The last major challenge to reach the Gokyo Lake was getting past the Ngozumpa Glacier, which is the longest glacier in the Himalayas. We were warned about the issues that come with not having a guide in this section. Mainly the fact that there are many ways to go and no clear trail across.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we approached but an incredibly wide area of snow covered in light gray sand and stones was not what I imagined. When I saw the glacier on the map, I expected the things we see in movies and documentaries of large shadowing ice glaciers completely white with snow awaiting us. Instead I saw a large icy glacier, mostly covered in the surrounding gray dirt and stone that had eroded from the mountain tops.
As we chose a path and began to slowly make our way across, I noticed there were rock cairns everywhere, signaling possible paths across. After a little bit of hiking carefully trying to choose the right path, we passed over a section, where I looked across to see a small dip to see an ice cavern and I realized we were also on top of an ice cavern on the glacier. A small sliver of fear crawled up my spine as I flashed back to the footstep on the glacier in Chola Pass that led to emptiness and darkness, with the sound of rushing water far below.
I became very concerned about falling through ourselves and tried choosing paths that stayed flat, in hopes of staying off the possibly unstable caverns of little hills. We hiked slowly across, both having never been on a major glacier and curious enough to wander from each other but ensuring we stayed within eyesight in case of danger.
It was eerily creepy though it was the middle of the day with the sun shining over us. The creaking and cracking of ice that was slowly flowing below us caused me to continually look over my shoulder as if in a haunted house at midnight. At certain points you could hear the dripping of water melting from the ice below the stone and at others you could clearly hear a rushing of fast water moving below the ice.
After about three hours, we finally reached the other side without any major issues. There was a steep climb up and out of the glacier area that took many rest stops, but I was in less of a hurry today due to the less dangerous hiking. We finally reached the top of the side and sat together, eating some Snickers and enjoying the much needed break after such a large push the day before. With a final glimpse of the glacier behind us, we continued onto the expanse of hill towards the Gokyo Lakes.
The first view of the Gokyo Lakes surprised me with the force of emotion I felt. Up until then, I wasn’t sure if this had been worth the extra time hiking and I wasn’t sure of what awaited us at the lakes. So to my utter shock, this massive lake of incredibly bright turquoise waters surrounded by peaks, made me trip over my feet.
I laughed and cheered and smiled with Eric. We did it. Against the odds we made it here without a guide and it did not disappoint. I had to thank everything that led me to this moment and the choice to take a major chance and go for it. To believe in myself that I could make it, to be in the Himalayas and to be here in this country. I felt a flood of love fill me up. This whole trip I had worked and thought through the struggles I’ve faced and the pain of the past and finally I loved myself. I loved all the way from my blistered feet up to my tangled and sweaty hair. I loved this body and every flaw of it, that it brought me here and to this moment.
Though we were exhausted, we raced down the hill to the lake and took many pictures in front of the brilliant waters. We found a restaurant that was still open, as once again everything was almost closed for the season, and took a seat. We talked with the man who suggested we hike Gokyo Ri, a mountain overlooking the lakes, similar to Kala Patthar.
We had a discussion but I had been in the mountains for almost three weeks at that point and both of us were feeling the exhaustion and altitude at that moment. We decided to continue on back towards Namche Bazaar and stop in one of the small towns for the night along the way. We decided on the town of Machhermo based on some signs saying how long it would take to get there. The mountain-side path was a very different landscape to the hike up. There was more short grass and moss and less blowing sand than there was on the way to the base camp.
We reached the first town of Phangga where Eric’s map showed a trail up to a monastery near Chhamtyang. I won’t go into Eric’s reasons for being there but he was trying to find an active monastery and felt like he should go up and try to see if that one there was open. On his map there was another trail that would reconnect us right before reaching Machhermo.
We smiled and said a “see ya later” before I continued on my way as Eric disappeared along a different trail across the valley to the other mountain side. I watched his pack through the thin veil of snowfall, walking away from me to the bridge crossing the valley between the mountain sides.
That happened to be the last time I saw Eric as we parted ways and I never saw a trail where he would cross the valley again and meet me in Machermo. He ended up staying on that mountain side and continued on his own personal journey in the Himalayas as I settled in for the night in Machermo, in the only tea house open, completely alone with the people living there.
The next morning I set it in my mind to push hard to get to Namche Bazaar and take an extra rest day there in case Eric decided to head that way as well. I wish we had time to say goodbye but maybe it was better to leave it at a “see ya later”. Some people cross our paths to remind us of who we are. Eric and I had many conversations that made me question who I wanted to be and what I wanted out of this life. I can’t thank him enough for our time together.
