Khumbu
region!
Well, the picturesque image of Mount Everest (Sagarmatha; the highest mountain on earth) appears in the mind of
everyone with the mention of this big name. The mighty mountains of Sagarmatha massif and the amazing
landscape had driven me just mad in October 2010 when I first explored
this Sherpa land as a mere traveler. In
October 2013, I ventured the appealing terrains again; but in the position of a
wildlife researcher. This time, it revealed a different facet.
Bad
weather and the free mountain flight!
Day I: 27 Sep, 2013. I entered
the domestic terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 09:00,
together with my friend Kaushal Yadav. While we were waiting for 'Check In', the
first flight to Lukla took off. But it
returned back without landing. In no time, all the flights to Lukla were cancelled due to bad weather.
Day 2: We reached TIA at
09:00; got our baggage checked and issued boarding passes. Flights were making
successful landings on Lukla. The
last flight (in which we were to fly) got cancelled and we returned back
handing the boarding passes to the airlines.
Day 3: We got checked
in, issued boarding passes and took off at 14:00. When the clock ticked 14:25, with
Lukla only five minutes away, the air
hostess made an announcement, 'Our valued passengers, the plane is returning
back to Kathmandu. The weather condition in Lukla
is not favorable for safe landing!'
Day 4: All flights to Lukla got cancelled. We cancelled our flight
tickets and collected our payment from the airlines
Now, it's apparent that
the weather in Lukla is very unpredictable.
It generally starts degrading after 14:00. Upon cancellation, flight time for
the next day was provided in descending order of the money paid! To our
despair, our flight always got scheduled after 14:00, which cost us four
valuable days. A case like this is usual in TIA during trekking seasons. On the
other hand, up to 40 airplanes land on Lukla
airport on days with fine weather.
Many international
tourists had the same fate like ours. 'We will go to the Annapurna region this
time. Next year, we will make it to Everest Base Camp (EBC) at any cost',
consoled a trekking guide to his clients. He later told me, 'You know, every
year, Annapurna region receives many tourists this way. To some extent, this is
in favor of the Nepalese tourism industry as most of these tourists do come to
Nepal the next year. Everyone wants to walk the trails of Khumbu, once in life!'
The
longest country in the world!
We drove to Salleri, the headquarter of Solukhumbu district, in a jeep. But the
jeep dropped us at Belidada; a
section of the road was blocked by a massive landslide near Salme. We made an hour of descent and
took another jeep to Salleri. A
passenger exclaimed, 'Nepal is a strange country. It takes us three-four days to
reach a place only 30 minutes in air distance. I think Nepal should be the
longest country in the world!'
The jeep came to a halt
near Salleri. We passed the busy market
of Salleri and soon reached the Phaplu airport. It was not operational
as the runway was being repaired. However, a helicopter had come from Lukla to take fuel for airplanes. We requested
the pilot to take us to Lukla. He did
not agree and took off only with the fuel. Had it come there to take cargo, we
could have been flown to Lukla at 4,500-5,500
NPR in ten minutes.
It took us three days to
reach Namche Bazaar.
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| Namche Bazaar
Into
the woods
Apparently, four types
of tourism are present in Solu-khumbu:
i) general trekking ii) trekking peak tourism iii) mountaineering and iv) cultural
tourism. We belonged to a different category, which I would prefer to call
wildlife tourism.
Rain stopped us at Namche Bazzar for two days. Lakpa didi (Eco-Himal) made us feel at home. We
met Bharat Karki (game scout, Sagarmatha National Park (SNP)) at Tengboche.
He was our field guide; we
were to take benefits of his long experience. He took us through the dense
forests to reach Pangboche in the evening.
Large flocks of blood pheasants wandered in the forest. In this regard, SNP was
making a plan of developing the forest as a 'Bird Sanctuary'. While moving to Phorche from Pangboche, we vividly noticed the tree line shift. New trees were seen
moving up along the streamlines.
A typical pleasant impression was the absence
of visual pollution as the electric lines were taken underground.
At Phorche, the villagers reported a sighting of four snow leopards (a
female with its cubs) near a shed in the morning. This excited us.
'Let's walk
the Betula-Rhododendron forest, I am
sure we will see a musk deer,' proposed Bharat dai and that keyed up even more. About an hour passed without
seeing a musk deer; but a few Himalayan monal/Danfe were seen. As we were about to finish the jungle exploration,
our eyes caught sight of a musk deer about 20 meters ahead. It had sustained an
injury from a feral dog. For a minute or two, it stared at us; and we busied
ourselves by capturing it in camera.
To add to our pleasure, there were
numerous Himalayan monals foraging in the buckwheat farms. Phorche appeared like a capital of the Himalayan monal!
We stayed at the house
of Mingma Sherpa for the night. It was the same house where Dr. Som Ale spent
four years studying the snow leopards and Himalayan tahrs of SNP. Mingma dai recalled, 'Som sir used to wake up at
03:30 and would come back between 19:00-20:00. Such was his dedication'.
