Woke up at around 7:30am, and the sky was so clear with no clouds in sight. The two German girls greeted me Happy Birthday! and even sang a birthday song for me in German. It was really nice. Had breakfast and we all decided to ‘sun bathe’ at the garden. It was so relaxing. We initially planned to stay there one more day, but decided to just leave after lunch. Had a photo taken with our German friends just before they left. Ricardo and Lena left at around 10am. Justin surprised me with a slice of chocolate cake and a can of SMB. It was really thoughtful of him. He left at around 11:00am to go down.
L-R : Tomas, Justin, Heidi, Gabby, Lars, Mandy, Caroline, Paul, Me, Lena, Ricardo
'sun bathing' :)
Paul and I left at around 11:30am. Went down from the top of the mountain down to the river again, and crossed to another mountain where our next stop is going to be – Bamboo.
a waterfall and the snow-capped mountain as backdrop. :)
It was another steep climb to Sinuwa at 2340m. Got there at about 2:00pm and saw the German group. Stayed there for a bit to wait for Paul and the view was again amazing. Like the mountains were really near us now. Had a few entertainment via a young boy dancing to a Nepali song.
We left just before 3:00pm. It was a pretty smooth trail at the start, mostly flat. Until we entered the forest. It was up-down until it was another steep climb to Kuldi at 2470m. After climbing a steep trail I heard a dog barking and I knew it was just nearby. And so I waited for the Spanish old couple who I made friends with along the trek, just to have someone to walk with past the barking dog. It was so funny but they were super nice to me. Yes, I'm scared of barking dogs. ;)
After that, everything was downhill to the village of Bamboo at 2310 m. The first part was all stone steps and very steep, which made me realize that I would have to climb it back again after the base camp. Afterwards, almost every stone step was wet and slippery from the water from the streams, or just tree roots. I was taking my time just to go down there. At 3:45pm I made it to Bamboo. Sat at the side of the first teahouse to wait for Paul. Made friends with a Ukrainian (first Ukrainian I’ve ever met) who offered me some snacks. He was also waiting for his nine other friends. He also knows a lot of Filipinos whom he worked with at the ship. It was going to be his birthday in three days. Yey for us!
As soon as Paul arrived we looked for our German friends. The only two rooms left at the guesthouse was a small one (which was fine) except that it only had tin walls (yero in Filipino) at the front and back and thin plywood on the sides. Not enough insulation at all. I knew it was going to be a very cold night.
At the dining hall during dinner we found out that our German friends are also a band named Fusel Woche and they just had a gig a few weeks ago. And hopefully we'll get to see them play again after the trek. We also had a new friend from Austria named Katie, and she was super nice and friendly. She also sang Happy Birthday for me in German after Paul told him it was my birthday. And also chatted a bit with the Spanish old couple who walked with me earlier. Then just before going to bed, Caroline from the German group also greeted me. And Tomas the next day. They're really nice people. And yes, Paul and I really like them. :)
It has been a great 26th birthday with the sky so blue and clear. And meeting a lot of nice people along the trek.
Day 5 Nov 21 : Bamboo (2310m) – Dobhan (2500m) – Himalaya (2840m) – Deurali (3140m)
Our room in Bamboo was so bad, I woke up at around 1am because I could feel the cold penetrating my blanket, down jacket, fleece, and thermals. Paul and I realized that day that it was very stupid of us, as pointed out by so many people, to have not brought a sleeping bag. Our mantra from that day on was “We’ll have a hard time, but we’ll manage.” Because we knew it was going to be a lot colder the next few nights as we get nearer the Base Camp.
We had an early breakfast just so we can make it to Deurali. People normally stop in Himalaya, but we thought to push it to Deurali so we can lessen our climb up the next day to Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC) which is going to be at 3800m.
By this time we were already used to climbing up and to the weight of our bags. However, the trails were riskier or more dangerous from here on since there will be a few avalanche areas that we needed to cross. So far, there has been no risk of avalanche as the weather has been good. But we still needed to be safe in crossing those areas – large boulders with water from the mountains flowing over it.
And so far the scariest part of the trek for me was crossing one of the avalanche areas near Deurali. It was a relatively huge avalanche area with a relatively strong water current and a lot of boulders. I didn’t know if I should go down more to look for a bridge. Until I saw two girls climbing up just near where I stood. Looked into where they came from and saw how scary it was. No stones to step on going down to the river/waterfall area. Just pure hard soil and very narrow. Three porters were behind me and I let them pass. ‘Come.’ one porter said. I took my time going down four undefined steps just because it was really scary especially with my bag on. I found comfort when I saw them waiting for me on the other side and cheering me on. It was the scariest moment/part of my five days of trekking. The flow was relatively strong and the huge boulders that I was supposed to step on were submerged in water. Halfway through, I stopped because I didn’t know where I’m supposed to put my other foot next. I was about to ask for help from the porters. Then I realized that staying there longer than five seconds would be very stupid. I pushed on and made it safely across. Then I saw that there was a small narrow wooden bridge a few meters down. (Later on I learned from Caroline that the bridge was also scary.) I decided to wait for Paul and tell him to go down and cross the bridge instead.
in Deurali
We now have a better room in Deurali which is really comforting given that it’s so cold right now. I’m wearing two thermal bottoms, my waterproof/fleece pants, a thermal top, a fleece jacket, a down jacket, beanie, and gloves. Hope I sleep well tonight. No altitude sickness symptoms so far which I’m very thankful for.
sunset in Deurali. :)
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