Everest Base Camp Trek Part 5 ~ The return of the Jedi from Gorak Shep all the way to Namche Bazaar.

Part 5 ~ The story of how the Jedis willed themselves onwards in a half-dazed state from Gorak Shep to Pheriche, and how the same knights gallantly drove themslves by sheer determination on foot back to Namche Bazaar.

[Photo: Fann]

This was finally the turn back towards home.  Everyone knew the end was drawing near.  Near, but not that near yet.  Three more days separated us from the comfort of Kathmandu.  In many ways, our objectives had been accomplished.  And the victorious members just only needed to be patient and continue their walk, which by now was already in rhythmic automatic mode.  The Jedis were finally returning home.




[In this Travellogue, I have tried my best to credit all the photos to their respective photographers, and I tried my best to recall verbatim what members said during the whole trip. Most events are as I could remember them. Those who have expressed clearly to me their wishes not to have their photos shared online I have post-processed the photographs so that their faces are pixelated to protect their privacies.]

Table of Contents:

1. EBC Trek Part 1 ~ An epic adventure.  Kathmandu to Lukla.  Lukla to Phakding.  Phakding to Namche Bazaar.   Acclimatisation in Namche Bazaar.
2. EBC Trek Part 2 ~ The air got thinner & the body got more tired.  Namche Bazaar to Tengboche & Debuche.  Debuche to Dingboche.  Acclimatisation in Dingboche.
3. EBC Trek Part 3 ~ The Final Push.  Dingboche to Lobuche.  Lobuche to Gorak Shep and to EBC and back to Gorak Shep. 
4. EBC Trek Part 4 ~ Kala Patthar
5. EBC Trek Part 5 ~ The unrelenting march from day to night - Gorak Shep to Periche.  Another long day to night march from Periche to Namche Bazaar.
6. EBC Trek Part 6 ~ No matter how tired... just go into Cruise-control mode walking from Namche Bazaar to finally arrive back in Lukla in the dark, yet again.
7. EBC Trek Part 7 ~ Flying back to Kathmandu.  Rest and Relax in Kathmandu and flying home!

EBC TREK Day 10 ~ The long trek from Gorak Shep to Pheriche from day till evening.

27 Nov 2017

Here is the Relive video of our homebound trek from Gorak Shep to Pheriche, ending in the evening.

Relive 'Trek from Gorak Shep down to Pheriche'

Here is the Strava Flyby of this day's trek.  Just click on the image below, play and zoom in and see. This one is a day of AMS.  Zoom in to see how Kai Sing, Alex, Lai Peng and Patrick very quickly detached themselves from the rear and pushed ahead.  Darric was initially a little behind but a sudden burst of energy saw him catching up with Alex group and they trekked together to arrive at Lobuche for lunch.  Meanwhile KC stayed with us rear group.

Here is my Garmin record of the days' trek.  By the time we arrived at Pheriche in the dark, with slight flurry of snow... it was around 7:30pm and really dark.



The VIDEO:  The exhausting trek in the homewards direction to Pheriche... in the mist, in flurry of snow, and in the dark

"The first group will set off from Gorak Shep at 9:30am, and the second group slightly later," announced Adrian

The second group ended up leaving at about 10:25am.  At 5190m, the coldness stayed on even when the sun was high up and blasting with all her fury.  Our layers stayed on as we bid goodbye to Gorak Shep and went southwest-wards.

Looking back as we left Gorak Shep. [Photo: Fann]

On this part of the trek, there was no other trekkers apart from our team.  Desolate as it was, I had expected few other people out here, more so as the trekking season was coming to an end as December drew near.

General health of the team

I quite enjoyed having the whole universe to ourselves.  If only the going hadn't been so tough.  I made a mental note to myself to train even harder the next time I attempt another trek in Nepal.  So far I was proud of the family.  Serene, with minimal training, was doing good.  Slow but with hardly any illnesses and no AMS.  Fann was of pristine health, apart from that one small spell of E.coli traveller's diarrhoea.
The rest of the team was generally good. Jason, apart from his old knee injury, had no AMS and didn't fall sick a single bit.  Lai Peng was in the pink of health, so was Alex.  These two showed no signs of anything, except for the two separate occasions when each had his and her share of blue lips.  Ka Lin was superb.  Like Fann, after her Suzhou-acquired E.coli cleared, she was as fast an as fit as a fiddle.  Patrick and KC Tng were buddies in battle, of equal pace and equal fervour in their quest for their objective.  Mild respiratory symptoms were common, as it hit almost every one in the team, apart from three or four.  I was half expecting the diarrhoea issue to be widespread but thankfully it only hit eight members.
Ryan, Ai Lin, Tan Ji Koong were the ones who adapted so well and had no medical issues at all.

A handsome stance by Babu as he surveyed the route leading the group. [Photo: Fann]

AMS had a field day among us.  But surprisingly it didn't hit most of us that hard.  Only several of us, myself included, got affected badly.  At the end of the trip I did a mental count and realised that AMS hit only about eight out of twenty eight of us, in various degrees of the whole spectrum.  Certainly nowhere near the 90% Adrian had predicted (Heng ah!).  Muscular aches and pain was almost non-existent within the team.  That, was a real surprise to me, having prepared loads of pills in anticipation of that.
What I would conclude was, this group of highly-motivated individuals were of such good physical state and had such robust mental fortitude, that they needed almost nothing else other than the occasional panadol and perhaps some anti-histamine and anti-diarrhoea pills.

Making out way up and away from Gorak Shep. [Photo: Patrick]

The trek right out of Gorak Shep was a climb.  And the heavy breathing started.  There could never be an easy Himalayan trek.  It would be the undulating terrain, or a severe shortage of life-sustaining oxygen, or if everything else failed to deter, the freezing cold would serve as an adversity.  Us city-dwellers living in tropical climate were really not at any form of advantage.  I felt that it was simply admirable that we all showed up at the starting line and managed to cross the finishing line.