In the older days,
tourists visiting EBC after Gokyo (or the ones going to Gokyo after EBC) had to
go via Phorche. With the opening of Cho-La pass, fewer tourists visited Phorche. These days, tourists head to
EBC from Gokyo via Cho-La rarely
visiting Phorche.
Serene
Gokyo
We headed to Gokyo from
Phorche. A herd of female Himalayan
tahr was seen in Khanar. Solitary
adult males were found higher up.
A large eared pika showed up from the
rock caverns.
Adorned in complete blue, a grandala enchanted our souls.
We followed the Dudhkoshi river, originated
from lake Gokyo and Nzojumpa glacier. The first lake of Gokyo complex appeared
then the second and finally Gokyo, the most important lake in Gokyo complex.
Watching brown dippers dive in the lakes was interesting. Tibetan snow cock and
robin accentor were almost unwary of humans here.
A lot of birds added to our
checklist; white-winged redstart, white wagtail, winter wren and common raven
to name a few.
Mount Cho-yu was lying
calm on the backdrop. We ascended a small hill top to observe Dzojumpa glacier.
We had a brief meeting
with Pasang Tsering Sherpa who runs 'Sherpa Art Gallery' on the highest
altitude of the world. At Gokyo-Namaste lodge, we were treated in a very
special way; I must mention, presence of Bharat dai was making all the difference. Bharat dai alone sipped five
bottles of beer and we were also offered drinks; all for free! The owner talked
to foreigners in fine English and smiled, 'You know, even the yaks speak
'English' in Khumbu!' Bharat dai was probably the most active staff
of SNP; he was referring himself as the president of Khumbu (Khumbu ko rastrapati),
in a joking way. In fact, he seemed to have a strong influence among the
hoteliers of Gokyo. Otherwise, we would not have been provided with three
blankets each to ensure that we do not get cold!
A completely
contrasting treatment during the 2010 trek flashed in my mind. Back then, we
were very ill treated at a lodge in Deboche.
When we asked for hot water, the owner said, 'It is only for foreigners'.
Nepalese had to use a separate simple pit latrine outside while there were
modern concrete ones inside, that too only for foreigners. The night stay at
this hotel was almost like a hell, although the signboard outside read,
'Paradise Hotel and Lodge'.
Most of the hotels in
Gokyo do not have septic tanks; sewage is drained out openly and end up in
the lake. Wood consumption is extensive. Promotion of Improved Cooking Stoves
(ICS) and a subsidy in the use of kerosene and cooking gas can be helpful to
combat this challenge.
Gokyo
Ri
provides a very good view of Sagarmatha.
It is about two and half hours ascent from Gokyo. But we had to give it up as
Kaushal was to return to Kathmandu to attend the funeral of his grandfather,
who passed away a few days back.
While returning back to
Phorche, we came through the forests
of Dole. It was a challenging walk;
yet our efforts paid off as we sighted a flock of blood pheasants and a musk
deer. Near Phorche, a French tourist
complained to us pointing on the signboard put by SNP, 'The sign board mentions
frequent sighting of musk deer and pheasants. But we saw none. This is fake!'
Bharat dai gave a sharp reply, 'Sir,
for that you need to enter the forests; they will not come under your table and
say, 'Hello I am here!'
Alone
to Thame
Kaushal left for Lukla to catch a flight to Kathmandu. Bharat
dai also moved towards mount Ama Dablam as he was informed that a foreign
climber was skiing down the mountain, for which he had no permit. (Bharat dai later informed me on phone that he
caught the tourist and fined him; he was really smart!)
I left for Thame, all alone. At Phurte, Ganga Karki (SNP game scout) had
grown vegetables in the forest nursery (maintained with the help of Sir Edmund
Hillary Foundation, Canada). He boiled lekali
(hilly) potatoes for the night. The
next morning, we visited Thame, the
village of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (who conquered Sagarmatha for the first time with Sir Edmund Hillary) and Appa
Sherpa (the record holding mountaineer).
Thame
is a rest point for tourists visiting Gokyo via Renjo La. My heart took the feel of solace on seeing a flock of
snow pigeons gathered on a rock. Himalayan tahr and many species of birds added
to this feel.
Lukla amidst drizzle
The next morning I
headed for Lukla. It was a single day
descent from Thame. The continuous drizzle
soaked all my clothes, the raincoat was not enough.
While I waited for the
flight in Lukla to resume, I received
the news that continuous snowfall in the higher altitudes had claimed the life
of six trekkers near Island peak. Due to unseasonal snow, many tourists were
being rescued through chartered helicopters. At Lukla, I mended my trekking boots with Ram Bilash dai. He has been making regular trips to
Lukla during tourist seasons since 14
years from Sarlahi, a tarai district. 'I make a very good earning here', said
he.
The flights resumed
after two days. However, I did not get a ticket. As usual, international
tourists were getting priority. I remained desolate listening to the sounds of
airplanes till 17:00.
After passing three dreary days, I managed to get a
ticket. With the pictures of fascinating wildlife and alluring landscape
reflecting in my mind, the plane took off from the pitch of Tenzing-Hillary
airport, Lukla.
naresh.kusi@gmail.com
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