FACE TO FACE WITH EVEREST
At 5:30 in the morning in the dining room of the guesthouse, there was nobody except the hosts, an old lady, and me. The old lady was getting ready to leave and was having a chat with the hosts in their local language. After that, she threw her bag on her shoulders and went on her way. I had a hearty breakfast and as I was getting ready to leave the owner mentioned that there was another Bulgarian at the house.
“Really” – responded surprised.
“Yes, he arrived at dawn and went to his room. He didn’t even eat dinner…”, continued my hosts.
“Maybe he has problems with his stomach”, I said jokingly as I was exiting through the door.
The weather was wonderful, the hill before me was steep, and I had a song by Vasko Naidenov stuck in my head. A bit later I caught up with the old lady I saw earlier in the dining room. After a short “talk” in a variety of languages we decided to continue our walk together. This type of conversation is my favorite; you can’t get into too much detail, and neither can you get into an argument. It is absolutely sure that it will all end with a big smile on both ends. The lady was a local woman mountaineer and was making her way up the steep hill at quite an enviable pace. We arrived in Pakding as early as 11 o’clock and that is where we parted ways since she was headed to Namche Bazar. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to stay or continue my hike, but I was convinced that I wanted to take a tea break. So I did. The tea had an energizing effect on me and I decided to go a bit further.
Without asking about my destination or what the distance to it was, I simply started walking. The outstanding landscapes were becoming so astonishing that it made me doubt if I’d ever seen anything like this before. I crossed multiple metal bridges, above endless abysses, hundreds of meters deep. Everywhere around me I could see white shining peaks, the air was very fresh and crisp and I could hear the sound of the rivers somewhere deep below me, accompanied by the songs of some birds I never knew existed.
As I was entering Benkar the sun was starting to set. I sat down on a bench by a house under a blooming cherry. The host of the house came out and sat next to me. We hit it off immediately. We didn’t speak the same language and this time it was even easier, as she responded with “OK” to everything I said.
“It was a lovely day”, I said.
“OK”
“May I stay the night at your house?”
“OK”
“I’d love some rice and vegetables”
“OK…”
I decided to joke a bit so I said,
“Tomorrow morning I’m going to leave without paying you.”
“OK”
Ah, why weren’t all humans like this woman? What a pleasant place would Earth then be!
The following day was really special. After a few hours walking I finally had the opportunity to see Mount Everest. Ten days had passed in long and tiring hikes and right now I could see it right there in the far distance. It was so beautiful and astonishing that goosebumps ran through my back. I had made one big dream of mine come true and I felt really content.
I spent more than an hour staring at that amazing view, thinking about how lucky I was to be in this place. After that, I put the bag on my shoulders and continued. A bit further was Namche Bazar – the largest settlement on the way to base camp. The town was full of life, I walked passed a big market, where one could buy almost anything.
At one of the stands, I ran into the old lady from the day before. We were both so happy to see each other that we gave each other a big hug. We exchanged a few words, each of us in their language, and said goodbye.
Lukla and its famous airport were near and I could sense that from the crowds of tourists at Namche Bazar. I had become so used to the silence that I decided to walk a bit further away from the mass of people. One of the Australian guys from the previous days had told me about a village near Namche and I was firm in my decision to find it and spend the night there. The hike turned out to be quite difficult and challenging. The elevation was almost 4,000 m and it was pushing the last of my strength as I kept walking uphill. Sadly, my leg hadn’t stopped hurting which was making me take more and more frequent breaks. As I was enjoying a beautiful view of Namche Bazar during one of my breaks, I had to admit to myself that there was no way I could reach the base camp in this condition.
It was difficult to accept that, but the thought that I had even more difficult hikes ahead of me, which I was going to have to do limping with one leg made me realize I had to turn around. After all, it was not me who made the rules of this adventure I was exploring, but Life. My leg wasn’t getting better at all and it wasn’t hard to understand what was hinted at me. After getting lost and wandering the area for a while I found the right way with the help of a nice man I met, I finally found Kumdjung – the village I was looking for. It lay peacefully in a beautiful valley at an impressive elevation of 4200 m. The guesthouse was big and cozy. When I entered the dining room I found a group of people there with large cameras and tripods. I sat down and grabbed a bite, after which I contacted Dipak to arrange my flight from Lukla back to Kathmandu. Going back the same way on foot in my condition was unimaginable.
I had four days before my flight. I spent two of them in this beautiful village. On the first day, I climbed up a tall hill in search of a place from where I could enjoy Everest once again. I didn’t get to see Everest but to my joy, there were many other impressive peaks and I took advantage of the moment to take pictures. The second day was quite windy and cloudy so I didn’t get to go out but instead, I read, meditated, and had many conversations with the other guests of the house.