A magnificent view looking back at all of us panting up the trek. [Photo: Patrick]

Coming down the slope. [Photo: Kai Sing]

Of Caloric replenishment... and diminishing immunity

This was the tenth day of the trip, and we had nine consecutive days of trekking.  After the surge of adrenaline to EBC and for some, up to Kala Patthar, everyone was beginning to feel the effect of fatigue, if they had not already experienced it earlier.  I had an interesting conversation with Kai Sing one evening and we concluded that most were not eating enough.

As estimated, a big set man would require about 4000-5000 Cal of energy replacement daily on such a trek with an average 6-7 hours of trekking every day.  With our three meals, at best we would derive about 2000-2200Cal.  If one was fortunate enough to have ordered Dal Bhat, the porters and guides would happily refill the rice, the vegetable, and the lentils until one could no longer stuff any more down.  The energy bars and snacks along the way, and our self-brought instant noodles certainly played a major role in supplementing our intake.  But there would definitely still be a caloric deficit.

"You see, all it takes was for everyone to be a little short of energy every day.  Day by day it will accumulate.  Of course our bodies will burn fat and muscles to scramble to replenish itself.  But eventually if this goes on long enough, everyone's immune system will start to break down, and then all will start to fall sick," analysed Kai Sing.

What a piece of wisdom!  After hearing this from Kai Sing, I was in total agreement.  And all the pieces begun to fall into places.  That explained why as the trek went on, even those strong ones were starting to fall sick.
This was truly another learning point for ourselves.  Energy-replacement and adequate hydration were equally important, if not more, than pacing oneself and not over-exerting at any one part.  I will definitely buy plenty of energy bars and trail snacks from Thamel the next round to bring up.

The EBC x 2 Bandit and the Kala Patthar Bandit. [Photo: Fann]

Lai Peng before she took off on her wings again! [Photo: Who else but Lai Peng's iPhone lor.. haha!]

We were simply trekking on a relatively constant altitude, around 5200m-5100m, with no major variations.  At this altitude, we were above the clouds.  Looking afar we could see a souffle of clouds hugging the waist of the peaks.  This was a unique sight.  Simply worth the trek up to this level.

Looking forward and southward where we were headed, we were in the clouds at 5100m. [Photo: Fann]

Somewhere in front, where the front group was about an hour ahead, they came upon a flat ground where there was a heli-evacuation taking place.  And the boys and girls wasted no opportunity to take shots of the occasion.  From what Adrian revealed, two days before we arrived at Gorak Shep, a Japanese trekker died from AMS there.  One week before we started our trek, a Swedish group led by the same local operator had to have two of them heli-evacuated from Dingboche, and three more heli-evacuated from Lobuche, all due to AMS.
So far we had been really lucky.

Another helicopter evacuation near Gorak Shep? Must be another AMS casualty. [Photo: Alex]

Our trusty walkie talkies...

Meanwhile, those of us one hour behind were still negotiating the ups and downs on the rocky slopes.   My walkie talkie had been a constant companion on this trip.  And I was glad that more than that few important occasions the walkie talkies had served us well.  The only issue was battery lives.  With Energizer AA size batteries, a set of three would last at most a day and a half.  But up above 4000m where temperature constantly hit negative ten degrees celsius, a set would sometimes go kaput in less than a day.   An attempt to stick a heat pack to the back of my walkie talkie to keep it warm did help quite a bit.

On this day, I changed a new set of batteries and stuck a brand new heat pack on the walkie talkie.  I wasn't expecting much communications.  But as we were taking delicate steps down a slope, I suddenly received a radio call from Kong Wan:

"Hello Wee How, hello Wee How, this is Kong Wan." my walkie talkie buzzed.

"Kong Wan, send."

"Hey, Casey is not doing well.  He is resting.  Please see if you can get to him and see him quickly," came Kong Wan over the radio.

"Roger that, Kong Wan.  We are making our way up.  I will keep a look out for him."

A big question mark begun to form in my mind.  What-the-fertiliser? If Kong Wan had to walkie talkie me, it might not be good news.

Meanwhile we continued our downhill trek.

AMS on our home-bound trek

So it happened that us rear group was not far from where Casey was seated and resting at the side of the trek, with Adrian and Binot accompanying him.
I walked up to Casey.  He looked pale.

"Wee How, have a look at Casey. I suspect he may be having HAPE.  He is talking incoherently," said Adrian. "And also take a look at TJK, see if he is having a HAPE too and if he needs a jab."

Wah lau eh.. This was really what-the-fertiliser.  A quick signal and Serene and Sabinn Rai kicked into action.  By now, these two were well coordinated.  Sabinn would quickly run up and open up his backpack and take out all the medical packs.  Serene would grab my equipments and prepare the ampoules, syringes and alcohol swabs with all the necessary medicine as I barked out my orders.

I checked Casey's SaO2.  It said 76%.  Not good.
Blood pressure was stable.
A careful listen to his lungs revealed crepitations at both the bases of the lungs.  This good man definitely was coming down with water in the lungs.

"Casey, hey listen to me.  You have water in your lungs.  I am going to administer a jab for you and some medication.  You have to trust me - 101%.  I am going get you down in one piece."

A quick mental examination found him to be still lucid.  Adrian remarked that he was babbling some nonsense just now when he walked towards him.  Perhaps some confusion.  But I was sure he only had water in his lungs.  Not to the stage of cerebral oedema yet.

Intramuscular Dexamethasone.  Oral Dexamethasone 0.5mg, Theophylline 250mg one whole tablet. Frusemide 40mg and Potassium Chloride 600mg stat doses, and one more dose of Diamox 250mg.  All done within a couple of minutes.

