SGTrekker 10D9N Everest Panorama Trek (17-26 March 2011)
- Thread starter SgTrekker
- Start date
Here is my shot of the mountain from our airoplane. The window has got marks so it is very hard to shoot. Don't know can make it or not. :sweat: :sweat:
SereneXMM #11
why cant I see the photo ah'''' while other said can and double comfirm
limwhow
Senior Member
Haha... Gentlemen, that SereneXMM anyhow hum tum one lah... I think maybe luckily she was using good camera gear. Perhaps that is why she got lucky with some shots... Hahaha....
Continuing where we left off...
T R A V E L O G U E
LUNCH at Lukla
Honestly, for some strange reasons, the inclined climb from the Lukla Airport up the slope at 'Viewing Wall' end of the Airport was quite siong for me. I recalled panting and panting like a Yak as I reached the top of the wall. And looking up, I briefly spied SereneXMM and Goose Goi spreading their hands like the Tibetan Vulture welcoming our Team 2 flight as our fellow travellers streamed out of the just-landed plane.
These two were absolutely crazy! They were still in jubilant mood while I was already experiencing Stage 1 Acute Lukla Sickness (ALS) already...
Dragging my feet further, I turned back and this time round was very happy to see finally, at least another member who was suffering in as much the same degree as I was in terms of discomfort, but possibly from a different source...
Yah... the brave men, both JohnnyLCP and Goose Goi were...
But I certainly knew of a great shooter both in and out of the Range, who was in HIGH spirit (possibly due to the HIGH altitude??) who was all smiles and ready to devour any Yak that came along his way.
Here we were walking down to the Namaste Lodge where we would be having our first lunch up at 2800m and where our luggage are being divided among the porters who were raring to race off to the next stop with all the load...
Continuing where we left off...
T R A V E L O G U E
LUNCH at Lukla
Honestly, for some strange reasons, the inclined climb from the Lukla Airport up the slope at 'Viewing Wall' end of the Airport was quite siong for me. I recalled panting and panting like a Yak as I reached the top of the wall. And looking up, I briefly spied SereneXMM and Goose Goi spreading their hands like the Tibetan Vulture welcoming our Team 2 flight as our fellow travellers streamed out of the just-landed plane.
These two were absolutely crazy! They were still in jubilant mood while I was already experiencing Stage 1 Acute Lukla Sickness (ALS) already...
Dragging my feet further, I turned back and this time round was very happy to see finally, at least another member who was suffering in as much the same degree as I was in terms of discomfort, but possibly from a different source...
Yah... the brave men, both JohnnyLCP and Goose Goi were...
But I certainly knew of a great shooter both in and out of the Range, who was in HIGH spirit (possibly due to the HIGH altitude??) who was all smiles and ready to devour any Yak that came along his way.
Here we were walking down to the Namaste Lodge where we would be having our first lunch up at 2800m and where our luggage are being divided among the porters who were raring to race off to the next stop with all the load...
hahaha i decided to camp here as well..
Like this shot especially as well as every shot in this thread ! LOVELY n FUN !
Like this shot especially as well as every shot in this thread ! LOVELY n FUN !
very exciting event Holi Festival
limwhow
Senior Member
If we were to say at 11am on that fateful day, it was NOT hot in Lukla, we would be telling a big big lie.
For the sun was scorching like a Dropkyo on fire, and the cold, crisp air did nothing to filter the burning effects of the Ultraviolet rays on our skin. Even sitting under the big umbrella did almost nothing to help cool our charred hair pores.
It was a little confusing, first time ordering Sherpa-Nepali-Tibetan food high up there and we were most likely pretty lost what to get before we started pumping our thigh muscles. What I personally found amusing was, despite the scorching sun, every one was ordering hot chocolate, hot lemon, hot tea, hot milk coffee... I would have loved a cold Coke, except that I was too concerned about making SgTrekker Pok-Gai on the first day.
