EVEREST TREK : DAY 26

Day 26. Junbesi to Sete.

Thursday 4 April.

Junbesi in the valley

It was another beautiful morning with clear blue skies. We have been fortunate with the weather it would have been really miserable if some days it was walking in heavy rain and mud to arrive at our cold lodge soaking. 

High white tops behind Junbesi

The first part today was a steep climb, out of Junbesi, of about 30 minutes to where the monastery stood near the top of the hill. Looking back there were white topped peaks in the background dotted above the lower hills encircling Junbesi which was nestling in the valley below. As we turned the bend in the hill the route now followed a nice contour path up the next valley. Ahead of us we could see Lamjura La our major obstacle today standing at 3500 metres. We had been walking for an hour before the the path began climbing, gradually at first then getting steeper. When we stopped for tea Brin said it was another 2 hours to the top. It did take us that and it was hard but the surroundings were pleasant through woodland with a profusion of rhododendron. I thought that once we cleared the tree line there would still be a massive rocky climb to overcome before we entered the pass. But we were pleasantly surprised when in the clearing the banners and prayer flags indicating the pass were only a short distance further to climb.

We wanted to stop at the tea house on the pass for lunch but the woman said that the owners had gone to Junbesi and they weren't cooking. We had to walk along the ridge for a further 30 minutes to the next set of lodges. Fortunately all the snow of our previous visit had gone but had left a lot of mud. Although it was still sunny there was a cold wind blowing across the col and we had to get our fleeces out when we at last sat down for lunch. The food seems to be getting worse, I had tomato soup which was weak but still edible. Moira chose the mushroom soup and she got what appeared to be dried mushrooms boiled up in water, it looked and tasted disgusting. She sent it back and made do with some of the cheese we bought yesterday.

A beautiful lake amongst the trees

It was downhill now but still tiring. Our destination was Sete but when we reached Goyam about 1.5 hours from Sete I asked Brin about stopping there. He indicated a lodge but it looked grotty, so I asked if there wasn't a better one in the village. I couldn't make him understand and all he kept saying was that this was a good lodge. I gave up and decided to carry on to Sete. By the time we cleared the village of Goyam I discovered the answer to my question, there was only one lodge there, the others were either closed or in ruins.

The 1.5 hours to Sete were all right, downhill, steep and rocky in places but although we were tired we got the section done now rather than in the morning. The lodge in Sete we didn't remember from before, it was basic, cold and the food all right. I did have about of indigestion during the night and used the last of the Milk of Magnesia tablets.