Nov 15 2024 – Namche return Day 2
Basically taking it easy. Went back today to the Namche post office to mail postcards and the doors were locked. Hopefully I can mail them in Lukla. Lukla isn’t the highest post office on earth, but it’s at least close.
Other than that, took a nice shower for the first time in 2 weeks. Always feels nice to be clean. Also got some cough syrup from the pharmacy since the cough drops I got yesterday kinda taste gross (I’m not a huge fan of ginger). That seems to be helping my cough. No longer feeling like I’m going to break a rib trying to cough up nothing.
Did find out where the dog shelter is. Waaaay the hell out of town and up a steep hill that I’m being too lazy to go up, so, disappointed in myself for not making the effort, but at least I’ve established dog shelter isn’t a euphemism for “sausage grinder”.
Mostly I’ve just been reflecting on the trip.
If I had to plan this trip again I would absolutely NOT pre book accommodations. Out of 18 pre booked nights I only ended up staying in those places 4 nights. So I lost money on that since that was all non refundable. Also, the amount you pay when you pre book is more than you pay just showing up and asking for a room. I only pre booked because during my research it kept coming up that this is the busy season and if you don’t pre book you won’t get rooms. I only got turned away once, and was just sent to the lodge next door where they had plenty of space. And I’m pretty sure even if things were busy they’d find a space for you, even if it meant putting you up in someone’s house.
I would also not have so firm of an itinerary. While, yes, an itinerary is needed for an undertaking like this, where you’re measuring days in elevations rather than distances for acclimatizing purposes, being too rigid can screw you up if you don’t acclimatize fast enough. I think once I dumped my itinerary and just went up as my body felt it could that was probably the smarter way to do it.
Also, a lot of the forums I had read when planning had a lot of advice from regulars to the region that I tried to heed, and that was stupid. Yeah, so and so may have done this 20 times, but they aren’t me, and in retrospect some of their advice was stupid. I may be new to these altitudes, but I am not new to multi day backpacking trips, so I would’ve been better deferring to my own experiences.
In terms of gear, I used everything I brought except my first aid kit, and the first aid kit is the piece of gear you bring hoping you don’t have a use for it. I probably would, if I were to do this again, invest in a lighter weight 60L backpack since my 105L expedition backpack is way overkill and adds 3-4 unnecessary pounds. I’d also have used a lightweight 3 season sleeping bag instead of my heavier 0 degree F rated bag. I was comfy, but at no point was it cold enough to be necessary. Also, again going back to trusting my own experience. I bought heavy hiking boots for this trip. Teenage me would’ve done this trip in Converse Allstars and been absolutely fine, and Allstars are significantly lighter. Also I could’ve saved weight by buying a normal north face down puffer coat, instead of the nearly floor length down coat I bought, but I hate the puffer coat aesthetic, and at $300+ I was buying a coat to wear after the trip was over. Plus I got a lot of compliments on my coat from Sherpas who want their own floor length down coats, so I may have started a new Himalayan fashion trend.
One piece of gear I would’ve added would’ve been a hat with a bill of some sort to keep the sun off my eyes. There are plenty of places up here to buy them. I just didn’t. It was fine, but there were moments where it would’ve been nice to have more than just sunglasses shading my face.
On guides and porters, I’m very much the anomaly in having neither. In my opinion, if I can’t carry my own stuff I shouldn’t be up here. I realize I’m the minority and 99% of the people that come here happily pay some dirt poor lowland Nepali man $30/day to carry their crap for them. But, to me that’s the distinction between a tourist and a hiker. I’m here to hike. And as for guides, the trails may be poorly maintained when contrasted with US National Parks, but it’s virtually impossible to take a wrong turn and find yourself heading up a 28,000 foot mountain. I have the Gaia GPS app on my phone, which plotted my actual position on a topographic map that includes all the major trails in the region. Worked perfectly well for navigating. The only other thing guides do to earn their $4000 is handle logistics for you, and as we see I managed to handle my own just fine.
Anyway, tonight for dinner I want to see if I can find a place tonight that sells yak steaks. Curious what that tastes like. Also debating going to the highest Irish pub on earth afterwards, but leaning against it – I can get guiness at home cheaper, and I dunno about alcohol being helpful to my cough.
Tomorrow I’ll hike down to some village between here and Lukla. Probably Phakding, but we’ll see. Next day Lukla. Day after fly back to Kathmandu. 3 days there, then homeward bound.