"Casey, ok from this point onwards, you gotta walk really slowly.  Take deep breaths.  I have given you some medicine to open up your airways, and also to help you pee out the excess water from your lungs.  You will feel like pee-ing.  Just pee whenever you feel like it ok? But you MUST hydrate, so keep drinking water ok?" He nodded.

Adrian asked me: "Do you think he can make it to Pheriche? Or do we need to heli-evacuate him at the next village?" 

"Adrian, I am very sure he can make it to Pheriche.  Trust me.  I am going to keep an eye on him all the way."

The terrain changed again. Another old glacier bed. [Photo: Fann]

Next I turned my attention to TJK who was sitting appearing dazed on a tock opposite Casey.

"TJK, are you ok? Anywhere painful?  Do you feel unwell?" I asked.

"OK leh."

With such an answer, it became a physician's nightmare.  'Ok leh' could mean a lot of things.  It could mean that he was really 'Ok'.  But it could also mean that he was totally not ok but his brain could not comprehend anything and thus what came out from his mouth was a simple 'OK leh'.  So I got down to work.  It took me all my strength to pull up all his seven layers - base layers x 2, middle layers x 3, down jackets x 2 to reach his chest.  I listened very very carefully.  His lungs were crystal clear, and his SaO2 was way above 90%.
He was just fatigued.

"Adrian, TJK is just tired.  He needs nothing, no jabs."

"Ok, I will see if when we reach Thukla or Lobuche we can hire a couple of horses to send them further down to Pheriche," said Adrian.  I could see from the deep frown he was entertaining all his possible contingencies.  Not an enviable position.  I would rather just be a simple humble panadol-dispenser and leave the decision making to the team leader.

Challenging and exciting to find the correct stone to step on.

And so the troupe continued, with Binot walking side by side with Casey.  We watched with disbelief as Casey sped ahead with such high cadence that soon he was way ahead of us.

"Wah lau eh.. this Casey ah, already kena AMS liao.. still walk so fast!" kao-beh-ed Serene.

Making some informed calculation before taking my next step. [Photo: Fann]

Casey was really walking too fast.  His natural cadence was fast.  Thus it was difficult for him to go at a slower pace.  Even Binot had difficulty reigning him in.  At one point I caught up with him.  I was looking at my watch.  It had been one and a half hours already and he hadn't even passed urine yet.

"Binot, Casey is dehydrated.  He needs to keep drinking water.  Can you keep passing him his water bladder to drink?" I told Binot.

And Casey tried to drink.  But the water in his Camelbak tube had all frozen into ice.  And he could not suck anything out.  So he ended up drinking from water bottle.

Better don't step wrongly on the ice. [Photo: Kong Wan]

"We really need to descend," I told Adrian. "Casey will feel better once we go below 5000m."

But the altimeter stubbornly stayed at 5100m for a long long stretch.  And at times it even went back up to 5200m as we climbed.  I could not remember exactly but it was another two hours or so as we approached the rocky stretch with the icy stream, that was the old glacier bed that I started seeing my Garmin registering 5000m, 4900m and such.

OK OK let's slowly make way out of this rocky and icy mine field.

"Wee How, can you radio Babu in front and tell them we will have lunch at Lobuche instead of Thukla,' instructed Adrian.

I passed my walkie talkie to Binot because it was easier for the guides to communicate rather than for Babu to try to make out what I was trying to convey.

The clouds were unrelenting in mistifying our forward field.

As we slowly approached lunch point, we found that the sky had become overcast.  A huge mist of fog and cloud was approaching us from in front very rapidly.  This was a scene right out of a fantasy science fiction.  I had never seen anything like this.  Almost like an approaching storm with something sinister going to happen.

Even the rocky terrain couldn't escape the effects of the clouds moving directly towards us.

All at once the surrounding darkened and the temperature plunged.  Trekking high up in the mountains was just like that.  The weather was so unpredictable.  Our solar panel became useless as the sun was firstly in front of us so the panels were against the sun, and now that the clouds had shrouded us, I just folded my solar panels.  They had been great while the sun lasted on the way out to EBC.  But on the return trek, the sun would be in front of us most of the days.

On our right some mountaineers make camp before they summit Lobuche peak... maybe Khoo Swee Chiow's group?

Our attention was drawn to a camp site some distant to our right where some climbers were ready to summit a peak, most likely Lobuche peak which was hidden in the clouds.  A split second clearance in the cloud would reveal Lobuche peak, and then it would disappear again.  It was so freezing cold I wondered to myself if I were there in the tent would I be suffering in consternation, from both the cold and from apprehension not knowing when my window of summit would come?  I dare not think further.  As of this moment, my main aim was to reach Pheriche.

A sudden clearance in the clouds revealed Lobuche peak.  But only for that few seconds. [Photo: Fann]

Make sure we head towards the correct direction. [Photo: Lai Peng]

While the rear group was navigating the Lobuche peak area, the front group which was one hour ahead of us were already nearing the lunch.  The sky had turned dark and misty for them as well, as Kai Sing, Lai Peng, Alex, Ka Lin,  Raymond, Jeffrey, Ryan, Darric, Khim, KK, Ah Leong, DT, Cheng Cheng and Patrick made their way to lunch point.

Mist, clouds, ice... what more could Alex Kaan ask for? [Photo: Lai Peng]

Kong Wan and Ai  Lin were a short distance behind the front group.  And they were nearing lunch point too.


AMS at lunch point?!

We were finally relieved to arrive at Lobuche for a well deserved lunch.  The moment I step foot into the guesthouse, the guys called out for me:

"Hey Wee How, come come! Cantona doesn't feel well.  He cannot breathe properly!"

"Yah.  I don't know why, but I cannot take deep breaths.  My chest feels tight.  I feel just not well leh," admitted Cantona.

Of all people, Cantona?
I couldn't believe it.  We were at 4900m and we had descended quite some way.  But still, AMS could hit anytime when we least expected it.
With Serene and Sabinn Rai jumping into action again, I quickly checked Cantona.  This was another welcome-to-facebook moment.  His SaO2 was just below 80% and he was starting to also have water in both lungs.  Another HAPE (high altitude pulmonary oedema).  The only difference was, he looked better than Casey.  So I wasn't so worried.

