Khumjung to Phortse

From Khumjung we hiked to Phortse. The trail was a beautiful walk with numerous extraordinary vistas along the way. It crossed the lower slopes of Khumbila, the mountain that Sherpas worship as the abode of the partron god of the Khumbu region. The Sherpa name for Khumbila is Khumbu Yul Lha which translates as “God of the Khumbu territory”.

Here is a photo taken as we were approaching Mong La. The last two thumbnails (“snapshots”) show the group. If you click the third thumbnail you will zoom into Phortse, our destination for the night, mostly hidden behind a hill, in the far distance across a river valley. Above Phortse are the mountains of Cholatse (L) and Taboche (R). The second thumbnail takes you to our lunch spot at Mong La. And the first thumbnail shows beautiful Ama Dablam. To the right of Ama Dablam is Thamserku with Kangtanga on its left shoulder. It looks like our group is on two different sides of the great gulf, but that is just the way I created the panorama. We are together, a fun cohesive group of 6 trekkers and 4 sherpas. (The porters walk separately and much faster.)

We reached Mong La in time for lunch. We ate in the green building to the right. On the left is a stupa. The village is said to be the birthplace of Lama Sange Dorje who introduced Buddhism to the Khumbu. Mountain winds keep the prayer flags moving at this small pass at the edge of a steep drop.

After lunch we trekked onward toward Phortse located on a rare flat plain in the middle left. Our destination looks close and easy in this image but we needed to get across that river below, seen in the fourth thumbnail, and it was a long way down and back up. So goes the trek—up, down, up, up… The third thumbnail shows a switchback along the trail, the second shows Tengboche Monastery in the distance, and the first Ama Dablam.