“On a Mish” #130 Our Time in Gurdel – Adventures in Nepal (Part Eight). Foothills of the Himalaya. Sulokhumbu. 2.11.2015. When I tell people about my adventures in Nepal, usually the first question asked has something to do with Mt Everest. Of course I can understand why as it is the biggest mountain on the planet, and most who travel to Nepal do it with intentions of seeing Sagarmatha – Mother Goddess of the Earth.…
However on my first mish to Nepal I was there with a team of legends whose goal was to help Sagarmatha’s children. The closest we got to Everest was by hiking to the home of the world’s most dangerous airport.
In a trip of near unlimited highlights there were only a couple of moments of sadness. These were the times we had to say goodbye to new members of the extended Active Hearts Foundation Whanau. Leaving Gurdel was especially hard as we had had a couple of incredible days and I’m sure each of us thought about settling in and spending the rest of our lives in the awesome little Nepali village.
I guess another reason for sticking around was the big drop and then climb which was our next hiking challenge. After the down we began the up and this took us to a small village called Bong. We stopped for a tea break and at the tea house was a large framed picture of Sir Edmund Hillary. The Kiwi contingent was flooded with Aotearoa pride and it showed us how important the great man is to the country he spent many years in.
The rest of our day was a slow plod up hill with most of us quietly walking reminiscing about our stay in Gurdel. At one point the call came out to step aside for a local and as we did a young fella came charging up the hill with a bundle of bamboo that looked like it weighed more than me! The Nepali people are super humans and the power generated from their dhal bhat fueled bodies is amazing.
We arrived at the tea house we would be staying in with a damp mist all around us. Tired and hungry, we smashed down a feed and then retreated to a place to lie down and sleep.
Early-ish the next day I was up checking out the tea house and its elevated surroundings. Along with crumbled sheds and other buildings, a closer inspection of the building revealed it had some earthquake damage and was possibly needing some repairs before it was opened for business. We all enjoyed our stay and I don’t think anyone gave a single thought about the state of the dwellings we were in!
As we pushed on closer to the Himalayas and Lukla the mountains began to grow and creep closer. This was going to be our last walking, and also the toughest and highest elevation. The high hike home…
