Lukla to Monjo

We meet Lakpa, our guide in the morning. He’s a quiet, rather taciturn man, and most of our questions are met with monosyllabic replies. He’s arranged a porter for us who’ll meet us at Monjo.
It’s a pleasant walk from Lukla, following a downhill trail along the banks of the Dudh Koshi river. Soon we encounter our first yak train. Only, these are not the real thing, which are only found above 3500m, but dzopkyos, a cross between yaks and the lowly plains cow. Incidentally, a yak is male, the female is a nak, so technically, all the yak cheese selling in Kathmandu is actually nak cheese.
An hour and a half from Lukla, we catch our first glimpse of Mt. Khumbhila, patron God of the Khumbhu Valley. Soon, we are at the Sherpa Villge Guest House at Phakding, where we stop for lunch. From there, it’s a three hour climb to Monjo.