Day 15 - Makalu Base Camp to Yangle Kharka

It was our last day at Base Camp so I was up around 5am to take pictures of the first rays of Sun hitting Makalu.

It was another sleepless night as Sherpas had been coming and going all night long.

It really was amazing watching the sun light up Makalu.

I lasted about 40 minutes taking pictures but eventually the cold got the better of me and I had to retreat to my sleeping bag.

Myself and Mark had fried rice again for breakfast but Elaine's rice aversion was as strong as ever.

We felt pretty sad leaving base camp for the last time.

We had taken our time packing and the English group left about an hour ahead of us.

It didn't take long to catch and pass the English crowd as they were taking breaks along the trail.

One of the ladies in their group had been suffering with the altitude since they arrived at base camp.

This is the view as we arrived back at the open flat area where we'd stopped for many pictures a few days previous - I think this area is called Shershon.

This Sherpa lady was one of the porters for the English group.

The Sherpa people are the toughest I have seen anywhere in the world..

As we descended towards Langmale Kharka we met a number of groups heading towards base camp.

This group were supporting a number of Korean trekkers.

We stopped for lunch (noodles) at Langmale Kharka.

It was a busy spot with the porters for the English group busy preparing their lunch.

We also met a group of 3 Bavarians who were on their way uphill. They were keen to tell us that the previous German group (from Stuttgart I think) were not typical and Germans are friendly and good fun.

The teahouse codger was happy to see us again and even happier to be making money.

We carried on down the hill which was now clear of snow.



It is required to stop and take pictures at stream crossings just in case you are fortunate enough to see one of your friends fall in..

By the time we reached Yak Kharka we were alone.

We had smoked our guides and those from the English group also.

It was lucky that we got to Yangle Kharka early as it was a busy day there.

We settled into the private rooms off the main dorm and as other groups arrived the place filled up quickly.

These kids were porters for another English group that were heading uphill.

This lady was part of that 2nd English group. She was keeping the most amazing diary of her trip complete with paintings.

As well as the two English groups there were also 2 Korean ladies and an Aussie girl who was walking the Great Himalayan Trail.

One of the new groups decided to have Yak with their dinner - I was happy it wasn't for us.

The guy chopping the haunch is the guy who runs the teahouse. Turns out he was a close school friend of strongman.

There were a number of haunches brought from some storage shed. Rather than return them to the shed they just ended up in random spots around the teahouse.

We celebrated being at lower altitude with a round of Tongba.

We followed the Tongba with Raksi.

Not sure if it was because we were with strongman but we received large mugs of Raksi instead of the small glasses some Sherpas were drinking.

For dinner we had Dal Bhat served with potatoes and wild mushroom.

The English were on the table next to us with mushroom soup, choice of pasta or pizza and custard for pudding.

One of the English was missing his belongings as one of their porters had been injured on the way downhill.

Weather: I would rate this a 2 hat evening. It was nice to be able to sit comfortably in the evening.

Accomodation: 3 teacups out of 3. It was fun having so many groups in the place and service was still excellent. We never had to wait long for Tongba or Raksi :)