EVEREST TREK : DAY 22

Day 22.  Surke to Bupsa.

Sunday 31 March.

It was very tough going today, uphill right from the start. There was 665 metes of climbing to Chutok La. We took it steadily and are beginning to move better, now we are recovering from high altitude and coughing. We stopped at a lodge just before the top of the pass for tea, we watched the planes from Kathmandu turning in the valley at Lukla to land, one every few minutes. There seems to be about four aircraft and after a pause of 15 minutes they took off again in sequence for the return trip. 

A display of mountain flowers

Once over the pass and into the next valley, Paiya Khola, the path descended slightly but then stuck to the contour line. At the village of Paiya we stopped for another tea and shared a Mars bar. It was now about mid-day and Brin said it was about 2 hours to the next eating place. We decided to carry on and have a late lunch.

This was now the section that we recalled when coming in the other direction, where the route took us all the way to the head of the valley then down the other side. From Paiya it was only a short distance to the bridge at the top of the valley and then another climb, steady this time to Kari La. When we came to the other way this section was very muddy and slippery but it wasn't so bad now as we made our way up. There was some mud from the rain last night but nothing serious. The rhododendrons were really beautiful and the whole hillside was covered in blooms of various colours and shades.

At the top of the pass there was a restaurant with a tremendous view, right up the the length of the Dudh Kosi valley where we could see Lukla and Chheplung in the distance. The weather which had been sunny and warm all morning was clouding over and becoming cool. We moved inside for our lunch of noodle soup.

A mule having a day off !

From the restaurant we could see Bupsa our destination for the day. Brin said it was 1.5 hours away. The downhill was fairly easy and we would have made it faster than his estimate if it hadn't been for the number of hold ups by mule trains. At one point we had them coming in opposite directions causing a total jam up. Coming down this last section we had a couple of showers of rain, we donned our waterproof jackets but fortunately it didn't get heavy or last very long.

We stayed at the same lodge as last time in Bupsa, it was all right and the beds had good thick mattresses. When we went down later for dinner we found there was no heater in the dinning room. They filled an old paint tin with embers from the cooking fire which we at huddled over to keep warm. This wasn't helped by the little boy who wanted to play by running in and out of the front door, leaving it open on the way. This resulted in tantrums when he was scolded for it. This place was another example of the family and porters sitting comfortable in the warm kitchen while customers freeze in the dining room.

The food was diabolical. Moira thought she had ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce but got an inedible gel of sour baked cheese and spaghetti. I had a meat curry, the meat was so tough, like rubber, that whatever animal in came from died of old age. The mistake I made was to eat mine, Moira refused to touch hers. 

We went to bed early the only place that was warm.