Nepal 2019 - Day 10 - Pangboche to Chukung

 Pangboche to Chukung

I was heading towards Chukung which wasn't a big journey with gradual ascent with fantastic views of the 8000ers. It was another clear sky and I headed out around 08.00. The sun was out but it was still pretty cold. Had my base layer and my jacket on pretty much for the first time while trekking during the trip so far. The trail was fairly flat and gentle for most parts until towards the end. As usual, the trail led to a valley floor to cross a river before leading up again to the rocky slopes along the other side of the valley. The Yak trains on this trail provided a soothing background score with their bells which clung like small gongs. It just added another element to your overall experience. In about 30 mins, Ama Dablam was barely distinguishable, however, the snow capped summits of Island peak and Lhotse took center stage now. The further I hiked, came around a bend and got the view of Dingboche, a conglomeration of lodges, homes and Yak pastures, all set below small peaks and slopes with stupas, prayer flags fluttering in the wind.

During the descent, the pain in my knee and ankle resurfaced but it wasn't unbearable. I decided to stop at Dingboche and rest my feet for a bit. Chukung was just 4-5kms away and it was barely 10.00. Dingboche had a famous bakery where I decided to rest up. The owner was a very friendly Sherpa and he had a quite an elaborate souvenir collection ranging from Hillary to Messener to Kukuczka. His stories were very compelling and intriguing. He told me about one of his relatives who survived the earthquake on Everest in 2015 and spoke about how tough it was for the Sherpas to get any compensation from the government. Time flew by with him and I had nearly forgotten about my injured leg. When I got around to it, I found that my Achilles tendon was the colour of a baboon's behind. It was almost making a sound akin to a rubber band when it's fully stretched. I doubled up my socks after applying some pain relief balm hoping for some relief. The cafe owner offered a room but I really had to head to Chukung. I didn't really feel any pain when I was ascending but every step during a descent was pure agony. I was really worried about the future of the trek as the real struggle only started from Chukung.

I was taking multiple breaks and going slow knowing the destination wasn't afar. The very manageable trail almost boosted my morale. A really funny incident also happened which made the journey even more memorable. A Yak walking in queue suddenly jumped out, ran towards a big rock, jumped on top of it and within a blink of an eye got back in queue. Then he constantly stared at the shepherd as if seeking applause. The shepherd and I burst out laughing at the whole display. I never knew that an animal that big can be that nimble. ''Mountain Cat'', the shepherd said with a laugh. 

The day's hike passed over big streams frozen along side shady sections of the path and bits of ice were scattered all over the trail. The altitude was getting higher with each hour. The pain in my ankle was getting unbearable and I decided to pop a painkiller and applied some pain spray. I just wanted to get to Chukung asap and give myself plenty of rest. Along the way, I passed a memorial stupa dedicated to those who had lost heir lives climbing Lhotse's south face in the 80s. The most prominent name of the lot I could recognize was Jerzy Kukuczka, the legendary Polish climber.

Eventually, after passing through the daily views of stupas, prayer flags laden chortens, Chukung came into view. It had a spectacular setting of an amphitheatre with magnificent Himalayan peaks surrounding it. A truly mesmerizing valley setting. The lodge room was decently priced at 400 and was comfortable with a couple of blankets. I decided to get some hot water to massage my foot and relieve some pain. The bucket cost me 500NPR and it barely stayed hot for 15-20 secs. That was totally worth it, eh?

I just decided to sit in the dining room and just massage the area the best I could. I changed positions multiple times to get closer to the central stove which runs very efficiently throughout the evening powered by Yak dung. Most of the trekkers in the lodge had gone out for acclimatization walks. I had planned to hike to Chukung Ri just for that, however, it was looking impossible with my foot in that state.

I spent the rest of the day in the dining room and was joined by a couple of folks who were doing the 3 high passes in clockwise direction. That meant that they had already completed all the passes and were headed to Namche. I made sure I didn't get any spoilers but did take tips on what to watch out for ahead. They gave me a lot of their painkiller pills and creams, they actually swore by it. They did warn me to not take it without food and definitely not when you are hiking. Another warning was to be prepared for a jolt of pain as soon as the effect of the medicine subsides. We spoke at length about trekking in the Indian Himalayas which they were eager to explore. We walked out of the lodge before dinner to catch one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever witnessed. 

In the evening, we all scarfed down our usual dinner of Dal Bhat. Ate enough to feel miserable for the night but primed for the next day's trekking. As the locals say ''Dal Bhat power, 24 hour!''