An Intramuscular Dexamethasone, an oral Dexamthasone 0.5mg, another tablet of Diamox 250mg, a full Theophylline tablets, Frusemide 40mg and potassium chloride 600mg.  In addition, I put a full tablet of Viagra 100mg into his hand, which he gulped down.  I was treating him exactly the same as for Casey.  The only difference was, his lungs didn't have as much water thus I dared to whack in the Viagra.

"Please make sure you drink plenty of water.  I need you to pee as much as you can out of your lungs," I instructed Cantona.

A recheck on Casey during lunch found his SaO2 to have gone up to 80%.  He was certainly looking better and talking better.  But he still hadn't passed urine yet.

"Hey you are very dehydrated.  Please drink up.  I really need you to start pee-ing more," I told Casey.

There was still water in his lungs.  For good measures I made him pop another tablet of Frusemide 40mg and another potassium chloride 600mg.

The treatment for Cantona worked like magic.  Soon as he walked with the rear group after lunch, he was desperately looking for huge rocks to pee onto every fifteen minutes.  I counted his output - from post-lunch to Pheriche he passed urine at least five times.  His was another case of water bladder tube failure, where the water in his drinking tube became frozen into ice.  So he also resorted to drinking from water bottles.  Casey still hadn't pee-ed much.  And Casey was still walking at a fast pace, until I had to slow him down somewhere further.

I was glad I left both Serene's and mine Camelbaks in Green Tara Hotel, and decided to use just normal water bottles.  The Camelbak or similar water bladder really needed to be kept warm, otherwise one would end up with a frozen tube of ice and the whole bladder would be rendered virtually useless.

After lunch, came that icy bridge we had to cross. 

The route was still difficult to walk on, with rocks of all sizes that we needed to balance on.  Challenging, to say the least.  Both Serene and I dislike walking on rocky terrains like these.  But we both understood that these were intrinsic part of the trekking scene in the Himalaya.  At least with the rocks, it made everyone slow down and the rear group stayed close together.

Finally, Pheriche! [Photo: Kai Sing]

It was getting late.  The front group, with one hour head start, were nearing Pheriche.  But the darkening of the sky was menacing for those of us at the rear.  These fast boys and girls certainly deserved their early rest and a nice warm drink in the heated dining hall.  They would be impatiently waiting for our arriving, I could imagine.

The fast trekkers like Ka Lin were already at Pheriche when there was still sunlight. [Photo: Kai Sing]

Before I could blink my eyes, the sky suddenly turned dark.  And our headlamps were all out in full blasts.  Freezing cold, dark and worrisome, we were happy that we were walking in a group in the rear with Adrian and Binot together with our personal porters.  Their presence was so reassuring.  Suddenly Ah Sing shouted:

"Hey, it's snowing!"

And she was right.  In the lights of our headlamps we could see streaks of snow fall.  Not a whole lot.  But enough to distract our attention from the monotony of walking.

Walking in the dark, with flurry of snow, mist, cold and only the headlamps as our source of illumination.

We really had absolutely no idea how far and how long more we would take before reaching Pheriche.  Some of us had started trekking since 4:30am that morning, while for Fann she started from 6:15am.  And it had been a really long and exhausting day.

Jeffrey recalled aferwards: "I was walking with Cheng Cheng and Khim.  But then later when it got dark I had to rush forward to rendezvous with someone (I could not remember who he told me it was), so I had to leave Cheng Cheng and Khim behind in the dark."

And so as the distance between Cheng Cheng and Khim drawn out, each was finding herself walking all alone in the dark, with no one in front, no one behind, and rocks and darkness all around.  I could only imagine how mental it was to be trekking alone, as though one was deserted.  A very scary experience, if I were ever put in such a situation.

Streaks of snow falling as we walked.

One hour stretched into two.  And we were still walking and crossing small little icy streams with our headlamps providing the only source of light.

Adrian was kind.  He gave us small breaks once a while to rest and to rehydrate.

Very guai. Hydrating himself.

The only thing that I was enjoying was the fact that it was an adventure trekking in the dark with streaks of snow falling around us.  The cold didn't bother me as I was on full layers.  We shared water bottles from each other, trying to lighten each other's load.  And we just kept moving along.  The girls meanwhile, were having a swell time.  Nothing frightened them, and to them this was simply raw fun, I personally believed.  That was the spirit of adventure I loved so obviously displayed in our girls.  They had this something from their father - everything was an adventure, even adversities.  Every stumbling block, every hurdle was a trial, a test of one's stoicalness.  A strength of character that was naturally nurtured on a hardship trek like this.  I'd anytime bring them on a trek, than a trip to Disneyland.  Anytime.

Happy was Ah Li and Fann.

Prem and Dilip to our rescue...

In the dark, we could only see far away small speckles of white lights.

"Are those the village lights of Pheriche?" I asked someone.  But I didn't remember getting an answer.

My walkie talkie batteries were dying but in between the crackled I could hear Kong Wan radio-ing me:

"Wee How... Prem and Dilip are coming back out to look for you all."  So Kong Wan and the whole front group had arrived.

Adrian said: "Tell them don't have to lah. We can make our way there. I don't want the porters to fall sick in the cold weather."  But my radio had died. 

Thus, after some time, we spotted three headlamps walking towards our direction. It warmed my heart to know that these porters and guides were genuinely concerned about our safety and would go out of their ways to ensure that we are all fine.
The other good thing about having Prem, Dilip and the other extra porters with us was, they brought extra headlamps, and now we had extra manpower, thus TJK and Casey were both held by a porter on each side as they trudged slowly towards Pheriche.


