Day 1

June 7, 2013

Gonggar to SimiGau 1440 meters - 2036 meters

That's approximately 4724 ft. to about 6679 feet.

The morning started out by an absolute downpour! I have never seen rain this intense. We were also woken up by barking dogs, roosters crowing, and bus horns - early in the morning! After breakfast and getting everything packed, we started up the canyon. We walked along the road for about 45 minutes. Then we veering off into a small village and then across this incredible "Indiana Jones" bridge. After successfully crossing, we started up a series of stairs. I think everyone figured the stairs would end eventually, but they kept going and going. The heat and humidity were oppressive, but we carried on. After some time, we came up on some flat ground that seemed to be the beginning of the town. Wow, we're almost there! Wait - we still have to climb some more! While working our way to the top, a woman was picking some type of fruit similar to a plum. She gave us all some of the fruit. It was excellent. One of the sherpas said they make whiskey out of this fruit.

Here are some pictures to show the incredible climb. After arriving at the tea house, we had lunch and were able to rest and relax for the remainder of the day. This tea house has electricity. There is also a monastery on this hill. Chhiring took us on a tour later in the day. After the tour, we had a delicious dinner and then pretty much headed to bed! There were some very large insects in our room!

Some statistics:

We had 46 porters and they carried 3,564 pounds. Each make about the equivalent of $10. per day. If a porter carries 30 kilograms (about 66 pounds), he makes 500 npr. If he carries 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds), he makes 1,000 npr. (nepali rupies)