Outside our lodge in Dingboche
Next morning was cold and bright. I woke with a ticklish, irritating cough. Then discovered Neil was suffering with stomach problems. Everyone had some ailment, it seemed. Still, we all managed to get back on the road, heading out of Namche on a different path from the one we took for our day-hike the previous day. We passed through Khunde, and stopped at the hospital that Sir Edmund Hillary helped to establish. (After a few weeks in the area, I came to realize the huge amount Sir Ed gave back to the area, following his successful first ascent of Everest.) Further on, we stopped for lunch at Khumjung (where Hillary had also established a school for the children of the area.) Then day seemed easy so far, but we had already climbed more than 400m, to an altitude of 3,900m.
The hike out of Khumjung was steep and difficult, initially past groups of children and people harvesting potatoes, soon, on our own along a rocky path hugging the mountainside into the distance. In the distance, we could see brilliant Ama Dablam, rising above the fogs that were beginning to roll in. At around 4pm, in the foggy gloom, we arrived in the little village of Mong La, where we stopped for the night at a family-run lodge. The tea room was pleasantly warm, and the family were friendly, hanging out with us, and playing cards with some of the group. I eventually headed to bed to the freezing rooms down a treacherous rocky path (in the absolute darkness, without my headlamp, of course!)
I had another restless night, and I was eager to get up & moving at first light. We had a fairly non-eventful day's hiking, on to Phortse for lunch, then up a fairly steep incline to our day's destination, Pangboche. We were now on the main trail to Everest Base Camp (though we were still passing surprisingly few trekkers along the way.) I was cheered by the warm tea room and the surprising sight of Peets Coffee on the menu!
Peets?!
(It unsurprisingly turned out to be just regular coffee...!) And - I had my first hot shower on the mountains, my first shower of any kind in almost a week. Beans, toast and egg for lunch! Everything very good! (I even had some chang, a local milky beer-like alcoholic drink.)
Next morning's hike up to Dingboche was short. We were at the lodge by 11am, now at 4,358m in altitude -- another rest day at Dingboche, in order for us to acclimatize at this new altitude. Later in the afternoon, snow started to fall -- very unusual for this time of year, apparently.
The following day we set out on another acclimatization day-hike. There were a few inches of snow on the ground and conditions were a bit slippery, so Buddha was very cautious and soon suggested turning back. However, I wanted to push on Nangkartshang Peak so, along with Bakta, I continued to climb up. It proved to be a very difficult (and slightly dangerous) hike - but we eventually got to the top. It was exhilarating -- probably the high point of the trek so far.
Astonishing vistas in all directions, and we appeared to be at almost the same height as Ama Dablam to our left. (We werent, of course - Ama Dablam soars to 6,800m - we were just about at 5,000m!) We raced back down the snowy mountainside & back to the tea house. I felt like a conquering hero on return!
Left: Bakta & me at the top of the peak!
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