Who could forget we all walking down to the holding area 2 by 2, by 3 by 3... just to get our trekking poles, extra water bottles and whatever we wanted to be on our bodies, because the strong and sturdy Sherpa porters were all ready to shoot off with our heavy luggage.
Adrian and Melvin said Dhal Bhat was something that MUST be tried up here in Everest Country. So I guai guai obeyed and ordered my first, and my last Dhal Bhat on the trip.
For the sun was scorching like a Dropkyo on fire, and the cold, crisp air did nothing to filter the burning effects of the Ultraviolet rays on our skin. Even sitting under the big umbrella did almost nothing to help cool our charred hair pores.
It was a little confusing, first time ordering Sherpa-Nepali-Tibetan food high up there and we were most likely pretty lost what to get before we started pumping our thigh muscles. What I personally found amusing was, despite the scorching sun, every one was ordering hot chocolate, hot lemon, hot tea, hot milk coffee... I would have loved a cold Coke, except that I was too concerned about making SgTrekker Pok-Gai on the first day.
Who could forget we all walking down to the holding area 2 by 2, by 3 by 3... just to get our trekking poles, extra water bottles and whatever we wanted to be on our bodies, because the strong and sturdy Sherpa porters were all ready to shoot off with our heavy luggage.
Adrian and Melvin said Dhal Bhat was something that MUST be tried up here in Everest Country. So I guai guai obeyed and ordered my first, and my last Dhal Bhat on the trip.
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limwhow
Senior Member
some window shot for view in high contrast (not as good as Serene shot)
White mountain and blue sky
You are modest, Ah Wind!
Lai Lai Lai... come, post some more of your mountain shots!
The whole trek you were walking with your heavy heavy 70-200mm... I know you have lots of shots still hiding inside your Hard Disk! Hahaha...!
limwhow
Senior Member
T R A V E L O G U E
Trekking out of Lukla Town
Adrian and Melvin wasted no time.
Lunch was over in a jiffy and we started trekking officially at 12:30pm.
We wanted to start earlier to give ourselves more time ahead to ease into the trekking rhythm.
Lukla was a delightful town, kind of a frontier town, if one may like to think of it this way. It had small little shops selling anything from religious trinkets to food, water, clothings, sports-wear and even fake North Face cold wear and trekking poles, whatever you needed as a last minute shopping before your trek.
Of course prices are no longer as cheap as way down there in Kathmandu.
A bottle of boiled water (not mineral water) would cost 60 rupee here while a bottle of mineral water would only cost 10 rupee in Kathmandu.
There were lodges of all klinds, and of all levels of comfort, and yes, to our team members' delight, even a Starbucks Cafe.
Pubs, watering spots and eateries were aplenty, a true reflection of the amount of tourism dollar (rupee) from which the folks here derive their income.
Easy my foot...!
Walking down slope exerted much more strain on our already young knees. And fortunately, vngks, acpical and wkcheah reminded us again and again to bring a pair of knee guards. Otherwise I am sure both mine and SereneXMM's knees would be the first set of casualties on this uneven track.
Right out of Lukla, our first companions that we found trodding alongside us was this pair of Dropkyos.
Dropkyos were a mix-bred between Yaks and Cows. They were hardy animals with good endurance and good milk-production. And compared with the Yaks, they were much more tame in their nature and were able to be used for ploughing, something which would be totally impossible with the Yaks. In addition to that, Yaks survive well at altitudes of 3000m and above, whilst their Dropkyo offsprings could do well below that level.
The way to tell Yaks apart from Dropkyos? Yaks have much longer hair that extend to their limbs, compared with the Dropkyos. So usually one look, we could already tell.
We walked to the end of the small town of Lukla and walked under a monument of a famous female climber Lamo Pasang and we were out of Lukla already.
The track turned sharply downwards as we made the first right turn.
And here is that location A where I saw my fellow team mates already walking waaaayy ahead of me...
