VEJETA

Etiqueta: everest

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – Ascension to the Island Peak and going back to Dingbuche

    We went to bed at 6pm to be ready to get up at midnight. I used an sleeping pill and ear plugs to avoid the snores of the colleague. The sleeping bag has forst on the outside. I get out early and X. gets mad at me because I did not leave the tent completely open.

    We have breakfast and a procession of lights starts moving lead by Karma, and then Luis and Tomas and I join the other groups.

    It is a difficult path upwards, full of rocks, and when I look up I only see lights near the rocks , all them ascending towards the stars. Tomás does not feel strong and goes back.

    We cross paths where we need to grab ropes and we barely see where we put our feet, but the dark recedes, the sun comes and we reach the snow and the ice, so we start to set up our gear. Karma helps me with the crampons and the harness.

    We find the first wall where we need to use the jumar, it is exhausting even if it is only 5 or 10 meters.

    Then, it comes….The first pass above the abyss. It is over a several set of aluminium stairs tied to each other. My emotions are frozen so I am able to walk setting my cramponed feet to pass over the crevasse.

    Just after passing this, in the distance, it appears a 100 meters wall of ice. I tell Luis that I am afraid and thinking of stopping here but he encourages me continue. We join a queque full of people climbing with crampons and jumar. I reach a point that I am uber thirsty, with so many people the queue takes hours and we need to get strength to keep our arm grabbing the jumar just standing there and trying to avoid to be taken down my the people belows me that draw so near that barely give me space. I get upset with the german below me, because it keeps pushing me to the left, even when I ask him several times to keep the distance.

    Looking around I see the snow vertical world where the sherpas moves up and down without difficulty around us, like Spidermen.

    At the top, we still have to walk without jumar towards teh very top, a 2 meter square platform. We receive the congratulations from the people there and the beginning I just crawl and sit on the floor, but soon I join Luis and we stand to take some photos. Everything is from eagle point of view.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Chhukkung to Island Peak Base Camp

    We walk through a path that seems taken from another planet, full of smashed rocks, like from a film of the Riddick chronicles, a desert.

    We don’t cross or see other trekkers but we see the Island Peak on the distance and follow that direction.

    Luis, Tomás. and I go first and soon we find Sonam and Coultin, the climbing guide that is helping X.

    The base camp is arranged in several clusters of tents and ours seems to be in the last pocket.

    We are received in a big yellow tent marked with the sign of Prestige Adventures.

    It is tall enough to accomodate us standing up and it featur5es a central table surrounded by camping charis. We received a warm welcome and have our lunch there prepared by a cook in the nearest tent.

    When it is getting dark I depart alone for a walk, and I am taken by the beautiful sights and sounds: The sky full of stars, and on the ground everything dark but for the globes of lights that come from the inhabited tents, the contour of the mountains arranged on the horizon…

    The captivating sounds of a distant song played by an unknown musical instrument, it is a soothing melody in this distant land.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Ding Buche to Chhukkung

    I slack on the bed while X. prepares his stuff. So without changing clothes I have the breakfast first, and then go to select the pieces that we won’t carry to Chhukkung.

    Since the house is powered by solar energy, the powerbank is only charged to a half so the hostess only charge half the price.

    We start the ascension even if it’s a smooth one with a steady pace. We are accompanied by the river and when looking back we get an impressive look at the valley and Dingbuche below.

    Chhukkung seems to be the typical place here with full of lodges with english signs. Our lodge claims to be one of the highests.

    Not so much to do during the evening. L. is having a hard digestion so I give him some almax.

    I take a nap, meditate, and notice how attached I became to receive messages from my loved ones, so I spend some time writing letters and letting go of this thoughts.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Gorak Shep, visiting the Everest Base Camp, to Ding Buche

    On this day we went from Gorak Shep to the Everest Base Camp, then Lobuche for lunch and finally to DingBuche

    The visit to the Everest Base Camp is iearly in the morning. I love the view of the glaciar.

    On the way back we took our backbacks from the lodge. X. almost fell and harmed a bit his foot. However, he recovers very fast and we arrive to Lobuche to have lunch. I have time to lie down and sleep while waiting for a pizza.

    At 2pm. we continue down, crossing many trekkers and we see the place with the many memorials for people that lost their lives at Everest.

    It is a long trek, and listen to some music from the mp3 player, and we discover some estupas among the fog.

    This lodge is awesome, so I have a shower and I feel in good mood and have a bit of sherpa stew.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Lobuche to Gorak Shep

    We leave our baggage behind and carry our sleeping bags only.

    At ten, we arrive to Gorak Shep and after an early lunch we set up for ascending the Kala Pather («Black Rock» as later Tundu translated for me).