The hike to Namche was a far one, it was all along paths I hadn’t been on before and took many hours. Along the way I ran into two Nepalese men who clearly had packs they were hiking with. I made it my goal to keep them in eyesight as I moved along so I knew I was walking at a good pace. Something very unique about this trail was at every curve in the trail along the mountainside, there were these amazing shrines. At some point I stopped and watched over the valley, drinking my water.
The two men, who I passed when they stopped, stopped to say, “Wow where are you coming from and where are you going? You’re hiking like one of us now with that pace!”
I laughed and told them, “I’m coming from Machermo and trying to get to Namche Bazaar.”
The older of the two men replied, “That’s far for the tourist hiker but I think we’ve got you beat, we’re heading to Lukla today.”
After a small amount of conversing, the two men continued on as I sat and got my views from the mountainside. I was impressed by how far they were going but not very surprised the Nepalese people could be hiking that far and that fast.
Right before I arrived in Namche, I came around a corner and was hit with a massive wall of smoke. It seemed to be originating from the valley below but I had never seen this much smoke before and I worried it was from a wildfire. Unfortunately for me, there was no other way to get to Namche unless I went all the way back to where Eric crossed the first valley. I knew I couldn’t handle that much hiking, especially with nowhere to sleep as towns were mostly closed down. The more I thought about it, I realized I never read about wildfires here and the men I had talked to hadn’t passed me from turning around.
I decided I needed to keep going, that if they considered it safe, I could keep going too. So I covered my face by tying my thin, athletic long sleeve shirt tightly around my nose and mouth. I pushed through the section with the smoke and never saw the fire directly so I assumed I was fine. I later found out that it was possible the people were burning trash down there and it wasn’t a wildfire. Trash is a massive issue on the trek as there is nowhere to put it, I made sure to carry out all trash (especially from granola bars) no matter how small to at least be disposed of in Kathmandu.
Getting to Namche was a major relief, though I loved the mountains and wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to be done with this adventure, I also was completely ready to see what awaited me in Thailand.
I spent an extra day in Namche to rest and enjoy the beautiful town and shops that there were. I also waited the extra day just in case Eric was planning on showing up there, though at this point he was off to his new adventure as well. I cherish the time we spent together and I’m incredibly thankful I had someone to share these once-in-a-lifetime memories with.
I was able to charge my phone up in Namche and finally gain a little wifi to let friends and family back home know that I was okay and I would be contacting them as soon as I got to my internship. I wandered around the bazaar which included steep stone stairways all up through multiple levels of teahouses and stores. I walked down to this fountain that runs when there is rain with a stunningly pink flower placed on top.
Most of the town was pretty shut down as the season for hiking was about done. I tried to go back to this small restaurant we found at the very edge of town that was right by the weekly meat market. Unfortunately the market wasn’t happening and this small restaurant that mostly catered towards the Nepalese travelers was shut down. I laughed a little to myself when I remembered Eric and I wandering into the meat market. We wondered how people didn’t get more sick as the meat lay in the sun covered with dust being kicked up from the roads and flies constantly being swatted away.
That was how we found the restaurant near there and the Nepalese girl who was waiting on us kept laughing behind the menu every time she came near us. At this time, I still have no idea what made her laugh at us so much, maybe we truly just looked out of place or like complete weirdos with my lack of common hiking brands, instead wearing some tan men’s cargo pants and my brother’s warm sweatshirt with the name of the family business car’s shop on it. Clearly it was a way larger size and looked huge on me.
After a nice day there I got up once again bright and early to hike to Lukla. My body at this point was used to the movements. I later realized how strange it was to be settled somewhere. In Thailand, I found myself waking up early to start packing up my bags to start walking again. It became such a routine that I quite enjoyed each day in Nepal that I was happy to be settled but sad to see that life go past me.
The hike to Lukla was shorter than I remembered but I did feel quite a bit of soreness in my feet and legs. Going up mountains I took more breaks than usual, in no rush to finish my time there. As I walked through the main street of Lukla I thought this would be my last sight of the Himalayas. I walked to the end of the street where you pass by the narrow walk by the chain link fence surrounding the shortest runway in the world to get to the airport.
I walked into quite a bit of chaos as the small airport was packed with people waiting and talking. I made my way to the small offices of the airlines that ran there to buy myself a ticket back to Kathmandu that day. I heard a little bit of the people talking in front of me and it seemed like they were unsuccessful. When it was my turn, I was told there would most likely be no planes today due to weather but they would put me on the waitlist and to come back early the next morning.
I strolled out of the airport knowing I needed to find a place to sleep that night but feeling a little vulnerable now that I didn’t have Eric with me. I walked out and kind of just looked around for a bit to figure out what to do. I had a small surge of courage when I saw a man and woman standing nearby that had been in front of me in line. I walked up to them and asked if they got the news of no planes as well and where they were staying.
