Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 3 | Page 32

Roads and trails in Solukhumbu

Worries about being late were unnecessary. It wasn’t until well
past 6am that we really got going. Getting out of Kathmandu in
a circuitous route around the narrow backstreets of Boudha,
skirting the airport to come out onto the main road out of
Kathmandu, we then waited by the roadside somewhere a few
miles out of the city for another half an hour to pick up another
passenger.

Another inevitable wait. As we’d only been five passengers in
the jeep coming from Kathmandu, this time we had to wait until
the jeep was full. Another hour and a half went by. It was about
three o’clock and we weren’t even half way. Eventually, packed
like sardines, we set off, lurching along an uneven rocky track
along the side of the river and which then started to climb into
the hills.

At Dhulhikhel, we suddenly dived down a narrow road that
was our cross-country route to Solukhumbu. In parts it was a
fine blacktopped road, with short stretches that could almost
be called a dual carriage-way. Mostly however, it was a narrow,
winding dirt road, hugging the hillsides. Happily there was very
little traffic other than a few other jeeps and the occassional few
truck and pickup.

Bruised and tired, we reached a small village by 7pm where
we were to spend the night. Too late to continue the last and
hardest part of the journey, we were told to be ready at 6am. We
had to swap