    Gorak Shep, 5.140 metros, último pueblo antes de llegar al Everest Base Camp
    At the top of the Kala Pather
    From Kala Pather, Everest view.
    Gorak Shep

    X. didn’t have lunch and we find him on the top. I feel very tired and I talk with some friends and my family at home.

    I have some fun with the couple from Madrid and Córdoba: the doctor and the pharmaceutic, and also with L. and T., speaking about our different accents.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Thagnak across the Cho La to Dzongla

    I have not had an entire night sleep in a week. Nonetheless I am happy to spend less time in the bed and get up at 5 am.

    My usual muesli with black coffee and I feel full and ready for this journey.

    We follow the river upwards in an effort that takes the best of us. Many trekkers are on the same way. On the top we see a new valley that reminisces western film views.

    Brown grass, a great expanse, and a river created from the melted snow in the distance, to the east.

    There is an ice formation to the west, a valley to the east and a wall of rocks in front of us. That is the Chola Pass. I struggle breathing, forcing me to focus on each step, I remember the book of the Navarra expedition and how they needed to stop after every 5 steps.

    We trekkers smile at each other not sharing the language but knowing the feelings we are experiencing with the shared experience. The sherpas, doubling or taking 3 or 4 times or more the weight that we carry, pass us at what is for me nothing less than humbling.

    Soon, the sun smiling at us again, and some meters above everyone is celebrating. When we reach the top, we take the photos together and I even take a nap. I remember the Torrecilla trek the past year and how I tried to do the same but was awaken by a snowball.

    While going down we start now walking over the ice. Somehow we don’t need crampons and it is beautiful to see streams of water running under our feet.

    The next part consists on following a narrow ledge on the rock to our right and very soon a wonderful valley open itself around us.

    It seems like arriving to a secret valley, protected and surrounded by giants. Amadablan, on of them, in front of us.

    From this height I can see two settlements on the distance.

    On each stop to rest I notice the peeps joking with X. about the female nepali guide that he was speaking to yesterday.

    It is sunny and in this prairie, even the porters are at the same time enjoying a little pause.

    I take the chance to talk a little bit with a french gentleman saluting him in french and promptly being forced to tell him that I don’t know much french and continue in english.

    In our Zangla Inn, my remaining strenght only allows to put the cellphone to charge, the necesary visit to the bathroom and taking a nap.

    An hour later, Tundu wakes me up to have some masala tea that revitalizes me. It is 2:30.

    Soon, another expedition, older men, fills the room.

    This has been hard, and surely would dismantle the image some of my friends have of me of being strong.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Gokkyo to Thagnak

    The top of the eatern hill was hiding a surprise: A view of a barren land of another planet. It is an old glaciar in a receding state. The look of it now is like seeing the bottom of a dry river, full of rocks as if pulverized by the force of ice long ago.

    However, Sonam reminds me, «this pass is dangerous, that is why it is recommended to pas it soon in the morning».

    And soon, I see the reason of this; some of the walls of white dirty rock are actually ice and we can see and hear how small chunks of rocks and high ground fall from their top into the ponds.

    We pass a lot of porters. The two porters that come with us are doing the same way and we pass each other several times. This morning I gave them two snacks asking them to please accept and they did and thanked. Also we talked with a group of spanish people that were doing this path without guides.

    This takes from 7:30 to 10:00 and we are in our new destination at the skirts of a mountain.

    Tomas, Luis and me took the first shower in days and we washed our clothes. This felt really awesome.

    After this, I decide to venture myself into the hills to see the glaciar and have some time of solitude and inspiration.

    When topping one hill I see a couple in the distance, also enjoying the view, on of them waves and I wave back.

    To find a quieter place I continue climbing and find a good spot.

    Time to find the feelings that center myself. The mountains and music from Dances with wolves. I meditate and go back.

    I got up from the nap when Luis is ordering his stuff. I found myself annoyed by the noise but I enter in a good mood when I hear people joking outside.

    Sonam, Tundu, X. and another sherpa are talking with a female sherpa guide and X. seems interested and everyone is laughing and giggling with the interaction.

    I am eager to ross the Chola Pass tomorrow. For safety, it will be something that we will do early in the morning and this can take us even 8 hours. I am tired of sleeping almost all the day in the previous days so I welcome a long day in nature.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Machermo to Gokkyo

    Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Machermo to Gokkyo

    Some muesli for breakfast and we depart at around 7:35 am.

    Again, the path starts ascending forcing us to walk slowly so we can make our breathing come to normal levels.

    I see less and less people in this zone, however we continually are passed by an english and swiss expedition, they take the lead whenever we take a rest.

    Again, I see porters carrying three or more times the weight we carry. The main sights today are the three lakes.

    Gokkyo lake with the sight of the Cho Oyu peak

    We arrive early, it is 11:11 when I see the clock, one hour later we have dal bhat and I go to take a nap.

