Leaving the group to go to Lukla

I was feeling a bit of FOMO, (Fear of Missing Out) as I left the group after pur morning tea break. They were continuing on to walk the Three Passes and up to Everest Base Camp.  I had had enough  of coughing all night and just needed to get back to a lower altitude to sort it.  I wondered how many of the others could keep going given the state if health of some of them, but time will tell.

I walked straight up another Nepalese hill with Dhawa, our second guide. One of our porters was carrying my gear as well as some of young Jo’s gear that he decided he didn’t need, or want to carry.  This will be stored in Lukla until they return. 

We came across some road makers. They are real craftsmen .

It was a nice climb ending in Lukla.  This is the place Ed Hillary and Tenzing Norgate, who were the first people to summit  Mt Everest, built an airport. Ed  had decided that the walk that  I had just completed  from Jiri as it was  too far for him and his mountaineering  mates,  so he bought some land from local people and proceeded to make an airport. The story goes that he filled the locals up with alcohol and had them do stomping dances to pack it down. 

I had a day and a half in Lukla, spending it  people watching. In the morning, there was a constant stream of  trekkers, and their porters heading  up to Everest Base Camp or other routes,  looking all fresh and clean. In the afternoons, there was a continuous trail of  very tired, sunburned people returning.

I visited an early morning market. I didn’t buy and chickens or meat.

Some have trekked, but others are here to climb peaks. These usually gave a lot more equipment including ropes and tents etc. These porters usually only carry about 30-40kg but “freight porters” can carry up to 100kg. These ones carry all kinds of things needed up here, like building materials, food and beer.  Most of this stuff arrives in Lukla by plane, helicopter or donkey, but then goes up higher by porter.

I chatted with a few trekkers whose stories made me  a bit sad that I had not carried on.  I visited the hospital and started taking cough medicine, which was beginning to reduce my coughing.