7:30pm.
With a huge sigh of relief, we stepped into the guesthouse at Pheriche.  We were all absolutely drained.  Serene and I ran through all the guys and gals.  Casey had started to pee and would continue to pass urine another couple of times that night.  Contona was his usual boisterous self, kao-beh-ing how come he had to pass urine so many times.
Their SaO2 had both risen, in part due to the descend to 4400m at Pheriche, and in part due to the release of water from their lungs.  I didn't care.  these two were my priorities at this moment.
Adrian and I were both relieved to see their improvement and we knew in our hearts that they wre good to go for the next day.

Ashley was status quo.  Still in a bad state from exhaustion.  I could do little but to encourage her to feed herself more.  She kept having pain in her abdomen near the rib cage areas.  I shared with her my similar experience.  We were both having strained respiratory muscles.  Just got to tahan.

AhLiangSS's diarrhoea was still bad.  He had to go several times.  I passed him some more Vacontil and instructed him to overdose on them.  Desperate times called for desperate measures.

CC was feeling unwell.  The lonely walk in the dark and the fatigue might have started to weaken her.   She was having cough and chest discomfort.  Her lungs were clear, but the breath sounds in her airways were tight.

"This is the beginning of a bit of a bronchitis," I told her. "I am going to let you have some medicine."

"Can I don't take antibiotics first?" she requested.

"Can.  But you gotta rest well.  This blue Theophylline tablet I need you to take half a tablet morning and night.  And take these Codipront capsules too."

"Half? Can I take the full tablet?" she asked. I smiled because I knew the main reason why she asked this was that she was really feeling unwell.

"No you can't.  You are a small-size lady, not like the huge men like Casey and Cantona.  Don't worry, half a tablet is the correct dosage for you." I smiled at her.

There was job to be done. [Photo: Kong Wan]

I went round.  Vngks's nasal congestion seemed to be getting worse.  I passed him a whole set of stronger medication, including Klacid MR and such.  I could totally understand his suffering because he and I had the same kind of sinus issues and up here in the mountains we both always suffered.


This night was one of the most tiring night.  I didn't think many would have lasted too long after dinner before they knocked themselves out to sleep.  I knew I didn't.  I didn't remember even brushing my teeth or powdering myself.  I just slipped into the sleeping bag with the blanket inside and outside the sleeping bag, fully clothed and layered, opened up two new heat packs and put them into my pockets.
Across my bed Serene was already snoring.
Soon I was in a deep slumber.

EBC TREK Day 11 ~ The very very mental trek from Pheriche to Tengboche Monastery, down to Phungi Thanga, and then up and up the never-ending trek in search of the two Stupas that would finally point us to Namche Bazaar... again in the dark!

28 Nov 2017

Here is the Relive video of our that very wearying trek from Pheriche, passing by Tengboche Monastery, ending in the climb in the dark towards Namche Bazaar.

Relive 'The trek from Pheriche through Tengboche and all the way back to Namche Bazaar'

Here is the Strava Flyby of this day's trek.  Just click on the image below, play and zoom in and see.   Zoom in to see how yet again Kai Sing, Alex, Lai Peng, Darric, Kong Wan and Patrick gradually distanced themselves from the rear and pushed ahead towards Tengboche.  KC and I were with the rear group.  As we slowly caught up with them at Tengboche, the front group left off again.  This pattern continued for a long way.

This is my Garmin record for the day.  By the time we arrived at Namche Bazaar at 6:30pm, again it was pitch black, and the only time we saw light was when we came to the prayer wheel at the top of Namche Bazaar village.



The VIDEO:  Again another mentally-sapping trek from Pheriche on a gradual downwards gradient to Tengboche, a small climb and then towards the river at Phungi Thanga and finally that never-ending Stupa-searching climb back to Namche Bazaar.

Pheriche at 6:40am.

How cold was Pheriche that night?
I really didn't know the exact temperature.  But what I knew was, it was another one of the coldest coldest nights on this trek because even as I stuffed myself with the blankets inside my sleeping bag and covered another blanket on the outside, wearing all my layers, I was still shivering.

In the morning when Fann woke up, this sight of frosty window pane bewilded her.

Frosted ice on her window. [Photo: Fann]

Looking all around us, it was barren land.   Cold, wasted and nothing much lived here.  I imagined myself as a local living in this part of the Himalaya, and I really wondered what I would be living off.  There were no vegetables to grow, neither was there any poultry as it was too cold.  What about the livestocks?  Could not the locals have them for meals.  The answer was obvious, any of the yaks or mules would be too valuable for transport than to be eaten.

I would literally have to live off the occasional tourists who came walking past the village.  That probably explain why a simple bottle of Fanta Orange would cost S$10.  And a one litre bottle of mineral water, S$4.   Therefore I would not be surprise if a local native living here would be just drinking ice to sustain himself and would ration his food very carefully.

How could any beings live in such places? [Photo: Fann]

8:30am.

The whole group bade farewell to this tiny little freezing village of Pheriche gladly and made for the south.  The sun just began to rise above the ring of peaks around, and we happily basked ourselves in whatever skin-deep warmth the rays provided.

Time to say good bye to Pheriche. [Photo: KC Tng]

The plan for this day was simple:  Trek from Pheriche to Shomare, and then towards Pangboche, Debuche and then upwards to Tengboche Monastery and then all the way down to Phungi Thanga t have lunch at the bridge, and then finally making the last arduous climb back up to Namche Bazaar.

... and spread its rays on the land. [Photo: Fann]

The initial part of the trek was on a nice flat plain.  Smooth and easy.   With gradual hills on our sides and shrubs scattered over the plain.

Photo: Fann

Such views epitomised a classic Himalayan trek.  Anyone looking at photos of these would probably transport himself or herself right into the midst of this trek, immersed in the romance of such a moment - the snow peaks, the rocky terrain, the flat land, the layers of clothing, trekking sticks and a chain of trekkers enjoying themselves in the sub-zero air.    The image conjured would be sufficient to draw any would-be trekkers to take the next flight right into Nepal.

