EBC Day 1: Arriving in Phakding...

Our 5-mile (8-kilometer) hike actually brought us down about 650 feet (200 meters) to the village of Phakding, elevation 8,700 feet (2,652 meters).

It took about 3.25 hours, so we arrived in time for lunch which was perfect as my stomach was grumbling.

I had cheese and potato momos, Nepalese dumplings very similar to Polish perogies, one of my favorite foods. For dinner I had dal bhat—not just for that first day, but every night of the trek. It was the same dish that Ishor ate for his two meals per day, He joked, “Dal bhat: 24-hour power. Fried noodles: one-hour power.”  

That first day we discovered that in addition to our private group of four, Himalayan Wonders also had a group of three starting that same day: newlyweds James and Rosie from Norwich and Qudeer, a Brit currently working in Dubai. They had just met each other as well and would be staying at our same teahouses, so it wasn’t surprising that we quickly went from being two separate groups to being one bigger group for the ascent.

We were thrilled to see we had electricity in our rooms (although no heat) and an indoor western toilet down the hall (which it turned out that all of our accommodations also had). We were worried about bed bugs, so we brought along a special insect repellent sheet to put under our sleeping bag as well as an insect repellent pillow case to put under our own pillow case. Not sure if we actually needed it, but none of us came home with bed bugs.

After a short nap, Kent and I walked into the village in search of large trash bags to further protect our gear in our duffels, which were not fully waterproof (frankly, we were quite disappointed that Himalayan Wonders would provide such crappy bags).

We were shocked to see two bars with pool tables as there were no roads―everything must be carried by humans, yaks or mules. 

On the way back to the International Trekker’s Guest House, we took a short detour to walk out on a suspension bridge over the fast-moving turbulent river. I’d come a long way in just one day from fearing these high bridges to voluntarily walking on one for fun.

After dinner each night, Ishor briefed us what we could expect the next day. Bedtime was typically early, about 9 p.m., with fairly early starts to the mornings. Each night Terri and I bundled up in our matching sleeping bags and read for a few minutes.