Day 14 The long walk back to Lukla

After many hugs and well-wishes from our new friends in Namche, Gideon and I set off for Lukla, where we are scheduled to catch the first flight to Kathmandu tomorrow morning.  Over the past few days, our new friends had blessed us in the Sherpa fashion with dozens of scarves, each one draped around our necks with a blessing of good luck and safe travels. 

 Chindi, the two staff girls, Mingma, Ang Chhiki, Tashi, Emily, Buddha Raj, Newang Phinjo, Gideon, Nima

With our scarves and blessings, we started the long walk back to Lukla.  Nima accompanied us for the first hour and a half before turning back to Namche where he will stay with his son for another day.  Mingma, our porter, accompanied us all the way to Lukla.  The poor guy just about had a heart attack when Gideon asked if he could try carrying the heavy duffle bags across a cable suspension bridge.  Mingma laughed nervously as Gideon adjusted the carrying straps, porter-style, across his forehead and heaved the 100 lb. load into position.  I headed halfway across the bouncing bridge to capture the effort, laughing all the while as Gideon acted as the porter and Mingma spotted him from behind.  After reclaiming the bags on the opposite side of the bridge and exclaiming some unknown, highly agitated but amused words with witnessing porters, he walked on, continuing to laugh his nervous laugh for the next ten minutes.

About an hour later, I spotted a man huffing up the trail.  What caught my eye was the fact that he was a huge African American guy, the first African American I had seen since coming to Nepal.  He was wearing a University of Michigan t-shirt and it looked like he could have been a football player.  I was also intrigued by the fact that a man walking backwards in front of him was filming him with a high definition professional camera.  I said hello and walked on wondering who he was. 

It turns out it my instincts were correct.  It was Dhani Jones, an NFL linebacker who has a show on the Travel Channel called Dhani Tackles the Globe.  He was trying to tackle Nepal, just like us, I suppose.  I wish him luck!

After endless hours of walking, our friend Temba, from Sonoma, met us at a teahouse.  He traveled to Nepal with Nima and is visiting his wife and daughter in Lukla.  We walked the last hour with Temba and his wife and arrived at her family’s inn in Lukla, the Namaste Lodge, in the late afternoon. 

The highlight of the inn was having our own private bathroom, complete with a shower right in our room.  After making use of the shower, we spent the evening with new friends and travel bloggers, Dave and Deb.  I was totally inspired by this couple who are living the dream, having their world-wide travel adventures funded by advertising on their blog, The Planet D.  We shared travel tales and laughed heartily until bedtime.  Be sure to check out their site.  Deb is the writer and Dave is the photographer—a dynamic duo, to say the least!

Tomorrow, if the weather is clear, we fly back to Kathmandu.  I’m hoping we do, only because we are down to our last few rupees and there’s no ATM until Kathmandu!