Macchermo | Travel 25 Years… and more

My Stockholm article from the Norway – Sweden trip that ended the twenty-five years of travel featured in this blog, and started off this blog, has now been published on travelthruhistory.com. The main article in this month’s issue of the website is about Kathmandu, Nepal.

Kathmandu to Gokyo

My Nepal journey started in Kathmandu. I took a bus to Jiri and trekked for about a week to the Everest national park. I had now reached Machhermo, a day away from the target destination of Gokyo.

A night trip to the outside toilet revealed a clear sky full of stars. Moreover, the mountains were silhouetted, and I tried to take a photo of them.

Machhermo Photo and Video

The sunrise lighting up the mountain peaks in the morning, above frosty fields of yaks, inspired a video:

Machhermo to Gokyo Photos

I also took some photos, posted below, starting with Machhermo Peak from the village in the morning.

The second photo looks back down the valley, with Thamserku and saddle-peak Kangtega in the middle distance.

The steep sided mountain in the third and fifth photos is Cholatse. Its southern neighbour is Taboche. A hiker passes a yak herd in the fifth.

All five of those mountains are between 6000 and 7000 metres. Everest is about 8800 metres.

The fourth photo is of the Dudh Koshi river, running through the valley.

It was a few hours of enjoyable walking to Gokyo, and the next blog will feature photos of Gokyo’s lakes as the destination is reached.

Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has books available on Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).

The Norway third episode of the Channel4 Scandimania television series started off in Bergen and then travelled to Voss and Bergen by train like Marc Latham on his Norway-Sweden journey that ended his twenty-five years of travel and started this blog. It’s available from the link above, but just in the U.K. I think.

Dhole to Machhermo

After two nights and a day in bed, I managed breakfast before setting off on the last full day of trekking from Jiri to Gokyo. I went straight to the toilet afterwards, but the sickness had mostly passed, and I didn’t need the toilet again.

My previous travels had told me it was just mild food poisoning, with a lunch stop between Namche and Dhole the likeliest source. The first night had been feverish, while the next day and night were just tiredness and recovery.

Machhermo Altitude Centre

After an initial incline the day’s trek was quite steady, with great views over the valley below and up to the mountains above them.

Arriving in Machhermo (4400 metres) around noon I went to an informational presentation put on by the medical centre about avoiding altitude sickness at 3pm.

It was an entertaining talk, and they tested a full room of trekkers for oxygen saturation. Everyone was okay. A new medical student had been helicoptered out that afternoon with altitude sickness!

Everest View Trek Photos

The first photo below was from the previous day’s trek, between Namche and Dhole. The colours reminded me of the U.K., and the autumn underway there.

The mountain at the end of the valley in the lower photos is Cho-Oyu, which is the sixth highest mountain in the world. It marks the border between Nepal and Tibet/China. I didn’t know that at the time, or that Gokyo was before it.

I think it is Machhermo visible below the hikers in the last photo.