Lukla (2840 m) - Phakding (2610 m)

From Lukla the way to Everest led north through the crepuscular gorge of the Dudh Koshi, an icy, boulder-choked river that churned with glacial runoff.... It was magnificent country, as topographically imposing as any landscape on Earth, but it wasn't wilderness and hadn't been for hundreds of years.

Jon Krakauer
Into Thin Air

It was our dream starting to come true. We were at the place from where our trekking was to begin. Our guide, whom we addressed as Rawal bhai, got hold of a porter who would take care of part of our luggage. His name was Lal Bahadur Sherpa, and we addressed him as Lal bhai. It’s generally customary to call a younger one 'bhai', and an elder one 'dai' in Nepal. Both our guide and porter were younger to us, hence the suffix. Even though they were younger, they were the pivotal elements of our trek.

Whether to carry one’s own luggage as opposed to hiring a porter on a trek is a decision every trekker has to make, and this is governed by a lot of factors. Its not only physical ability to bear load over long distances or across steep graded terrains; at higher altitudes even the smallest of activities makes one gasp for breath. And this goes without saying that the first aim of every trekker is to reach the final destination – to first survive at higher altitude, and then target being totally self-reliant. Having done enough practice of carrying backpacks over the past months, we decided not to let the porter carry our entire luggage. We were three of us, and we decided that we would let the porter carry two backpacks, while we would be taking turns at carrying the third backpack. There was some challenge as well in this, even if trekking purists might not take it that way.

Lal bhai got the luggage tightly roped so that he could carry it comfortably. These Sherpas are really a remarkable clan. They can easily pull up 20 kilograms of load and we saw Sherpas carrying as much as 50 kilograms or even more individually. It is recommended though that one person should not be loaded over 20 kilograms, for the basic sake of being humane to them. Apart from bearing loads (porting) for earning a living, for Sherpas it is a matter of pride to successfully carry loads for their clients so that they can expect to be selected for further expeditions and live to their reputation. Monetary aspect, although important, is secondary for them. Sherpas used to be traders till about 1921, when the first British Expedition to Everest decided to engage Sherpas as helpers. As Jon Krakauer has mentioned in his book Into Thin Air, this decision of the British expedition sparked a transformation of the Sherpa culture. They already had a reputation for being hardworking, affable and intelligent. But what they possess as an unbeatable advantage is the fact that they had lived for generations in villages situated between 9,000 to 14,000 feet, therefore being physiologically adapted to the rigours of high altitude.

Rawal bhai carried my sleeping bag along with his luggage, and I carried the remainder of my backpack. I bought myself a comfortable waist pouch to carry frequently needed items like the digital camera, my wallet and some currency notes. I recall that the time was past 11:00 am when we started off for the first day’s walk. We started only after we had our breakfast at the famous 'Himalaya Lodge'. We were advised to have garlic soup as an integral part of every meal - it acted as an energy booster as well as the natural medicine for altitude sickness.

As we set our first foot towards our destination for the day (Phakding), we were pretty pleased just to realise that we were in the bosom of the Himalayas. The first day's trek was a 6 km (mostly) downhill walk, about 200 vertical metres to descend. The walk was along the banks of the river Dudh Koshi, which flew in between two huge mountain ridges on either side. The panoramic views we got to see left us astounded. We had to cross the Dudh Koshi on many occasions, over bridges ranging from small wooden ones to large Swiss suspension bridges. It was like a slow paced joyride on these long bridges.

Along the riverbanks, the chilly wind made the walk further pleasant on the first day. This might sound a bit weird, but the fact lies that walking, as an activity, generates enough warmth. Add to this the heat radiated by the sun during the afternoon. A cool breeze at lower altitudes is therefore very soothing. Anyhow, we were soon slowed down due to a lot of pedestrian traffic and yaks. Trekkers would always be running into some yak and cow-yak caravans as they move north. They look gentle enough as they meander along, kind of like a herd of cows. But yaks can have nasty dispositions. They've been known to severely hurt people. The preventive method is to stay out of their way! Majority of the yaks seen on the way though are crossbreeds of yak and cattle, the male variety of which is termed dzopkyo and the female dzom. Purebred female yaks are termed naks but the term is very less used and thereby less known. One often gets to see the item “yak cheese” on the menu, whereas it is technically impossible to have such a thing!

The last of the hurdles included the Sherpa porters who were carrying heavy loads on their backs. As soon as we would get a broad path to walk on, we would overtake them, feeling pretty energetic, this being just the start. Though I must admit that majority of the overtaking happened when the Sherpas were resting along the way. To be able to walk at a faster pace would take only another Sherpa. Anyhow, our steady pace had instilled quite some confidence within us.

Trekking in the Himalayas gives you the real feel of what you otherwise get a glimpse of on television or in photographs. It’s a mystical experience. The major attraction is the snow-capped peaks. These lovely snow-capped peaks basking in the clear morning sun provide a lovely view. Walking along at a seemingly average pace, we were astonished to read a signboard that read "Welcome to Phakding". 1 hour 45 minutes - that was all that we needed to make it to our camp for the day. That left us very excited - our first good achievement. Our guide took us to 'Khumbu Travellers Guest House', a lodge that was to be our camping place for the rest of the day.

Phakding happens to be a pretty tourist village, as I would put it. A colourful village, very small in size, right along the beautiful Dudh Koshi and abundance of terraced potato fields are some of its features. Phakding is 200 metres below Lukla in terms of altitude, and on the trail to Everest Base Camp, happens to be one of the villages at the lowest altitude. It therefore is pretty warm during the day, and nights are bearably cold.

A nice little room in a wooden lodge gave the perfect feel of living an adventure life. The perfect description of a teahouse trek stop. Lunch followed soon after we reached Phakding; sadly enough the food wasn’t too interesting. But we weren’t at home or on a picnic to make a fuss about it. We roamed around a bit, and having really nothing much to do, took turns at walking up and down a rock over there to pretend that we did some 'rock climbing'. It soon got a bit dark and chilly. We had a peaceful early dinner, shortly after which we were fast asleep. The next day was supposed to be one of the toughest to come, commonly referred to as the ‘biggie’ as it comes this early on the trek.