Altitude: 2400m
Thank goodness we're not at Phakding today! Our initial plan was to walk all the way up to Phakding to give us more time to play with, but it would've been an insanely long day. Getting here from Bupsa good enough for the day. As expected, we started our day with a steep two-hour ascent to Khari La (2880m), endured a "Nepali flat"* section along the pass and ended it with a steep descent close to the height we began with. Sad thing - my knee started hurting again during the our walk and I had a tumble at the end going downhill, making matters worse. On the other hand, I can never be thankful enough for our Sherpa, Ngwang, who saw my fall from a distance and immediately ran down to accompany for a boring slow two hours down all the way here. His patience, care and genuine concern continues to completely astound me.
We've met a lot of fellow trekkers who have done this trek to Everest Base Camp several times. Though their passion for Nepal and trekking is inspirational, I'm truthfully thinking that this will be my last trekking holiday!
* A Nepali flat is never really a nice flat path. There are still ascents and descents, though gentler, that can be felt.
