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Category: Everest trek

Bridge washed away

Bridge washed away

23 April 1986: Day 6 – Everest trek

“On 4 August 1985 Dig Tsho, a moraine-dammed glacial lake in the Khumbu area of eastern Nepal, burst above Thame. For the region close to the origin of the outbreak the consequences were catastrophic. The destruction of a newly built hydroelectric power plant, 14 bridges, about 30 houses, and many hectares of valuable arable land, as well as a heavily damaged trail network, resulted from 5 million m3 of water plummeting down the Bhote Kosi and Dudh Kosi valleys. The breaching of the moraine was triggered by wave action following an ice avalanche of 150,000 m3 into the lake”.

The 1985 Catastrophic Drainage of a Moraine-Dammed Lake, Khumbu Himal, Nepal: Cause and Consequences. Daniel Vuichard and Markus Zimmermann 

Mountain Research and Development  Vol. 7, No. 2 (May, 1987), pp. 91-110

Left Nuntale at 6.45am heading down to the Dudh (milk) Kosi (river) in 75 mins. Crossed it on a precarious ‘bridge’ made out of branches, stones and the like.

Sirdar and guides on a World Expeditions trek – with two women from Melbourne only.

Young boy at Kenja

Young boy at Kenja

19 April 1986

Day 2 of the Everest trek from Jiri. Reached the village of Kenja and waited an hour for lunch of dahl bhat. Used my telephoto lens to capture some of the locals including this one.

Took off at 2.30pm heading straight up the first part of the Lamjura Pass. An ascent of 950 metres from 1,630m altitude to 2,575m at Sete.

Less sherpas and porters on the trail today. A number of trekkers coming back including Alain! Last saw him in Singapore [February]. He gave me the usual run down on all the best places to stay and eat at and good advice on the route. His 23rd day, a great trek.

Another 20 minutes and arrived at Sete, the site of a defunct monastery. Staying at the Sagamartha Lodge – as recommended.

Dal bhat and yaks

Dal bhat and yaks

Namche, Nepal. 7 May 1986

A common phrase I heard from Sherpani women in the lodges I stayed in when ordering a meal was: “eggs finished” or “pancakes finished” – there seemed to be a lot of food shortages. I think it was a strategy to steer you towards ordering the national dish – dal bhat – which tasted as good as it sounds. Essentially it was a boiled vegetable slurry drenched in a watery dal soup over old rice. It was never “finished” – they would come round after you had eaten it and re-fill the plate.

So it was on the trail to the village of Thame, a day hike from Namche, that I started to get hungry and wondered whether there would be any homes offering lunch. Inevitably they too would be subject to food shortages. Coming in to the village I could see a scattering of stone houses separated from each other by stone fences used to confine their yaks. In a field close to the trail I stopped to watch a mother with her child cutting off the hide of a dead yak. She looked up at me and cheerily called out “Yak finished!”