Life #16: Social Heavens
This is a day-by-day account of our incredible trek to Mt Everest Base Camp, via the amazing Gokyo Lakes and Cho La Pass. Immersed in the mystical heavens of Nepal’s Himalayas, this story describes the evolving sights, challenges, emotions, and spiritual aura of this high alpine world. Many thanks to the team and best possible crew for the fun and support on this awesome journey.
Preface
Namaste to Nepal, and your hallowed Himalayas
We came here to immerse, in your heavenly layers
More than mountain reliefs
But our inner beliefs
For of peace and love, you’re the finest purveyors
Now I’ve never aspired, to reach Everest summit
That vanity photo, just to brag that I’d done it
A climb too congested
Too many loved ones lay rested
Commercial expeditions, have sadly overrun it
But instead I’ve long dreamed, of the Base Camp of Everest
If I didn’t do it now, I could surely not ever rest
This wonder of Nepal
The most iconic of all
To join this awesome team, I felt altogether blessed
Day 1
Kathmandu - Ramechhap - Lukla - Phakding 2,610m. 8.6km. 3 hours.
A void in the headlights, where our car could have been
The mountain road vanished, from a storm’s swollen streams
Houses teetering below
Beamed a frightening glow
Recent landslides and wash outs, stretched suspension to extremes
Then that flight to Lukla airport, that passengers dread
It’s the gateway to Everest, that trekkers must tread
We hovered to land
With my heart in my hand
Soaring mountains all around, and looming up ahead
We had finally embarked, on this holiest of grails
But surprised to find them, such well-constructed trails
With other walkers and yaks
Porters carrying our sacks
We strode off to Phakding, climbing up and down dales
Day 2
Phakding to Namche Bazaar. 3,440m. 12km. 6 hours.
The concreted cobbles, and hard paving stones
On the downhills they jarred, on old wearing bones
Off to Namche Bazaar
Mountains still quite afar
We’re still in the foothills, passing villagers’ homes
The long steep uphill climbs, filled the altitude bank
Until back down again, drained the attitude tank
Oxygen craving
Muscles misbehaving
Still a long way to go, to reach Everest Base Camp
We get peeks up at mountains, shimmering white as a sheet
Trees clinging on to rock cliffs, almost vertically steep
We climbed along ridges
Crossed over swing bridges
High above roaring gorges; don’t look down at your feet!
These fast-flowing rivers, of the valley Khumbu
Passed guest and tea houses, each one with a stunning view
Facades of all designs
Donkeys dogs and shrines
We reached bustling Namche, in the early evening hue
News flowed up the valley, so shocking to learn
How the whole western world, had taken a turn
Reports from the outside
Trump had won in a landslide
Maybe I can stay here, for his full four-year term!
Day 3
Namche Bazaar to Everest View Hotel 3,900m. 6.2km. 5 hours.
That first view of Everest, was like photos I’d known
Its omnipresent presence, and foreboding death zone
I acknowledged Sir Ed
Our hero of NZ
For his service to Nepal, locals claim him as their own
For today was a scheduled, acclimatisation day
Climbed to three thousand nine hundred, stunning views all the way
At Everest View Hotel
Mountains cast their sacred spell
Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, a magical display
But the altitude increased, the exertion up hill
Trudging and traipsing today, was less of a thrill
Getting tired of the slog
My head starting to throb
Mt Everest Base Camp, a long way away still
Day 4
Namche Bazaar 3,441m to Dole 4,200m. 12.1km.
Left Namche for a long, eight hundred metre climb
Alpine ridges fronting, a brilliant blue skyline
Then as cloud rolled up top
The temperature dropped
Just made it to Dole, as energy declined
But very relieved today, that my health had come back
Feeling better adjusted, to the oxygen we lacked
With a gradual climb
We’d made excellent time
Enjoyed the dry autumn leaves, on a softer dirt track
Day 5
Dole to Machhermo 4,470m. 5.6km.
A short day climbing, up from Dole to Machhermo
Narrow tracks, grassy slopes, mostly taking it slow
For this was God’s own
Most at peace I’d ever known
Base Camp is beckoning, but next stop is Gokyo
Day 6
Machhermo - Gokyo Lakes - Gokyo 4,800m. 7.2km. 5 hours.
Freezing cold when we woke, then out came the sun
As we set off again, all moving as one
Climbed high above the cloud
Lungs were gasping out loud
We’ll keep trekking to Gokyo, until today is done
But then our gazes were drawn, such an awesome surprise
Gokyo Lakes and their ice sheets, magnificence defies
Water turquoise and green
Glacially clear and pristine
The reward for our effort, brought tears to our eyes
But what hides beneath, remains a mystery unsealed
Such magical beauty, only its surface revealed
Nature in full glory
A mystical story
These sacred lakes’ secrets, forever concealed
Day 7
Gokyo Ri Climb 5,483 metres. 6 hours. 3.1km.
