Kaleidoscopic Life :))

D11: Gorakshep to Pangboche Regret to have missed trekking to Kalapathar. A day-long 10hr trek back to Pangboche.Prem's jukebox entertained us and Illayaraja's songs became our saviour. By now we had gotten used to the darkness and were better equipped with torches to trek in the dark. The bad weather gave us good company for some more days. Those who decided to chopper out from Gorakshep trekked back up to Lukla. Unfortunately, a jogpey,with one of our luggage had disappeared into the village.The poor chap was too struck by fatigue that it decided to rest under a tree and not be found until the next morning. D12- Pangboche to Namche bazaar Another long day, with bruised pinky toes.Had it taped :( D13 - Backtrack to Lukla The total distance covered in 8 days had to be backtracked in 3 days. It seemed as if we were walking for ages, and no signs of Lukla yet. The celebrations had begun by the time the backbenchers reached the tea house. Couldn't believe I made it, we made it...

 D10 Louboche (16,153ft) - Gorakshep(16,629ft) - Base camp(17,593ft) - Gorakshep(16,629ft) Fingers crossed to accomplish our feat today! All of us were braced to face the day with all grit and determination despite many odds.  Gorak Shep  or  Gorakshep  ( Nepali :  गोरकशेप ) is a small settlement that sits on the edge of a frozen lakebed covered with sand in  Nepal  with the same name.  Gorak Shep means "dead ravens," because of the complete lack of any kind of vegetation in this place. Experienced vagaries of weather conditions right from the beginning. Cold morning turned into a sunny day in no time, I just felt like ripping off all my clothes. We got amazing views of Nuptse and Luptse en route Gorakshep. All of us enjoyed the stretch until we reached the moraines, where there was no path but just huge boulders and we had to negotiate our way crossing those one at a time. The constant sound of ice breaking off into the glacial lakes ke...

  Day 9  7.10.22 Dingboche to Louboche  (13,840ft - 16,173ft) The josh was Still On! We were getting closer to our destination, yet the journey seemed longer!      We began our day retracing our path to the first stupa from where we had to take a different route. A no man's land until lunch break. We walked past open landscapes with gigantic, black and rocky mountains on one side, and a beautiful river traversing through the mountains. From a tiny speck, a mountain kept growing in magnitude and I could never estimate its actual size. The black, the dark shrouded in mist, layered in mystery, reminded me of the Erebor and Mount Doom. Were we in Morodor? Did it have a secret door? Who was guiding us through? Was there a Gollum or Gandalf in disguise? Was there a Frodo amongst us? Did Peter Jackson visit here before creating the movie? My thoughts kept alternating between the movie and this magical mountain whose peak never seem to be visible for more than a f...

 Day 8  6.10.22 Rest day or Test Day @14,000ft A bitterly cold morning, freezing waters and chattering teeth reminded me that I was in Dingboche (Dingu-poche) 😀. It is a beautiful , small village with a population of approximately 200 people, and is a popular stop for trekkers en route to the Base camp. Many petty shops stocked almost everything from water bottles to raincoats, colourfully woven woollen gloves, headbands and toiletries, of course at premium rates. An early morning solo stroll gave some breathtaking views of the snow-capped peaks.The rising sun shone on the peaks and the melting snow shimmered like precious gems. Shiva joined me later looking for alpine choughs, sunbirds and robins. My roomie preferred to stay indoors. Today's target was to reach upto an altitude of 400m from our tea-house and return. As per the study on high altitude sickness, it has been found that most of the people suffer or show signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) from the altitu...

 Day 7 - 5.10.22 Tenboche (12,464ft) to Dingboche (13,840ft) Rains were unrelenting, and neither were we. The weather was getting colder but manageable. Thermals were still tucked in. Shiva and I decided to go for an early morning bird-watching session. Up by 5:30 am , we peeped outside the tea-house, completely misty outside. Yet , we decided to venture out. The beautiful bird calls were inviting us. We spotted a few robins, sparrows and some tiny birds. They were too swift to be captured by our cameras. I framed those in my mind :) Soon , varuna baghwan also started competing with the chirpies and we had to head back. A sweet chirpy start to the day! The same routine and were ready by 8:15 am for the next leg of our journey. A quick 5min walk took us to the Thyangboche Monastery. An absolutely tranquil and serene place to forget yourself and become one with Him!  Om Mane Padme Om!! Yay, we learnt to chant in Nepalise! Further down the alley, we walked through what seeme...

  Day 6 (4.10.22) - Tengboche 12,464ft           Woke-up to a bright cold morning, whilst most of them already started wearing their thermals, I loved the cool weather and the envious video chat with my family back home in a picturesque background.       The weather had been pleasant and gentle on us all these days. The twist in the tale began as the day unwound with a drizzle. The quite unexpected change in weather forced us to pull out our ponchos and hence a delayed start by 45 mins. The extra costume transformed us into zombies / winged creatures/witches (could name any ;) .The steady drizzle throughout the day compelled us to keep our ponchos on.         It was a pleasant descent through the slushy rhododendron forest until we broke for lunch. Shiva and I were on the lookout for new jadi-booties. Our staple the Daal Baal tasted more delicious by the wild Dudh Kosi river flowing beside us with all her might. ...

Day 5 (3.10.22) - Namche Bazaar -  (11,300 ft / 3,447m) Acclimatisation Day The trek itinerary stated as a Rest day. We were all elated as our bodies yearned to sleep longer. However, it was short-lived. RamBabu, our guide informed us that we would be taking a short trek of  400m "only" up to the Everest View Hotel for acclimatisation purposes. I got misled by the number. This is the only hotel at 12000ft. While the team was divided on this opinion, a few of us decided to trek while the rest decided to relax and shop. I opted for the former. Geared up again we started our short trek. Steep uphill with loose rolling stones made it a challenging climb. Karthik, Savitha, Bhooma and I stuck together during the ascent. The rarefied air was clearly making a difference. The climb was hurting my knees. I wished I 'd stayed back. But, kept moving ahead. As we climbed higher, we got a beautiful view of the town and the helipad. Kept clicking pictures near the flagpoles. The monkey ...