Thankfully they were extremely friendly and pointed at the teahouse right next to the airport entrance saying they gave a deal there and it was next to the airport so they wouldn’t have to go too far in the morning.
Just like that I was welcomed into this group that started out small but began growing into a loud and rambunctious group of all types of hikers as they also came in to find out that the airplanes weren’t running that day. The forteen or so of us decided to go out to eat, specifically for some burgers. I think all of us were really craving some sort of protein after living off mostly rice and some eggs. We all dug in and laughed and played cards for the night.
The next morning we all got to the airport bright and early when the office lady once again said the weather was too bad that morning, but that the afternoon should be clear enough to get some planes up. Now the issue with this process is that with each day passing we got pushed further down the waitlist, as people who had tickets for that day got to board first and then the people who had tickets for the day before would go and then us at the bottom.
We spent the day standing outside the hotel by the airport entrance, checking every couple of hours to see if planes were coming through. We watched as some of the stray dogs became attached to us and therefore territorial to other dogs. One dog gang tried to enter the area and caused a big fight that a bunch of the hikers jumped in to break up while I jumped on top of José to get out of the scruff and away from the teeth.
José ended up finding this amazing restaurant inside a woman’s home that sold the most amazing Momo’s and we went there multiple times a day to get our fill of them. We went there for dinner that night and ate as many as we could fit in our stomachs as we worried about the fact that no planes were able to come due to weather that day.
We then returned to the teahouse where we all didn’t want the celebration to end as we sat around the small patio table in the courtyard of the teahouse to tell ghost stories. As we talked there was a light upstairs that flickered on and off, freaking us all out as we discussed being stuck in Lukla forever, making up legends and envisioning a new town together. It was all great fun until we finally decided to head to bed and all had to run up in fear of the blinking lights and a possible beginning to a horror movie.
The third day of being there, we were told the same results that morning and once again spent our day sitting around outside the entrance. The lady told us that the weather this late in the season made it very difficult to get planes up due to quickly changing conditions and the rest of the week wasn’t looking too good. The last few days we would see a little blue in the sky in the afternoons and go running to the airport to check if there was a change in plans but the little blue patch was always quickly covered up again, shattering our hope.
This was the point that people had to make decisions about their plan of action. We were all already pushed really far down the waiting list so the airline was offering full refunds if we wanted to get off the waitlist. So far the only aircraft to make it up were helicopters. So there were three options to choose from: spend extra money and get a helicopter ride, hike down to Salleri (where I started) and take a car back, or just wait and hope for good weather to fly out of there.
A couple people decided to hike back and we gave slightly misty-eyed hugs and goodbyes as they went on their way. I think one person got a helicopter ride back but overall a good amount of us decided to give it one more day or so of waiting. For me, it didn’t matter because it was past the time for me to make my flight to Thailand. I hoped my travel insurance would cover a new plane ride once I got out of the mountains as I didn’t have enough time to hike and take a car to make it in time either, so waiting seemed like the best option.
The next morning, we once again showed up at the airport to check and the woman gave us the news that they were seeing a possible clear patch that morning. It had been a crazy few days as the teahouses filled up and ATMs ran out of cash from the amount of people waiting for flights so we knew we were far to the bottom. This was also the day though that my flight to Thailand was happening later that night.
Unfortunately, this news came a little late for Dani as the night before he had canceled his ticket to hike down the next morning. If he bought another one, he would be so far down the list that it would be useless so we said our goodbyes as our goofy friend made his way down the stairs and back into the mountains.
Around mid-morning, we were told by the lady that they were going to be able to send up 3 planes and that was it for today. I honestly will never know how José did it, but he was able to get me on the first flight out of there and he and Eline on the next two. It was absolute madness as I sprinted in there and threw my bag on one of the piles, desperately hoping it was the right one. José was amazing and helped push me through the lines to get my stuff checked and in the right place and then to the front of security. I have no idea how I would have done it without him as I don’t have that kind of forward attitude.
I waved to José and Eline as they dangled their bodies out of the window of the airport as I ran to the extremely small plane waiting for me. When I caught up with José in Kathmandu, right before I went to the airport to head to Thailand, he said they had a small heart attack when the plane went over the runaway and dipped a bit below the cliff and they were worried it had crashed, so they all let out a tiny scream and were a bit hesitant to get on their planes, even though they knew I was fine. Saying goodbye to these amazing friends was once again one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but it must be done when you travel.
By some miracle, I actually made my flight to Thailand after going to the hostel to pick up my bags I stored there, grabbing a couple of souvenirs from nearby stores, and getting back to the airport for my flight out.