Back to basics..

I would not deny that this morning started off really pleasantly.  I particularly enjoyed the flat walk.  My buff was on, because the fine dust were killing my sinuses and I had been blowing copious amount of nasal mucus with fresh blood for a few days and I knew that I was already suffering from acute sinusitis.  I had always love the coldness of the early morning, especially when the going was not that tough.  Here we all were, 4200m above sea level, far away from home, and totally out of our comfort zone, and had totally lost track of the date and days.  The only things in our minds were how to maneuvre our next step, how to scrutinize the ground, how to keep our breathing consistent, when to take a rest and have a sip of water, and to when was the best time to grab a bite of snack to replenish some glucose.

Compared to what we did at home - every waking moment we would either be stressing ourselves fire fighting over problems at work, agonizing over deadlines and inter-personal and inter-colleague relationships, worrying over family members, and struggling to beat the others in school tests, examinations and project works.  Back home in high pressure Singapore, life was never a bed of roses.  We considered ourselves to be a developed country and had all the material comforts money could buy.  But our minds were never at peace, hardly at ease.  As a physician, I have unfortunately encountered an alarmingly increasing number of patients with stress-induced neurosis and psychosis over the past two decades.  

Here in the remotest of lands, we had nothing.  The people had almost nothing.  But what they had was what Nature dished out to them.  Life here hadn't change that much over the centuries, apart from introduction of just that tiny bit of materialism, an inevitable side effect of tourism.  Here was where my mind could be free.  I was finally a human being in his natural environment again, like my homo sapien ancestors were 20 million year ago.  

Many friends asked me: "What attracts you to trek?"  

I found it difficult to give them an answer.  How could you explain to a person who had not been exposed to the hardships of the harsh elements up there in the high mountains,  suffered the anguish of unease in surmounting a climb,  day after day after day, with almost none of the familiar comforts, and nothing but to fall back upon the most primitive of our survival instincts, the actual pleasure of being free?  It was that back to basic feeling, when it was all you against the environment, that was so liberating.

[Photo: KC Tng]

This feeling of roaming freely was particularly pronounced this morning, as we made our way towards Shomare from Pheriche.  50 minutes after we set off from Pheriche, we climbed and climbed and finally came to the Pheriche pass, a high point at 4270m.  From this point onwards it would be descent all the way.


We human beings were funny animals.  We needed the sun.  Sunlight and its warmth made us happy and elevated our moods.   It was clinically well known that exposure to the sun reduced depression.
Thus when the sun was rising up higher and higher in the sky, I could see that everyone was cheerful.

"Leave nothing but footprints and shadows, take away nothing but photos & memories." [Photo: Fann]

The bright sunlight brought out the brilliant colours of the mountains, and created shadows of contrast on the lower lands.

[Photo: Fann]

The brightness of the sun brought a smile to Babu's usually solemn face.

[Photo: Fann]

And being totally immersed in the sun made Prem, Ai Lin and Dilip so happy.


Of course Ah Li and Serene could not miss the opportunity to record their happiness.

Neither could Serene and I - for the sake of remembering this moment when the sun was high above us, and Nuptse and Lhotse were right behind us, and the air was frozen all around us.

[Photo: Ah Li]

Even Fann and KC Tng were having a swell time wefie-ing.

[Photo: Fann]

Photo: Fann 

At 4100m, the terrain had taken on a different life.  We started discovering small stunted trees and more dense vegetations of various colours.  The flora of the surrounding were beginning to return in various hues.

How was everyone this morning?

An auscultation of the lungs this morning revealed Cantona's lungs to be almost totally cleared from water, and he is beaming with energy.  Casey's lower lungs were still slightly water-logged.  Eye-balling the rest - Ashley was tired, but I believed she was stable, and her single-minded desire to complete the day's trek was outwardly visible on her face.  CC was a tad more tired on this day and she was beginning to lose her voice.  Her bronchitis probably was worsening.
As for the rest of the boys and girls - those who were well, were jumping and ready to go. Those who were still harbouring some respiratory symptoms were just tolerating their discomfort.

Cantona was feeling so well he re-joined the front group and trekked right in front all the way. His AMS had gone.  Casey was still a little weak, though better.  He guai guai stayed back and trekked with us in the rear. On occasions he would stop and take a breather while we continued forward.  At times, his gait appeared a little unsteady.  But his SaO2 was better.  He would make it to Namche, I was confident. Ashley was slowly but surely making her way forward.  By now she had attained a certain kind of momentum, a fine balance between breathlessness, her discomfort from illnesses, and her willpower.  Nothing was going to stop her.
I looked ahead at CC walking a distance in front of us.  I thought she appeared tired, and her steps were smaller.  Her breathlessness from the bronchitis must have hindered her.  She was not her usual self.  In any normal day, she would be right ahead with the front group.

With myself, Serene was steady.  By now she had accepted the fact that she had no other options but to continue walking.  Secretly inside, I quite thought that she was actually beginning to enjoy the trek.  The girls were all fine.  Ah Li, Fann, Ah Sing were all in great spirit.

[Photo: Patrick]

Lai Peng, Ka Lin, Kai Sing, Alex, Patrick, Raymond, Jason and all the front guys were on fire today and they were really in top form.  I stared at the Strava Flyby in total disbelief as they really sped forth with so much gusto I could not even catch up.
Here, take a look.

Click on the image for a larger picture

[Photo: Patrick]

The trek towards Pangboche was a tranquil journey, punctuated by a couple of stupas as we neared the village.  Below us on the left, the river swelled and frothed as it meandered in the valley.  Below 4000m, the abrupt change in scenery was evident.


We started to see trees, and we started to find more frequent herds of yaks and mules.

And in a tangible way, we began to breathe slightly easier.

