before and the remaining climb up to the pass was quite beautiful and seemed to pass quickly.
From the pass, the path dropped down through Ringmo to cross another river, climbed back up through Phortenu at a hair over 3000 meters then dropped down to Junbesi 2650 meters. Unfortunately I hit clouds on the climb to Phortenu so I didn't take too many pictures in the afternoon.
Junbesi itself was a nice town and if it hadn't been snowing heavily when I arrived I would have taken some time to look around. If I'm ever crazy enough to do this leg of the trek again I will definitely give myself an extra night or so there to explore the area.
Enough for now. Tomorrow night I'm leaving Bangkok to head down south to Koh Tao to start diving, but I should have time before I leave to post the last part of my trek.
Day 19: Namche Bazaar To Chheubas
This was probably my longest single day of walking on the whole trek. I woke up and immediately set out, stopping only for a cup of coffee and cinnamon roll at the bakery on the way out of Namche. I practically flew down the first part of the trail, reaching the first river crossing at the bottom of the valley only 40 minutes after leaving town. From there it was a leisurely walk back along the path I'd taken in from Lukla up to the point where the path back to Jiri splits from the path to Lukla (no sense climbing up to Lukla on the way out - there's plenty of that to come over the next 6 days).
Shortly after the split, the path drops steeply down to cross a river at 2200 meters near Surke before climbing up to Cheubbas at around 2800 meters. I had originally planned to make it to Paiya which was a bit further on but by that point I'd had enough and just stayed in Cheubbas in what turned out to be the worst lodge I stayed in in Nepal.
Day 20: Cheubbas To Nunthala
I had heard stories about what a pain the walk between Jiri and Lukla was from many people and this day was my first real taste with lots of steep downhills and a long long uphill climb at the end of the day. All in all this day wasn't such a bad walk though, except for the very long steep downhill portion to Kharikola in the morning. This was about the time I figured out that the steep uphill climbs were going to end up being the "fun" part of the hike out.
The afternoon started with a short drop back down to about 1600 meters to cross the Dudh Khosi for the last time. After that I left the river behind as the trail from this point on headed west over a series of ridges instead of following the river valleys. The afternoon was a long but pleasant hike up to Nunthala at 2330 meters.
Day 21: Nunthala To Junbesi
This day started with another long climb up to the Taksindu La pass at 3070 meters. About 30 minutes after leaving Nunthala I hit the fresh snowfall from the night before and the remaining climb up to the pass was quite beautiful and seemed to pass quickly.
From the pass, the path dropped down through Ringmo to cross another river, climbed back up through Phortenu at a hair over 3000 meters then dropped down to Junbesi 2650 meters. Unfortunately I hit clouds on the climb to Phortenu so I didn't take too many pictures in the afternoon.
Junbesi itself was a nice town and if it hadn't been snowing heavily when I arrived I would have taken some time to look around. If I'm ever crazy enough to do this leg of the trek again I will definitely give myself an extra night or so there to explore the area.
Enough for now. Tomorrow night I'm leaving Bangkok to head down south to Koh Tao to start diving, but I should have time before I leave to post the last part of my trek.
1 Comments:
This has been really interesting to read and view....snow pass to Thame, the tree and trail, Jubing terraces and the trail, and trail signs pics make me really understand what the trek was like as you walked it. Close-ups...like the fat chicken and prayer wheel made the contrast with the panoramic shots fun and fascinatng to view.
Sorry it's nearly over!
Lynne
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