    I get up when L. came to the room to order his stuff, I see that X. needs help to arrange his plane to fly around the Everest during the last day, so we buy an Everst-link that he can use to do a whatsapp call to talk to Cristina.

    I take the chance to contact my people back home.

    After that, we have a friendly chat around dinner about our jobs, families, girlfriends.

    Myself, I have a chowmei and we share some hashbrown with egg.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Phortse to Machermo

    Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Phortse to Machermo

    Today I took my breakfast with milk and a porridge based on corn and my usual black coffee.
    The others have grown fond of the masala tea and they order it at each presented chance.
    We wave goodbye to the kind hosts, in my case, they shake my hands with some words in spanish, and also we wish well to the rest of the family and the fellow climbers.

    The trek starts by going back down and now crossing the river and following a path up that is testing our stamina and forces us to walk slowly to catch our breath.

    The Dukquosi (Milky river) is at our right side becoming narrower as our ascension continues.



    The first part of the trail is almost all upwards and we cross more porters, a woman herding yaks, more women carrying stuff and some other trekkers. They are not as common as in our first days around Namche Bazaar.



    Again I take the moments while we have a rest when Tundu marks it to breathe from the beauty of the mountains and allow the sun to warm my skin.



    We make a stop for lunch around 11 a.m. knowing that the rest of the way will be easier for today.



    We are now over 4000 meters of altitude and I feel a bit of pressure on the back of my head. It’s very subtle but I decide not to risk it and take my first pill: one paracetamol.

    I forgot to mention that Sonam got behind at the lodge however he catched up a little bit before our lunch place.

    Another man in the lunch place resulted to be one young man from Kathmandu, in his thirties, he speaks a very good english and told me that this trek was more beautiful than the others and that he would spend nine days on them.

    Everest: We will go to the base camp, and Island Peak…We will climb it!



    At last, in Marchemo I salute the porters in nepalese and the hostess smiles when she notices me using some words like «duk chya» (tea with milk) with Tundu.

    The interior of the lodge
    Playing football



    Stories about travels around Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia using Bangkok as a hub to get the visas are told by L. and T.

    Today I feel like wishing for more time in the evenings under the sun. Some times I think about my people back home and what worried me, feeling distant and wishing for more clarity.

  • Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Kyangjuma to Phortse

    Himalaya’s trekking on 2017 – From Kyangjuma to Phortse

    We started today at 7 am. The dining room is again packed with trekkers from other groups. We realize again how big this guest house is, it comprises two buildings of several stories with bedrooms, kitchen, shops, several dining rooms.


    Today, my choice is porridge with apple, raisins and cinnamon. At the outside I see the porters, young guys, getting ready with the bags. I don’t know what words to offer them although they always have a smile ready on their faces.

    Afterwards we set up, as always, Jotta on the front, but soon we find the crossroads where we part ways.

    Jetta, David and Mónica go downwards towards Tengbuche while Sonam, Tundu, L., T., X. and me start to ascend. The path is narrower, a trail now, and it goes higher and higher leading us to what is for me of the more beautiful sights on earth.

    The valley below takes on several kind of greens depending on the trees that populate the sides of the hills. On our front, where I expected to see the sky, I see the biggest mountains, valley and what is from this distance, a line, the river. The pictures I take can’t capture this.

    In my thoughts I compare this to the views of Rivendell from LOTR although now this is bigger and everywhere.

    Several times we cross some other porters, and some people herding baby yaks so we must be careful and step aside.

    At the top we have some masala team, although what I am trying to get into myself is this beautiful sight.

    On the way below, Tundu tells me that he is going to a school to get a degree for medicine and english. He is going to start his second year after this month of trekking when he will earn some money. He wants to continue being a trekking guide after his studies.

    The ascensions take again the breath out of me, however Sonam tells us that today we finish at 11:30 am so we have time to rest.

    At the «Namaste Lodge», I buy another 200MB card from the Everest Link company for 600 rupees (around 6€) and I take the chance to talk to people back home and send some pictures. To my surprise it only lasted 5 minutes.

    The owner of the lodge presents me a book from 1979 about an expedition from Navarra where he participated. He is very friendly, the same as the rest of the family and later on, he gave me a notebook.

    The brother of the owner is also in the lodge with his two daughters and one son. They seem to half-nepali, born in the USA and living in the Netherlands. There are also 3 climbers from the States, young men, two of them dedicated to it professionally and staying here for a couple of months.
    The other one lives in Bolivia as an economist.

    I take the chance to learn more nepali with Tundu and to speak about climbing techniques and crampons with L.
    T. is reading a book and X. preferred again to sleep than to have dinner.

    Wht a wonderful family time. I glance some times over the family and caught them laughing when someone says «one» and I raise my head and the father poking with the elbow to the daughter. Sonam tells me that she knows spanish and the father wanted her to practice.

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