We departed at four, to climb over five point four
Stars above suggested, we’d have views to adore
Headlamps shining our feet
Gokyo Ri was so steep
But was all worth the toil, for the mountains we saw
For as darkness gave way, to vibrantly blue skies
We were royally treated, to a sensational sunrise
Strenuously breathing
Water bottles freezing
Our hearts were still heaving, as we climbed the final rise
Our spirits soon soared, above this awesome spectacle
Our senses were feasting, on vistas so delectable
This was true divinity
The real holy trinity
Of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse; our reverence imperceptible
Day 8
Gokyo 4,800 metres to Thangna 4,500 metres. 3.7km. 4 hours
This morning our colleague was helicoptered out
With altitude sickness, can’t be hanging about
So the chopper in flew
To collect Deb and Sue
That poignant pause planted, my own seedlings of doubt
Meanwhile to a glacier, not far from where we came
Narrow tracks, craggy walls, up lateral moraine
Steep overhanging sides
At risk of rock slides
Solid frozen lakes, in deep-eroded terrain
For around every boulder, and over every rise
The scenery presented, another picture-book prize
Fresh landscape anew
Another mountain to view
Another day to be grateful, for these cloudless clear skies
Day 9
Thangna 4,500m - Cho La Pass 5,368m - Dzongla 4,710m. 9.6km. 7 hours
To climb Cho Lo Pass, we embarked in the dark
In freezing cold air, coughs were sounding like barks
Ice covered river rocks
Thank god for double socks
The valley at dawn, was desolate and stark
At first a steady climb, with mountains all around
As early morning warmed, to a most melodic sound
A chorus of snow cocks
Camouflaged below rocks
Sun brightening the peaks, we were making good ground
The track soon rose steeply, from meandering paths
On scree and lose shingle, up rock faces so vast
Then we came to fixed ropes
That we clung to with hope
That soon we’d be atop, of the mighty Cho La Pass
Where I was lost for words, let alone make them rhyme
The immensity and scale, that simply blew my mind
Grandeur so imposing
Alluringly proposing
Another breathtaking moment, of divinity defined
The village of Dzongla, was still way down below
We descended with crampons, crunching through squeaky snow
Quite pleased with my fitness
But moreover I’d witnessed
That this world is more spiritual, than possibly we know
Day 10
Dzongla to Gorak Shep 5,160m. 11km. plus Kala Patthar 5,555m. 3.4km.
Most nights our rooms resembled, a refrigerated cell
Squat toilets would be wafting, a nauseating smell
But the common rooms for eating
Had yak-dung-fires for heating
And they always fed us well, as their passing clientele
We left Dzongla early, with Ama Dablam ahead
Turning onto Khumbu valley, to see other peaks instead
Back on the beaten track
To Base Camp there and back
It seemed a lifetime ago, we had left this river bed
But staring at these monsters, how insignificant we are
They dominate this world, they set the highest bar
For beyond what we’re seeing
There’s a far greater being
That mankind hasn’t managed, to assimilate so far
Twisting through dusty rock piles, I thought would never stop
In a glacial quarry, a long hot boulder hop
But village Gorak Shep
Was not yet our last step
For after lunch we lumbered, up another mountain top
We climbed Kala Patthar, at five point five thousand high
Mountain ridges outlining, clear definition in the sky
A unique view we must see
Of Everest and Nuptse
Their sunset pastel peaks, only this hard climb could buy
Their snow faces started, immaculately white
Then a golden glaze glowed, in the slow fading light
Spirits further transcended
As the sun and we descended
With a full moon on Everest, so spectacularly bright
Day 11
Gorak Shep - Everest Base Camp 5,365m 6.5km. - Dingboche 4,350m. 13.2km.
A five o’clock start, for our ultimate destination
The amazing mecca, of many climbing embarkations
Could see the Khumbu Ice Fall
Towering ice blocks storeys tall
As we reached Everest Base Camp, to well-earned congratulations
So surreal to be early, and the only ones here
To savour this moment, take photos, or simply stare
It’s another dimension
Maybe incomprehension
The seduction of Mt Everest, to lure people up there
I thought of Edmund Hillary, in 1953
And also cherished friends, who’d come here before me
This sacred place changes lives
For everyone who arrives
It inspires them to be more, than they might otherwise be
On our way down, we may not see Everest much more
But majestic Ama Dablam, re-appeared to the fore
She’s a goddess of nature
Her matriarchal stature
That night she shared a sunset, right outside my door
Day 12
Dingboche 4,350m to Tengboche 3,867m to Namche Bazaar 3,441m. 20km.
We unleashed this morning, at a blistering fast pace
Ama Dablam’s cold breath, was whispering past our face
Its daughter and mother
Conjoined to each other
Will I ever return, to this phenomenal place?
We hear sounds of bird life, dropping into the trees
Lower elevation, now easier to breathe
But Nepal is not flat
I can sure vouch for that
Downhill parts painfully, pounding hard on old knees
Arrived back in Namche, in time for celebration
With cold beers and music, we sang loud with elation
Such a wonderful feeling
Signed our names in the ceiling
Of the old Irish Pub, euphoric jubilation
Day 13
Namche Bazaar to Phakding 2,610m. 12k.
Another day descending, passing rock-walled settlements
Villagers were tending, to their tiny tenements
Living in subsistence
Not knowing any difference
Hardened to isolation, and climate impediments
Great to see all their veggies, and tomatoes growing
The threshing of dry wheat, and potato hoeing
Laughing children at play
An errant yak run astray
Resourcefully self-sufficient lives they’re undergoing
Day 14
Phakding - Lukla 2,804m 8.2k. 3 hours - Ramechhap – Kathmandu
On our very final day, I so wanted it to last
Admiring the marigolds, and rhododendrons we passed
The crops that they had sowed
The donkeys’ heavy loads
School children running late, for their nine o’clock class
We started on this trek, with a team of eleven
But returning to Lukla, we were now only seven
But we’ll share Sagarmatha
These stories ever after
We all savoured the same, special glimpse into heaven
Thank you Raj and your entourage, for how you treated us
All the challenges we faced, never defeated us
Your peaks etched in our eyes
Simply heaven in disguise
Never Ending Peace And Love, certainly completed us
For this was more than a pilgrimage, from valleys to high villages
This was an epiphany, the highest of privileges
To find spiritual karma
Natural nirvana
From the aura of these mountains … and not a god in man’s images
Kevin Holmes • 29th November 2024