Ahead of me here as I rounded the corner and saw to my dismay so many of my mates so far ahead negotiating their first gentle climb...
Trekking out of Lukla Town
Adrian and Melvin wasted no time.
Lunch was over in a jiffy and we started trekking officially at 12:30pm.
We wanted to start earlier to give ourselves more time ahead to ease into the trekking rhythm.
Lukla was a delightful town, kind of a frontier town, if one may like to think of it this way. It had small little shops selling anything from religious trinkets to food, water, clothings, sports-wear and even fake North Face cold wear and trekking poles, whatever you needed as a last minute shopping before your trek.
Of course prices are no longer as cheap as way down there in Kathmandu.
A bottle of boiled water (not mineral water) would cost 60 rupee here while a bottle of mineral water would only cost 10 rupee in Kathmandu.
There were lodges of all klinds, and of all levels of comfort, and yes, to our team members' delight, even a Starbucks Cafe.
Pubs, watering spots and eateries were aplenty, a true reflection of the amount of tourism dollar (rupee) from which the folks here derive their income.
"The walk from Lukla to Phakding is really easy peasy," reassured Adrian. "There will be lots of downslope as you walk, and we will lose about 200m of altitude from where we are here at Lukla to arrive at Phakding which is around 2610m. This trek will take a fast trekker two and a half hours, and a slow trekker about four hours. But remember, this is not a race and I want you all to take your own sweet time and enjoy this easy walk. "
Easy my foot...!
Walking down slope exerted much more strain on our already young knees. And fortunately, vngks, acpical and wkcheah reminded us again and again to bring a pair of knee guards. Otherwise I am sure both mine and SereneXMM's knees would be the first set of casualties on this uneven track.
Right out of Lukla, our first companions that we found trodding alongside us was this pair of Dropkyos.
Dropkyos were a mix-bred between Yaks and Cows. They were hardy animals with good endurance and good milk-production. And compared with the Yaks, they were much more tame in their nature and were able to be used for ploughing, something which would be totally impossible with the Yaks. In addition to that, Yaks survive well at altitudes of 3000m and above, whilst their Dropkyo offsprings could do well below that level.
The way to tell Yaks apart from Dropkyos? Yaks have much longer hair that extend to their limbs, compared with the Dropkyos. So usually one look, we could already tell.
We walked to the end of the small town of Lukla and walked under a monument of a famous female climber Lamo Pasang and we were out of Lukla already.
The track turned sharply downwards as we made the first right turn.
And here is that location A where I saw my fellow team mates already walking waaaayy ahead of me...
Ahead of me here as I rounded the corner and saw to my dismay so many of my mates so far ahead negotiating their first gentle climb...
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limwhow
Senior Member
Coming to viewing the Chaurikharka Village
A few of us had requested for personal porters to carry extra camera gears and other equipment. And these personal porters would walk at our pace so that we had access to our stuff during the trek. Many of these porters are tough but very young Sherpas. Their ages ranged from 16 to 25 years old, and they were a cheerful lot, never showing black faces and forever smiling and pointing out places to us and trying to communicate with what little English they knew.
We had been walking for an hour already and finally here, we found ourselves over-looking the Chaurikharka Village with the Chaurikharka school from atop our high vantage point on the track.
From where we stood here at 1:32pm, we looked up north afar...
... and saw a magnificent peak shrouded in clouds. I really didn't know the name of this peak, but I could only guess that it was one of those few mountains that was visible from the photo above.
And over the course of the next few days, we would be seeing again and again, peaks of higher and higher altitudes, reaching out from among the greenery of the near ranges, with the river roaring beneath in the valleys. What sights were these!
Indeed, these were exactly what we came here for!
A few of us had requested for personal porters to carry extra camera gears and other equipment. And these personal porters would walk at our pace so that we had access to our stuff during the trek. Many of these porters are tough but very young Sherpas. Their ages ranged from 16 to 25 years old, and they were a cheerful lot, never showing black faces and forever smiling and pointing out places to us and trying to communicate with what little English they knew.
