It was our fifth day on the Everest base camp trek and it was an early start at 8 am. We were at the breakfast table at 730 am, all packed and ready to check out. I had my usual breakfast of pancakes and honey and milk tea. The ankle injury of our group member was a tad better after a good nights rest but it was clear she could not have walked it to Thengbouche and getting a horse was a good idea. The plan was for our guide Minmar to accompany the horse and Nima to be with the group that was walking. The trail was expected to have several steep ascents and descents and we were worried as to how well the horse would maneuver some of these; one of our group members who was the fastest on the trails decided to go with the horse. At different parts of the trail, the animal trail was different and the horse would take a different route. With this decision, there were three of us walking with Nima, our guide.
We exited Camp Davis and had to climb up a long flight of stone steps; it was the same path that we had taken the previous day when we went to Hotel Everest View. We crossed the large prayer wheel, rotated it several times and prayed for a successful trip. We took the route towards Thengbouche and crossed the stupa that we had seen the previous day. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and a cool breeze. We walked along the ridge of a mountain and it seemed like a long time.
Finally, we reached Khumjung for tea; Khumjung again is a small village at an elevation of 3970 m in the Solukhumbhu district of north eastern Nepal. It was a much needed break and we were happy with our stash of energy bars to go with the milk tea. After a short break we proceeded further. The trail was shaded by tall trees and we crossed an occasional stream.
On these trails, animals get priority over humans, be it horses or yaks. If you see an animal, the rule is that you move to the hillside and give way. Most animals have bells and one needs to keep an ear out for them. The three of us with our guide Nima were walking along the trail happily and suddenly I could hear bells. Nima our guide who is more used to the environment immediately was on a high alert; even before I could gauge where the animal was and which direction it was coming from, Nima realized that there was something terribly wrong. The four of us were walking on a trot and were just headed to a curve and so could not see what was ahead of us. Nima quickly pushed me and one of my group members hard and we just fell on the hillside. My friend who was walking along the cliff could not move towards the hillside and tried to move to the edge of the cliff. As I fell, I noticed a horse dashing towards us; had we taken a second longer, we would have been thrown off the mountain. As I fell, I noticed my friend had moved to the edge of the cliff to avoid the horse and the mud had caved in under his feet and he had fallen below. Nima rushed to help the group member who had fallen down and the two of us who fell on the hillside quickly got up and tried to check on him. Luckily, there was a ledge some 6-8 feet below on which my friend had landed and it was not a big fall. He was bruised badly on his legs, elbow and palm and the mud was embedded deep inside. We provided whatever first aid we could using an antiseptic and band aid but it wasn’t good enough. It was clear the injuries were going to take a very long time to heal. It was a huge learning to be very attentive to the environment and it dawned on us that even a trail that seemed very safe, there was every chance of an accident.
The trail was pretty flat for a while and then the trail dropped steeply to cross the Dudh Kosi river at Phunkitanga (3250m) which was going to our lunch stop. We passed by several large prayer wheels driven by water. Lunch was at a small tea house and consisted of garlic soup and Dal Bhat. We tried to recharge ourselves to be the best possible extent; the afternoon was going to a tiring trek with a steep ascent to reach Thengbouche monastery. We started off after lunch and were ready for a difficult 2.5 hour climb up.
Thengbouche is at the base of Mt. Kangtega (6783 m) and is a beautiful village with superb views of Ama Dablam, Thamserku and Kangtega along with a glimpse of Everest along the ridge line of Nuptse and Lhotse. The Thengbouche monastery is one of the most renowned monasteries in the Khumbhu region.
The altitude and events of the day had made us tired but we knew we had to make it to Thengbouche and pushed along. It was a tough climb and I needed to pace myself and keep sipping on water as we continued up. the trail had a lot of tall trees and was full of boulders and rocks. The rain had made the trail slushy as well. We finally reached the monastery by about 4 pm and we were told that the monastery had just closed. We decided to walk further to reach our tea house – Rivendell, which was going to be our halt for the night.
Rivendall was a beautiful property with a scenic view of the Himalayan peaks. Until this time, we had the luxury of individual rooms with attached bathrooms. For the first time, the individual rooms were very expensive and we had to share rooms if we didn’t want to use common bathrooms. I shared my room with one of my friends. It was a very well maintained property and we got together at the dining hall for our evening tea. The group members who had taken the horse trail had arrived an hour earlier. Our injured friend was tired from the long day of maneuvering the horse on the steep ascents and descents. It was clear that she would need an extra day at Rivendall before moving forward to Dingbouche the next day.
All of us were very tired and so it was an early dinner of garlic soup, vegetable noodles and momos before we retired for the night. It was very cold outside and we needed the warmth of the clean blankets that night. The next day was going to be another long day of hard work to reach Dingbouche (4350 m). Tomorrow is another day!
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