Day trip to Chukung (10 Oct 2006)

We trekked to Chukung(4730m) for acclimatization purpose. The initial plan is trek to Chukung and then goes up Chukung Ri (5500m). It was sunny day. We had good view of snow capped peaks of Ama Dablam, Island Peak and Lhortse. The trek is gradual. It’s supposed to be quite easy but I still not able to walk fast. It took us about 3 hours to reach Chukung. Chukung is a small village with only 5-6 lodges. I guess it’s mostly catered for those that would like to climb up Island Peak.

I wasn’t doing well, so decided not to go up Chukung Ri after lunch. Foung Yee, Kok Ming, Peng Meng and Sui Jing decided to go up Chukung Ri. However, considering the time needed for going up and trek back to Dingboche, they couldn’t aim for the peak. They gave themselves 1-1.5 hours for Chukung Ri trekking. For the rest of us, we rested for half and hour and trekked back to the lodge.

The sun disappeared and the sky was cloudy. The wind was blowing strongly. The chilly wind made everyone walked faster and dare not stop. Before 2pm, we had reached the lodge, only took 1.5 hours from Chukung back to Dingboche. Foung Yee, Ming, Sui Jing and Peng Meng came back to lodge around 3.30pm.

Almost every lodge provides hot shower service. At Sonam Friendship Lodge, hot shower can be provided for 200 Rupees (around RM 10). The hot shower bathroom was a small hut outside the lodge. Once you let the lodge knows that you would like to take the shower, they will heat a kettle of water and poured into a bucket with hose and water tap that is on the roof of the bathroom. Kok Yuen and Foung Yee had tried out the hot shower here. Their advice is always test the water temperature when the lodge informs you that the hot shower is ready. The reason is if the water is too hot, then you can ask the lodge to adjust it before taking bath.

At altitude 4260m, I didn’t sweat much although had trekked for few hours. The last time I took the shower was 4 days ago when I was at Namche Bazaar. I planned to take shower only when I was back to Namche again. Although the water is hot, the weather is very cold outside. There is risk of catching fever. I couldn’t take the risk as I had only completed 30% of the entire route. The challenges are still ahead.