We had been walking for an hour already and finally here, we found ourselves over-looking the Chaurikharka Village with the Chaurikharka school from atop our high vantage point on the track.
From where we stood here at 1:32pm, we looked up north afar...
... and saw a magnificent peak shrouded in clouds. I really didn't know the name of this peak, but I could only guess that it was one of those few mountains that was visible from the photo above.
And over the course of the next few days, we would be seeing again and again, peaks of higher and higher altitudes, reaching out from among the greenery of the near ranges, with the river roaring beneath in the valleys. What sights were these!
Indeed, these were exactly what we came here for!
limwhow
Senior Member
I was talking to wkcheah even before this trip that we should, no matter how heavy it would be, bring our IR (infrared) cameras up to Everest Country and take back with us some IR shots of this beautiful land high up nearer to heaven. And here I found, at the view point towards Chaurikharka, my first IR opportunity.
Humbly, here is my 535nm IR shots, rendering this scene a dream-like, far-away appearance...
Humbly, here is my 535nm IR shots, rendering this scene a dream-like, far-away appearance...
limwhow
Senior Member
T R A V E L O G U E
Coming to Cheplung
Cheplung is a very small village just after Lukla.
On this day, it took several of us about one hour and forty-five minutes to reach Cheplung, which was really miserable speed. A few of our super-fit members were already far ahead and almost reaching Phakding already.
What was unique about Cheplung was that located in this village was a Stupa and a stack of Mani Stones (Prayer stone slabs carved with scriptures).
Approaching Cheplung, we came to some firewood. Remembering well what Adrian said about not allowing burning of firewood in the Everest Country particularly more so in Sagarmatha National Park (Namche Bazaar was located in this National Park), it was well known that although the local government disallow burning of timber as firewood by foreigners, the locals were still allowed to do so, ironically.
Whenever we come to a Stupa (a Buddhist monument) or a stack of Mani Stones, it is customary to walk in a Clockwise fashion around it instead of Counter-Clockwise. Even if that meant that one had to detour slightly off his track, it would still be respectful to carry that out. In fact, looking very carefully at the Sherpas, it was observed that they (almost) never fail to walk in a Clockwise manner around the Mani Stones and Stupas.
Coming to Cheplung
Cheplung is a very small village just after Lukla.
On this day, it took several of us about one hour and forty-five minutes to reach Cheplung, which was really miserable speed. A few of our super-fit members were already far ahead and almost reaching Phakding already.
What was unique about Cheplung was that located in this village was a Stupa and a stack of Mani Stones (Prayer stone slabs carved with scriptures).
Approaching Cheplung, we came to some firewood. Remembering well what Adrian said about not allowing burning of firewood in the Everest Country particularly more so in Sagarmatha National Park (Namche Bazaar was located in this National Park), it was well known that although the local government disallow burning of timber as firewood by foreigners, the locals were still allowed to do so, ironically.
Whenever we come to a Stupa (a Buddhist monument) or a stack of Mani Stones, it is customary to walk in a Clockwise fashion around it instead of Counter-Clockwise. Even if that meant that one had to detour slightly off his track, it would still be respectful to carry that out. In fact, looking very carefully at the Sherpas, it was observed that they (almost) never fail to walk in a Clockwise manner around the Mani Stones and Stupas.
limwhow
Senior Member
As we passed Cheplung and made our way to the tiny villages of Thado Koshi and Ghat, we saw more and more Sherpa porters carrying phenomenal weights balanced using a band across their foreheads. The would walk with slow but steady steps, and interestingly we would observe them walking a short distance before leaning back against their walking stick or the wall of the cliff to rest for a few minutes before moving off again. It has been found that the Sherpas were one of the most efficient walkers and carriers, and could easily carry 80kg-90kg of weight up huge distances.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:
triple confirm!!! Can can can
Four times.... CAN CAN CAN CAN.
vngks
New Member
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