EBC Part 5 Leaving EBC and Kala Patar

Day 10: Leaving Gorak Shep, next stop Periche

Lunch stop
Seconds after this was taken I burst into tears, I just couldn’t stop crying. I did more crying than the rest of the group put together, actually I was the only one who cried! 
It had been a very long morning‘s walk, the weather was glorious and the terrain was mostly flat and easy and I had walked too quickly. When we reached here I was exhausted, I had used every joule of energy, my battery was flat and I felt that I just couldn’t continue. Thankfully after some food and rest I felt much better and was able to walk the 2 hours to our lodge easily.

Approaching Periche

Public toilet on the outskirts of town!

Snow Land Lodge Periche
Very nice lodge, good western toilet, not smelly. Shower not working though! Again I was stood in a shower shivering with nothing on. The owner was trying to figure out why the water wasn’t getting hot, they used those large gas canisters. She was in the shower with me, wearing a down jacket, I had a towel round me! She was talking to her husband upstairs through the ceiling. Eventually I said to give up as I needed to get dressed and get warm. Wet wipes again and the same pair of knickers on for 3 days!! (I was using panty liners). They managed to fix it later but by that time I was warm and cosy in the dining room and didn’t want to move. Besides there’s something quite liberating about not washing!!  

Josh with the owner, they were a lovely family with two darling little children. 
This was the second of my three favourite lodges.
All the lodges supplied plenty of delicious energy packed food - Sherpa stew, pasta, pizza, apple pie, spaghetti bolognese, fresh fruit, pastries, dal bhaat, soups, curry.

All washed down with a plentiful supply of chai. 

And every night the lodges boiled water for us. Phurba collected our metal water bottles which we used as hot water bottles in our sleeping bags then as drinking water the next day. We also bought bottled water but tried to keep this to a minimum. Disposal of them is a problem as everything has to be transported back to Kathmandu for recycling. 
The day ended well – the dining room was blissfully hot and cosy, I had a fantastic pizza and pudding and my socks turned up! Phurba had phoned the lodge where I left them, they sent them with someone who was coming up as we were going down. How good was that. Love that man.

Day 11: Leaving Periche

Pretty yaks enjoying some tasty lichen and cooling off 

Nepali graffiti

Far with lunch stop in the background

After lunch we visited a monastery

Which had information about the Gompa (Religious residence of Buddhist Monks) and and festivals.

According to local legend a venerable old lama tore out his hair and threw it around the Gompa. The large black juniper trees that now surround the Gompa sprouted from those hairs. Due to their spiritual significance the trees have grown incredibly large because it is forbidden to cut them. Juniper is important to the Sherpa people, they use incense from the leaves to perform Shang (purification ceremonies), and religious ceremonies.
Sherpa climbers use the incense to worship the gods and goddesses to ensure their safety. 
The forest also provides an important habitat for wildlife species to prosper.  

Phurba seemed to know everyone,
he lives near Namche and regularly escorts people on various treks in the region. 
He knew this monk who gave us some blue gentian flowers and a blessing for our journey.

Rough, rugged and scary terrain. I think we were heading to that bridge middle left of the picture above.

Our next stop ahead

Peaceful Lodge, Phortse

7 hours walking, a very arduous day. 

A nice lodge, warm and cosy, the third of my favourites.

Had a fantastic shower and put some clean knickers on! Good food, played cards, talked about the day's events, lots of laughs especially when the conversation included lavatorial anecdotes!! 

Day 12: Looking back at where we had been

This man Pasang Lama Sherpa collects donations for the building and maintenance of the main trail to Everest base camp. I think he is there most days.

Back at the Yak hotel in Namche for lunch. It had been a long morning’s walk, the sandwiches and chips were delicious, just what we needed to set us up for the long trek to Monjo.