Just left Shomare [Photo: KC Tng]

[Photo: Fann]

To my inexperienced eyes, it seemed that 4000m was some kind of natural cut off line.  Below that everything seemed to have more colours, and life became slightly more vibrant.  I felt a lightness of being at this level.  The ubiquitous sense of isolation at 5000m was gone, replaced by a refreshing and palpable vigor.

I felt ALIVE! [Photo: Fann]

Adrian was saying: "It was downhill all the way.  That was why I was telling you all that you all should pick up pace and make up for lost time."

Nah.  Don't want.  We wanted to enjoy the view and the leisurely walk.  Cheng Cheng was having a swell time just slightly ahead of us.  I promised myself and Serene I would not cheong at all for this whole trek.  And I kept my average heart rate as low as I possibly could.  Of course there were occasions when it hit 140/min when the climbing got really tough.  In one of my Garmin record it hit 170 in a split second.  But that was more of an artefact, a technical blip.  I kept this promise not only to Serene, but also to my good Alex and Lai Peng, to whom I guaranteed that the whole trek would be a zone two exercise all the way.  Only that they found their rhythm and their wings after day two, and took to the sky happily. leaving me and Serene zone-two-ing all the way behind.

A cheerful albeit slightly breathless lady in pink. [Photo: KC Tng]

Pangboche was almost in sight.  We were going downhill and downhill...
I was intrigued by the weathered scriptures on the mani stones.  These must have been here for decades, worn smooth by the elements.

At 4000m, we were at level with some of the clouds, which made for quite a presence going forward as we walked.  Sometimes how I wish I could just stop for a moment - maybe 10 minutes or 15 minutes - to look around and absorb the sights.  Being a city person, my mind was too used to not slowing down, and definitely not used to coming to a plain full stop.  That, was the plight of modern human beings, all caught up in fast-paced societal living.  I tried, many times.   But the mind had always been a runaway horse totally out of reign.  Until I saw Kong Wan's shot below.  Such a pleasing view.  And I did not even spend an extra minute enjoying it.


Arriving in Pangboche, I knew we had covered just slightly under half of today's horizontal distance.  That wasn't too bad.  Those of us in the rear group arrived at Pangboche around 11:20am.  Really not too bad at all.  But it was still quite a distance away from Tengboche and to descend to Phungi Thanga for lunch.  So, we ended up having lunch at Paradise Lodge again at Debuche, if I remembered correctly, while the front group led by Babu had already arrived at Phungi Thanga and were having their lunch there under the bridge.

Finally, PANGBOCHE!

Taking a short break at Pangboche before leaving.

The yaks were aplenty at this altitude.  I would not say I wasn't relieved to have to stop multiple times to let them have their right of way here. Each stop would last anything from a few tens of a second to sometimes a good five minutes - enough to strip off an outer layer, or grab a sip of water.

The knight on stallion?

After lunch we were all walking towards Phungi Thanga, when suddenly the neigh of a horse jolted me from my day dreaming and made me step one side.   We were all pleasantly impressed by the sight of Ah Tan, in the splendour of all his full seven layers, majestically cruising on the back of this magnificent creature, swaying first to the left, and then to the back, before swaying back to the front via the right as he gained full control of the animal.
Adrian really knew how to work magic.

"I also want!" cried Serene.

Alas, but 'twas too late.  The knight had sprinted ahead, out of sight.  Sorry, Serene.  You should have grabbed him when he was just beside you and see if you could swing up on the horse and tompang.  But now bo bian.. you just got to keep walking with me.

"Tao-gong-gong ah!!" said Ah Tan. [Photo: Fann and yours truly]

[Photo: Alex]

Those of us in the rear group finally arrived at Tengboche Monastery around quarter-past-one in the afternoon.  The climb up Tengboche really got us rather winded.  Still it was a reassuring sight to see the good 'ol monastery for one more time before we made our descent to the river at Phungi Thanga.

Tengboche Monastery again. [Photo: Alex]

Walking downwards to Phungi Thanka at 3300m from Tengboche at 3860m was much easier than the climb when we went the reverse way a few days ago.   But easier didn't mean fast.  It just meant it was less breathless.  We ended up arriving at Phungi Thanga at 2:40pm.  

[Photo: KC Tng]

So what did that mean?
It meant that we were in trouble!
Because in this part of the world, the sun descended below the peaks at around 4pm.  And by 4pm, the whole world darkened.  And no sane Sherpa would be found dead out of home at that time.  In retrospect, it took us 3 hours and 40 minutes to trek from Phungi Thanga back to The Green Tara at Namche.  And out of these 3 hours and 40 minutes, a good two and a half hours were spent in Himalayan darkness, which, very soon after we left Phungi Thanga and started our uphill climb towards Namche, was apparent, as shown in the photo below by Fann.

[Photo: Fann]

The mist, or if you would prefer, clouds, had engulfed the mountains, and all of us within it.  Human beings were so strange.  Once darkness set in, the morale started to go southwards too.  Whatever little cheerfulness we had in us began to dwindle.  The thought of spending the next couple of hours walking in total darkness was never enticing, at least not to city people like us.

Sharan was our constant lighthouse at the back. [Photo: Fann]

Who else but the Green Turtle's pair of Quechua trekking boots that could remain water proof even after walking 16km in the stream. [Photo: Fann]

We were consumed in the veil of dusk.  It felt like we were in the midst of the set of the Lord of the Rings.  But this was for real.  Casey was occasionally still stumbling and wavering in his gait, a tad unsteady, but in much better a state than the day before.  He had always had my respect as a great trekker.  And I held him in high regard, especially after witnessing his conviction in conquering these two days' trek despite his AMS.

[Photo: KC Tng]

I made another mental note, to try to be more aware of the pace of trekking when we next came to a long day march.  It had always been said, trekking in the Himalaya was a breeze - one starts early and would end  around 3-4pm and had the rest of the afternoon and evening to relax in the dining hall, chit chatting with fellow trekkers or enjoy a book.  Throughout this trek I didn't remember myself having the remotest of a chance of doing even anything close to that.

