“On a Mish” #130 The Trekkers are Coming – Adventures in Nepal (Part Six). Mera Peak Guest House to Gurdel Village. Sulokhumbu Area. 31.10.2015. Before leaving Aotearoa I believed that New Zealand had the biggest and most impressive mountains on the planet. This uneducated idea was a driving force in the way I guided people. I used my passion for the country I live in to enhance the trip for the client and it was either my passion and enthusiasm – or the need to get away from the sound of my voice – that got a lot of weary hikers through tough times on the tracks. Even before landing I looked out the window of the aeroplane, saw the Himalayas for the first time and instantly knew I was going to have to find room for Nepal at the top of my favourite place list…
Our first day’s hiking was tough, however waking up to a view of Mera Peak and some of its colossal neighbours was the shot of motivation the team needed to get back on the trail to Gurdel.
We had spent our first night in a tea house and then the next was in our tents for the first time. These had been set up in the courtyard of a group of buildings, and like the first day, we arrived at our home for the evening just as night was arriving in Nepal. Sleepy and with a belly full of Dhal Bhat we retreated to our tents to recharge our batteries.
Early-ish the next morning I poked my head out to see a group of children huddled around waiting for the strange foreigners to awake from their slumber. It seemed as if Nepal was showing us exactly what we wanted to see when we needed to see it. Day one was the mountains that stand taller than any others around the world. And then day two was the real reason we had travelled from all around the world to Nepal. And that of course was to help the very same mini humans that were now running scared from the strange man crawling out of the tent.
Knowing the day was going to end at a location we would stay in for the next couple of days gave us an extra spring in our steps. We departed bound for Gurdel on what at first was a clear day but very quickly became low cloud and drizzle, and this had most of us hiking quietly lost in our own thoughts. Surprisingly it looked like we wouldn’t be finishing this day in the dark, but we did have a challenge in front of us before we got to the village of Gurdel. Our guide and hometown hero Bibek pointed first to the village which was level with where we were,and then at the massive drop down to a swing bridge we needed to cross before the final climb back up to the village. It was one of those times when you need to dig deep into your energy bag and grab as much as you can and hope it doesn’t become empty before you reach your target. Some had blisters, others sore shoulders, all of that would have to wait until we conquered our last climb.
After crossing the swing bridge we began our climb back up to the level of the village, and it was theb we encountered the first of the ‘scouts’ that were waiting for our arrival. A couple of the locals were waiting patiently, and now that we were almost there they sprinted back up to the village to inform the town. We did not sprint up the hill!
Like the other days, we arrived worn and weary, but unlike the other days we arrived in daylight, and unlike the other days we had a welcoming experience that I will never forget…
