Everest Base Camp and Kalla Patthar Day 11
Everest and Nuptse
We are covering some major ground in this blog post. In Day 10 we hiked from Everest Base Camp to Thukla. Today, we are hiking from Thukla to Tengboche. This is a little bit of a stretch, but in the words of Bob the Builder, “Yes we can!” So, kick back, kick up your shoes, and glide down the mountain with me while I entertain you with this humerus and entertaining blog post.
Day 11: Trek to Tengboche
I was still off put by the food this morning so I decided on porridge, which I thought would be easy for the chef to get right. I’m sure in some parts of the wold, the food I was served would count as 5-star meals, but I just wasn’t satisfied porridge that tasted like paper mache. After forcing down my porridge, my guide and I departed for Tengboche. The trail was almost exactly the same as the trail from Dingboche to Lobuche. It was slightly different being a little lower in elevation, about 30 meters, and closer to the “Chola Kola.”
As we passed through Pheriche, I asked my guide to stop for lunch. It had been less than an hour since breakfast and my guide made it a point to remind me of that. With some quick goat thinking I said “na-nana- boo-boo, ta chha?” This roughly translates to na-nana-boo-boo, you know what I mean? I’m sure he knew that I was messing with him but he replied “Ya man.” The only open place was Pumori Lodge. The restaurant was out of potatoes so I ordered a rather stale garlic soup.
Ama Dablam, Malangphulang, kangtenga, and Pheriche from Thukla. Tabuche is in the right hand side foreground
Clear sailing from here
Coming out of Pheriche we crossed Pheriche Pass. Directly left from Pheriche Pass are the Dudh Koshi river, and Ama Dablam. From this angle the mountain is not as amazing as it is from the south. Nonetheless we had fantastic views of the mountain and river as we passed Somare and Pangboche. My guide wanted to get a lunch in Somare. When I protested he said “na-nana-boo-boo.” I thought to myself somebody is not getting a tip. I couldn’t help but laugh and we stopped for lunch.
After lunch we followed the trail along the Dudh Koshi river. We walked along the ridges of the high hills taking in the awe of their warmth and natural beauty. It was a little strange that my attention shifted from mountain peaks that pierce the sky to the less dynamic hills of the river canyon. We continued along the hill crests overlooking the river. despite my attention being drawn to the hills, the mountain views were still spectacular.
Dudh Koshi and the trail to Tengboche
Rhododendrons on the trail
Coming up from Pangboche through Deboche to Tengboche, we walked through one of the most beautiful forests in Nepal. I previously mentioned it in Day 5: Tengboche to Dingboche, but it’s a fact I would like to solidify on the pages of this blog post. It reminds me of a pacific coast forest. I was enchanted to say the least. The forest has 3 dominant tree species. Pines occupy the upper canopy, birch occupy the mid canopy, and rhododendrons occupy the lower canopy.
Trekking through the forest on the way back was a surreal experience, because there was still snow on the ground from the snow storm that blew through towards the end of day 5. Around patches of snow were equally large patches of moss and leaf mulch. The forest extended all the way to Tengboche and was a complete pleasure to walk in all the way to the end.
Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam as seen through the forest in Deboche
We reached Tengboche at around 4:15 pm. We again stayed in Hotel Himalayan. I don’t know if I was just really hungry or my taste buds were blown out from the paper mache paste I had for breakfast, but I ordered and ate the 3ed most delicious pizza in Nepal. The first was in Kathmandu, the second was in Pokhara, and surprise the third here in Tengboche. I enjoyed it so much, I ordered a second one, which I happily devoured.