My Big Nepalese Adventure – Laughing Back in Lukla. Day 19

This is it! Our final day out on the Everest Highway.

Who would have thought that this day would finally arrive? Not me.

Who would have thought that I would actually survive it all? I had my doubts.

Regardless, there is one last mountain to stroll up and we are done! Let’s go…

Day: 19

Date: Sunday, 20 October 2024.

From:  Ghat (2,600m)                      To: Lukla (2,800m)

Daily Km: 5.8km                                Walking Time: 2h9m

Progress: 138.3km

Ascent: 362m                                     Descent: 87m

Weather: Misty light rain, sunny and then yet another complete white out.

Terrain: Consistently up all the way to Lukla on wide, clear paths.

Stayed At: Everest Mountain Home lodge

General Comments:

• I was a bit nonplussed this morning when I woke to the pitter, patter of gentle rain on the roof of the tent. This was definitely not how I pictured our last day in the Himalayas starting out. Tentatively peeling back the tent flap and peering outside, a thick fog hung over everything, eliminating any views and seemingly to dampen the sound.
• I tried to stay positive and told myself (and anyone else who would listen) that it was just a ‘mountain mist’. As if I knew anything about mountains or mountain weather?! 😉

• Surprise, surprise! The rain stopped, the mist did clear and we were all itching to get going – even if it did mean walking up yet another mountain! This one was different though as it was our final mountain.
• Our excitement and relief for the day ahead was probably nothing compared to that of our porters. Today was the last day they would load up our bags and, once they dropped them to the lodge in Lukla, they would return to their villages until they get their next job.

• Last night there was a small presentation and few speeches as the porters and kitchen staff received their tip envelopes. The porters were shy and reluctant to speak, but we did learn that most of them came from the same village, two days walk from Lukla. That equates to quite a distance as their walking speed is a million times faster than ours.
• When you see the tiny villages perched on the side of sheer, distant mountains, it is not hard to imagine that some people may never leave their villages and continue to live the same way they have always done. With the addition of mobile phones, of course. Even the poorest looking person is sporting a mobile phone and I suspect it is of a much newer and more sophisticated technology than the one I own. That wouldn’t be hard though. 😉

• Once we hit the trail this morning, I was surprised at how much I had forgotten from our first steps on the exact same path, only a few short weeks ago. I guess we were excited back then to be setting out on this great adventure and feeling a bit stressed that we had to hurry to make up lost time. All of that, plus all the sensory input would have provided serious distractions and boggled my brain. No wonder I forgot stuff.
• My memory was telling me we were in for a very steep hike up to Lukla, when in reality there were quite a few level, or relatively flat sections.
• Or maybe today’s path pales in significance to the terrain we have covered in the last couple of weeks? 😊

• With a blink of an eye we were back standing under the entrance gates to Lukla for our final group photo. We had done it! Who would have believed it? Certainly not me.
• I swear there were so many times when I thought I would never make it and that this was the stupidest thing I had ever attempted. It just shows what you can achieve when you go ‘slowly, slowly’ and never give up.
• I think I will need to reflect for a long while to understand what this adventure actually meant and whether I enjoyed it. ‘Enjoyment’ is probably not the right way to describe something so physically and mentally demanding. More accurately, it was spectacular, challenging and a true privilege to be able to do it. Lots more thinking required.

• If you have been keeping an eye on the logistics section above, you may have noticed that the total distance figure has just clocked over to a mere 138.3km. As I have said multiple times in my posts, this trek is definitely not about distance.
• In the meantime, we were back in civilisation. That meant time for shopping, coffee, cake (very fresh this time) and haircuts.
• It also meant the hurry-up-and-wait process has started all over again. Our departure from Lukla was looking as uncertain and chaotic as our arrival.

• Our guide, Roy, began making phone calls to find out whether there was the remote chance that we could fly out this afternoon, but the thick cloud rolling in and closing the airport soon put paid to those aspirations.
• The phone calls continue and the bureaucrats are busily passing the buck and/or telling you what they think you want to hear rather than anything based in fact. We are all getting extremely nervous as we are all booked on flights the day after tomorrow. Will we meet them as planned? It felt like it was all in the lap of the Gods…or the bureaucrats.
• For one last time, watch this space!

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