Last day of Trekking and Pigeon Removal

2:15 AM:  Awoke thirsty.

Approx. 5:00 AM:  Wake up knock.  Sherpa tea and hot wash water.  After washing with the hot water, I crawled back into bed to drink my tea.  My neck felt stiff, so I took a Tylenol with my usual vitamins.

6:00 AM:  Met the group for breakfast of ham and cheese omelet sandwich.

7:00 AM:  After the map talk, we headed out.  The trek was pretty challenging, especially with my left upper heel still tender.  I used my shoe pad in addition to the moleskin for cushioning.  It seemed to do the trick.

9:00 AM:  Stopped in Jorsalle Village for a Power Bar break.

9:30 AM:  Reached Jorsalle entrance gate to the park.  I took some time out to eat half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for more energy.

11:40 AM:  Reached Phak Ding to another round of applause.  I smiled and shouted “I missed you guys sooo much!”

Lunch in the familiar sunroom was:  chicken ramen soup, Tibetan bread, tuna salad and shell pasta with onions.

Just before map review, Ted announced that tomorrow’s agenda would be:

• 6 AM wake up
• 7 AM breakfast
• 9 AM fly out of Lukla to Kathmandu, but be ready in case our flight is earlier, so be packed before breakfast.  Ted recalled that he was stuck in Lukla airport due to fog for hours, so we need to catch the flight, when conditions are right, not by the clock.

Approx. 12:30 PM:  We headed out for five hours of trekking to Lukla.  If you’ll recall, these two treks were made in two days going up to Everest Base Camp.

The trek back to Lukla was long and challenging because it’s full of up and down hills with lots of cobbled paths and steep, tall steps.  Although the altitude decreased, the terrain and the long trek made the trek just as tiring as the first day.

At one little village, I asked Dakar, “Where’s Lukla?”  Dakar pointed to the top of the mountain where an airplane could be seen approaching.  It looked so far away – and all uphill.

After passing the next few villages later, I asked again.  Dakar gestured with a spread of his hands close to his sides, “Not far.”  Dakar held up five fingers on his left hand.  Was that 5 minutes or 50?  To avoid disappointment, I figured 50 minutes.

Approximately 4:00 PM:  We turned the corner of the path to view the gate of Lukla, where some familiar Sherpas were sitting to greet us.  Did they have a radio to let the Senior guides know we’d arrived?  Am I going to tell Annie I’m just passing the Starbucks?

Happy to have made it to Lukla, I still had to walk across town to the airport lodge.

4:15 PM:  Hugged Ming and Sherpas at the lodge entrance.  Some fellow trekkers spotted me at the doorway and applause ensued.  When I reached the patio, nearly every fellow trekker stood in line to offer congratulations with hugs, kisses and handshakes.  Once again, I announced a heartfelt, “I’m so glad to see you!  I missed you guys!”  We’ve got a really good group.  I couldn’t have asked for better mates – full of fun and encouragement.  Most of them were already on a second can of Everest Beer.  I opted for tea.  I passed around the packs of glucose biscuits Annie gave me a few days ago.

Our lodging consisted of a single story row of rooms that had the feel of an enclosed sunroom for our hallway.  Room 110 was assigned to me.  Lily was assigned Room 112.  Noni’s room was between us.  Hot wash water was soon delivered.

A pigeon made its way into the enclosed hallway through one of the open windows in the hallway.  The pigeon freaked Lily.  I tried to shoo the frantic pigeon away from Lily.  I also tried to coax the pigeon to leave through a closed window.  (Not on purpose, I thought it was open.)  The pigeon slammed against the window, hung briefly against the glass before falling to the floor stunned.  I then opened the window telling it to “Be free!”  This amused not only Lily, but Sherpas and fellow trekkers watching my efforts.  The pigeon perched on the window sill, looked at the open space and then giving me that “Oh no.  I’m not doing that again.” look.  Lily quickly made her way to the door.  I then shouted to her to get out of the doorway before I chased the pigeon out the door.  I think I impressed the Sherpas.  I certainly amused them.

Lily and I proceeded to the dining hall for tea:  Popcorn, cheddar cheese Pringles and hot ginger tea.

Somehow, the group got into cheering and applauding each person who arrived into the dining hall.  Everybody gets the royal treatment.

Ted and Annie entered the dining hall with gifts for Chelli’s 63^rd birthday:  a yak bell wrapped in a map bandana and a tube with a rolled up map of our route.

Dinner:  Vegetable soup with papadum and shrimp chips, a giant sushi, mo-mos (chicken or veggie), rice, beef vindaloo with spicy tomato sauce, lentils.

There were two cakes for dessert:  One birthday cake with a candle.  We sang “Happy Birthday” upon presentation.  Chelli stood up to give a speech with a cleaver in one hand and a napkin hanging from the other hand.  The napkin caught fire from the lit birthday candle.  Frank let out a “Hey!” and then tried to snuff out the burning napkin.  When the excitement and laughter settled, Chelli thanked all with a smile and a brief bend of a bow then proceeded to slice the cake.

The second cake was decorated with “Congratulations EBC”.  Sharon began to slice it up, but no one had room to eat it, so it was saved for tomorrow.

After dinner, we sat around recapping some great moments on the trek.

Back in my room, I packed my duffel, I stopped at 10:00 PM to think about the kids, sending them love and well wishes.