Ah Sing was a tough girl.  The accidental slip at Kala Patthar had pained her already injured left knee.  But she persevered.  This was a different Ah Sing from 5 years ago when she was whining much more when the going got tough at Ghorepani.  A much more determined girl, stronger-willed, and in better control.  I love to see how trekking revealed the grit in one's character.

[Photo: Fann]

Kc Tng had his eyes on cresting the mountain up to Namche Bazaar.  In my heart, I was anxious to arrive at Namche Bazaar as early as we could, because we still had one last day of trek tomorrow.  The trek from Phungi Thanga to Namche Bazaar was landmarked by two stupas, according to Adrian.  We had to look out for these two stupas.  And with the arrival at the second stupa, we would be much closer to the village.

[Photo: Kc Tng]

This Serene was another Himalayan trekking veteran, well known amongst our friends, although she fervently denied it.  Never a fast walker, she would keep a constant steady pace. Her endurance was immense. Beneath the womanly exterior, deep inside she was as strong as a Gorak Shep yak.  Give her a mountain, and you'd be sure she would be at the top eventually.

[Photo: Ah Li]

We arrived at the first Chorten (stupa) at 5:10pm.  Our headlamps were all at full blast.  I knew that the front group would have arrived at Namche Bazaar by now.  Some of the middle stragglers would still be on the trek but would also be arriving soon.

"From here, it would be another two hours trek," announced Adrian.  Wah lau.  Two hours more?! 

[Photo: Ah Li]

The fallen porter

In the dark we suddenly came upon a figure lying supine across the trek.  Training our headlamp down we were shocked to find a young porter, with the rattan basket still strapped on his back, lying in a stupor on the ground.  His T-shaped stick was about a few metres away from him.  I knelt down and touched his shoulder.

"Hello, how are you?" I called out.  He turned his head around but his eyes were still closed.

A hand held my shoulder.  It was Mani. He gestured us to move along.

"Drink... he drink." said Mani.  Apparently he meant that the young porter was drunk.  But strange.  I smelled no alcohol.  And it was obvious the way he fell, he may have tripped and rolled downwards, with his T-shape walking stick left further up behind.  

We all had no choice but to quietly move on.  The scene lingered uncomfortably in our minds.  For a long long time, as we continued our trek in silence.

"Wouldn't he die if we leave him there?" asked Ah Li afterwards.

"I'm not sure.  He may be used to the cold, and may be able to survive a cold night out there.  Or perhaps half way through the night if he finally came to, he would be able to walk slowly back.  I am only worried that he had sustained some kind of head injuries and would die from that, or perhaps from exposure." I replied. "But whatever it is, there is really nothing much we can do.  This is the reality of life up  here in the mountains."

Didn't know number what Stupa this was already. We were so demoralised already. [Photo: Yours truly]

One stupa eventually became two stupas.  As long as we didn't stop walking, we would arrived.  In the pitch darkness, the only thing visible was whatever that was in the field of light of our headlamps.  I was not sure about the others, but I really couldn't remember much about the rest of the trek from the stupas to Namche.

"Ok guys!" Adrian announced. "We are finally at the top of Namche Bazaar!" 

He was right.  We were somewhere near that prayer wheel that we got to be so familiar with.  All of us took a rest seated outside one of the houses.

Ah Li said afterwards: "Here, Prem was telling us it was only 'seven minutes' to The Green Tara by Nepali speed.  And it became a joke between him and all of us here because no one believed him."

Prem said "7 more minutes, at Nepali pace!" [Photo: Ah Li]

Eventually Prem was proven wrong.  It took us fifteen more minutes to arrived at The Green Tara.  A light-hearted fifteen minutes, it was, for we were already in Namche Bazaar.  We were elated and our steps became lighter as we stepped downwards along the alleys between the houses.

We got up and got ready to start walking down to Namche Bazaar.

And finally, at around 6:30pm, we arrived.

Cheng Cheng was JUST so relieved to be back at The Green Tara. [Photo: Yours truly]

Wow this hotel looked so good! 

Later that evening...

We were really glad to be back to the relatively more comfortable Green Tara.  The earlier group had had their warm showers.  By the time Serene and I asked the boss for a hot shower, he shook his head and said they had run out of hot water.  Well, might as well.  I hadn't had a shower for eight days, what difference would it make if I went without one for just another night?

CC was really losing her voice and she was all hoarse.  It was time to start her on stronger medication.  And this evening she didn't resist.
Ashley was actually doing not too bad herself.  She was stable.  But she was really tired by now.
DragonBoatZ was the the one who was suffering a little on this evening.  He was burning from a fever, and he was having bodyaching and painful thighs from the fever.  A throat infection was the cause.  But he had done really well, completing his trek to Namche Bazaar in good time.

The cacophony of cough and sneezing resonated across the dining room as we all sat and bathed in the warmth of the enclosure.  Then Adrian came in and drop the atomic bomb:

"Guys, for some of you who want to, you may consider the adventure of taking a helicopter down from Namche Bazaar to Lukla for US$800 a chopper, shared among 4 persons."

Many's eyes lit up.  And words and jios and discussion flew across the room and the tables.  Eventually a new Squadron of SgTrekker Airforce was formed, a special unit that would make an early morning flight to take out our next objective and clear it before the infantry moved in.

Serene looked at all of us with the look of a faint hope.  But we stared back at her.  Among our family, we were all in good health and we were not ill.  We had to complete what we started off.  The last trek back to Lukla awaited us tomorrow.

For tonight, I finally had yak steak again for dinner, a luxury in itself.
And at 3400m, I no longer needed so many layers of clothing.  Sleep came easy.



Click on the following to continue to the next part:
EBC Trek Part 6 ~ Back to Lukla.