Everest Calling - Phortse Tanga to Pangboche

23rd April 2011

The hike to Pangboche from Phortse Tanga.

That was where we stayed in Phortse Tanga.

We spotted a musk deer. Or so someone said.

We reached this village in a few hours after which the setting changed.

Can you see some of my team members climbing ahead? A somewhat unusual trail…not by the side of the mountain with the valley on one side and the mountain itself on the other… but a trail along the slope itself so you have the mountain on both sides and no valley.
We had to reach the ridge of this arid mountain to know what lay ahead.

The view from the ridge.

And then, it was a trail by the side of the mountains…as usual.

That’s Narayan, one of our tour guides. We have reached Pangboche.

The hike to Pangboche from Phortse Tanga was much unrewarding – not many pictures for my camera, the down jacket was a liability and the trail, quite boring for someone who has seen many mountains.

There is a television in the dining hall – playing the movie ‘Step Up’.
They changed it to another movie ‘Alive’. Given our own situation, this was a horror movie, for it had snow everywhere!

One of the caretaker boys here, a Buddhist, has studied in Bylakuppe, near Mysore.

Evening. When garam chai was served, I asked if they could make pakodas. The pakodas were not to come, and my craving was to become a joke in the group, for the next few days, exaggerated and all…

There is music.
The song ‘Tum Mile’ is playing… ‘Tum Mile To Jadu Cha Gaya, Tum Mile To Jeena Aa Gaya. Tum Mile…’ takes my mind back to a something I have forgotten now, in this paradigm.

Sandwiches were served with Yak cheese. Didn’t like the smell. Yak cheese, I thought, smelt like puke.

The mood has changed. People have taken to playing cards since yesterday.

It’s very cold here.
I like the sleeping bag now. The initial feeling was that of claustrophobia. I am getting over it now.

Here’s is an interesting thing.
We all took a shower in Phortse Tanga(last night). 300 Nepali Rupees for a shower. This morning, while making payment at the counter, it came to pass that some had left without paying. Perhaps it was someone from another team, not ours. Perhaps it was an oversight…but the hotel people would live with it.
There is an honour system here. They don’t keep strict records of trade – purchase, payment. People are trusted to be honest and to make their payments at the counter.
Lovely. Isn’t it? Enclaves of Treta Yuga in an ocean of Kali. With dishonest people taking advantage of them however, its just a matter of time before the enclaves will soon be submerged in the ocean…