EVEREST TREK : DAY 28

Day 28.  Bhandar to Shavalaya.

Saturday 6 March.

How did a car manage to get to Bhandar

Another lovely day and much warmed at this lower altitude and spring has obviously arrived. It was still a 500 metre climb to Deorali and Moira was struggling with her breathing again. I estimated that it would take 2 hours to reach the pass and was surprised when Brin said after 1.5 hours that we were nearly there. His nearly there and my nearly there are plainly two different things, it actually took the 30 minutes more to get there. 

Even a bus managed to get up to Deorali

We stopped for a cup of tea at the lodge at Deorali then it was the long drop down to Shavalaya. There were a few very steep rocky sections and some nice smooth gradual descents. My back was beginning to get sore and required some pain killers, we were glad this was to be our last day. We stopped halfway down and sat on a wall for our picnic lunch. Moira got an extra two eggs at breakfast again and we had cheese and biscuits with a Fanta orange.

Soon after starting again we could see Shavalaya down in the valley beside the Khumti Khola. It was still a long way down and the final drop to the valley floor was very steep. We went to a different lodge from the last time but they all seem much the same. On the way through the village we bought apples at a stall and had one each when we got to our room, it was the first fruit we had had in over a month. 

Brin said the office for bus tickets to Kathmandu opened at 3 pm and Moira accompanied him. They were half the price the agent in Kathmandu charged us. The bus leaves at 7 am tomorrow and Brin said it now takes a shorter route to Jiri on the mountain roads, only 2 hours compared with nearly 4 when we came out. 

We had a beer and lay on our beds until dinner time. The meal wasn't bad, spaghetti for Moira with a tomato sauce and I had veggie fried rice. Moira packed the rucksack for a quick off in the morning and we got to bed early.