The fog is hanging heavy over our camp today. Last night it rained very hard, so we enjoyed hearing the pitter-patter on our tents. I was still a little nervos because I’ve been in a cheap tent before that would leak. During the night I imagined I was sloshing around in a puddle (no, I didn’t wet it myself). But no, our tents really held together well. They have a great out shell to bring away the rain, but the important part is that the stitches also must be water-tight. When we got into Toctoc I was craving a candy bar or something. As we get closer to the outside world I’m obsessing more on the comforts and tastes I’ve missed. It turns out the prices are pretty high here though. A Mars bar is 100 Rupees, which is baffling since they were only 50 Rupees back in Namche. We’re so much lower in elevation and so much closer to Lukla we expected the prices to be lower. I guess it’s just the free market. In Namche there’s a lot of competition, but even lower in the small villages the market forces adjust the prices up. Paying US $1.50 still seems like a lot for a candy bar, so I’ll hold off for another day or two.

We set out again on the trail, still no glimpse of the wonderful peaks around us, so now they’re history for us. Fortunately, we see the fog clearing a little, so we have less to worry about for the way out of Lukla tomorrow. Pema is not far off on his estimate of the distance to Lukla. It took us over 3 hours of up and down and winding around. We crossed a few more awesome bridges suspended by long metal cables. It’s freaky and fun running across them because we get some big waves going through it, and our legs get really wobbly. We put a lot of faith into the handiwork of the engineers who built them. Other than spanning deep canyons, the bridges are also great for hanging all the prayer flags and katas. Of course we pass a lot of porter traffic, carrying supplies for the higher hills. Considering where we’ve come from I don’t envy their job of carrying all those cases of San Miguel beer up and down and all around those hills. We’re also passing a great number of fresh hikers headed the opposite of us on the trail. They’re all decked out in clean gear and they carry a fresh scent with them. We’re all muddy, banged up, and stinky. I try to remember what I looked like and what I was thinking when I was starting out like them. Well, considering that the hikes are pretty tough from the start I think I got broken in pretty quickly. Still, freezing on the moonscape of Lobuche changed my whole outlook, and it was a long way up there. Today I’m just savoring the last hike and enjoying the memories of all the dusty uphill and slippery downhills.

We have just walked (lumbered, really) into the Soth gate of Lukla. There is a military control post, so that’s a little unsettling. But the first thing we noticed is that Lukla is really touched by the outside world. It is much busier and more developed than Namche. There is no comparison. We even feel a little stressed by the clamor, a little like being on the furthest edge of Kathmandu somewhere. Actually, we notice that many (most) of the shops are run by Nepalese/Hindu people. Below Namche we’ve noticed more and more Hindus and les Sherpas. We spot the difference in the dress, we see the red dot on the forehead, and we hear a lot of Nepalese music playing on radios. The Sherpas are a lot quieter. We walked all the way through Lukla on the main alley, then we made it full circle to the beginning of our trek as we passed the airport. We’re very glad to see that it’s in full operation as planes and helicopters are buzzing in and out with great regularity. Interestingly, we kept walking past the airport and now we’re situated in a dining room right behind the airport and right next to the landing strip. We get the full effect of the roaring propellers and they boom up and down the hill. Sitting here we see exactly how steep the landing strip is, and it’s alarming. In the airforce they will compensate for a short landing strip by pumping up the airframe with little rockets, and they call it “jet-assisted take off” or JATO (I think). This is like HITO, hill-assisted take off. The bad news is we’re camping in a very hectic place tonight, but the good news is that we’re camping practically at the front gate of the airport. There’s no worry about getting stuck in traffic on our way to catch out flight. Today is also the Thursday Lukla market, so we get to do a little more shopping.

Actually, there’s a kink in our plan to rough it in the outdoors one last night. Lukla is on heightened military alert and the troops on sentry duty get really nervous with clueless white monkeys scurrying around at night looking for the toilet. Consequently, there is no camping in tents permitted in this area. We actually had our tent set up half way, but they all have to come down and we have to sleep in the lodge here. Room rates are negligible, so that’s no big deal for us, but I was mentally prepared for another night wrapped in a wad between my sleeping bag and my diffle bag. Now we’re inside and we can feel ourselves getting all soft and cushy already. I’m thinking about actually changing my clothes and getting out the wet wipes. The one amazing wonder that this lodge had to offer is a bathroom with a sink and a sit-down percelain toilet. Wow, it’s beyond our dreams. We still have the choice of using a squatter downstairs if we must. For the afternoon we’ll be meandering back down main street Lukla for some gawking. I plan to stop by the “Porters’ Progress” office. They give a daily screening of a BBC documentary about porters here in the Himalaya. We’ll probably indulge in some relatively cheap candy bars too. We’re planning on a modest farewell party tonight with our cooks and porters then we fly out in the morning.
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The Lukla branch office of Porters’ Progress, upstairs overlooking the main alleyway, gave a video presentation of “Carrying the Burden”, a BBC documentary from 2000. It was good to see that there was a lot of interest by the show of about 30 trekkers in attendance. It was held in a room alternatively used as a classroom, library, and photo gallery. The documentary was almost like a home movie for us of the sights and memories we had just gathered ourselves. But the issue soon came to focus of the misconceptions about porters and the general lack of consideration for them. First, most of the porters come from villages far below Lukla, so they’re not accustomed to the high altitude by nature. They’re typically poor farmers from the lowlands who hike the hills for extra income. So they’re not naturally that strong, nor do they handle the higher altitudes and the colder weather any better that the white monkeys. Second, the government does not enforce any standards for pay or for protection against adverse working conditions. It is entirely up to the trekking agencies and the clients to ensure that the porters are treated with consideration and that they will receive medical treatment if they are injured. This is all common sense, but many trekkers don’t extend their consideration far enough. Things have improved a little at a time over the past five years since the first airing of that documentary, but it is still up to the clients to watch out for their porters, especially since their money has the greatest power of enforcement. As a side note, Porters’ Progress keeps a “clothing bank” to help keep the porters protected against the elements. They also host English and French language classes, as well as public health seminars for the porters. For those porters with down time it’s a place for them to participate in the cottage industry of making crafts to sell at the office.

Just as we got back to our lodge (this is practically a hotel) we saw our porters waiting at the front and they seemed a little ancy. Of course we looked at them with a bit more concern and consideration, but Pema told us they needed to finish their work and move on. With the tense security here right next to the airstrip the Army is not allowing any porters to stay here, they have to go into the village and spend the night. We took pictures, invited them into the dining room, handed out their bonuses, and let them get out before the curfew. No time for a party really. The electricity has been spotty for us this evening, so the lights went out once in a while. We had a fantastic dinner that really took our mind off of our cravings for Kathmandu. Rich and Gaye said they could feel the atmosphere has changed here in Lukla drastically since their trip from four years ago, it’s very tense. The fact that the place is crawling with soldiers and the area is lined with razor wire are enough to make you feel on edge. Pema told us about the news/rumors spreading through the area and he feels a little discouraged. We just hope that the people involved have sense enough to pass on being entirely foolish.

After a night of luxury (electricity in our rooms and a porcelain toilet, though it’s clogged), we’re hopping off of this hill and hopefully pulling our nose up in time to miss the next mountain over. After a little shaving and showering back in Kathmandu we’re going straight to Thamel to the “Fire and Ice” pizzaria to tackle some cravings. Beyond that we’re being invited for dinner by Shovan’s parent tomorrow night, then the next night we’re invited to Pema’s place in Kathmandu. More updates once we’re back at the Yak and Yeti.