I have a good sleep for my last night at the 'White Yak'. A quick wash using wet wipes, I freshen up, clean my teeth and use the loo - all signs that I am getting back to normal. Best of all is that I am headache-free. I also pass almost a litre of urine during the night - however it was dark yellow, almost brown, indicating I have still not taken enough liquid on-board.
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| The view from my window |
At breakfast, everyone in Trek E are really friendly and supportive. This team seem to have a much more relaxed attitude to rising in the morning for the tests... tending to drift downstairs in one's and two's. I am unsure whether I am still required to carry out my own tests because my Trek group have departed. I also wonder if all the medication I've been taking will adversely affect the results. Nobody seems to know, so I participate in any case.
Results for today are: Resting - O2 80; HR 67; BR 9. BP 145/81; 144/82; 140/80. Unfortunately, nobody is available to test my 'At exercise' rates.
Departure
The Trek E leader checks with me to determine a convenient time to go to Dingboche (4,410 metres). He still needs to arrange a porter to accompany us. I say I am happy to fit in with his plans - he mentions a 0900hrs departure - so I agree and thank him.
I go back to my room and pack my holdall. I also get my rucksack sorted out for the climb over the ridge. I leave my holdall outside for the porter and sign for my extra days lodging and meals.
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| My kit - farewell to Pheriche |
The Trek E leader and his porter meet me outside at 0900hrs ready to accompany me to Dingboche. The route is a rough track that winds up the steep hillside outside the White Yak. I am glad to be feeling much better as both set a blistering pace.
I must have gained some of my strength back overnight as I am not breathing too hard, despite the extra altitude gain and effort. We summit the ridge quickly and start to descend to Dingboche past a large Chorten with fluttering prayer flags. I can see the village spreading out below.
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| Dingboche - from the top of the village |
As we descend, the Trek E leader suddenly says he doesn't know which lodge he was supposed to escort me to - he had forgotten to ask. In the event, we decide to head for the top of the village and work our way down making enquiries. Sods law it is the very last lodge at the lowest point in the village!
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| Peaceful Lodge |
The Trek E leader stays for some refreshment before heading back. I give his porter 100NR and settle their bill. The Trek E leader then mentions that he has paid his porter 500NR to transport my holdall from Pheriche, but advised me he would take it out of his contingency fund. I am at a bit of a loss as to what the correct protocol was in this situation. After a final chat, they leave me alone with the Nepalese family at the Peaceful Lodge and Restaurant - it is only 1015hrs.
I wish I can be certain this is definitely my rendezvous point for Trek C. I now have the rest of the day to kill before the other group of trekkers arrive. I therefore decide to put my holdall in an unoccupied room and have a wander up the valley.
I put on my rucksack and start up the central village path through Dingboche. A little stream gurgles its way downhill amongst the stones as I make my way between stone walls and mani stones. I keep greeting people 'Namaste' as I pass them and before I know it, I am heading out of the village at the top of the valley.
Dingboche is an altogether nicer place than Pheriche. The sun appears to stay longer in this valley and the wind seems much less severe. I then decide to gain height up to a ridgeline to get a better view back to the village.
The trail climbs steadily upwards and despite taking it easy, I begin to feel light-headed. There is just a vague glimmer of a headache. As a precaution, I turn around to descend back to the lodge, getting back at 1150hrs.
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| Barren terrain at Dingboche |
Rather bored, I wander over to the sun lounge to continue reading my book (Memoirs of a Mountaineer by F Spencer Chapman). There is an old Nepalese man in the lounge chanting mantras, spinning a hand held prayer wheel. A little snot-nosed girl comes over to me and brings her playing cards and slides for her hair. She offers these to me, wanting me to play. We try to build the cards as high as we can until they all fall down... and she smiles with a big grin.
Looking through the window, we notice snow beginning to fall. All the family members rush out to cover their vegetable patch... the little girl included. A tarpaulin is stretched out and heavy stones laid as anchors to hold it down in the rising wind. The soil starts to steam as the snow lands. The earth has retained its heat from the sun's rays in the thin atmosphere. No wonder these people are burnt brown... which explains how we are also getting tanned and need the attention of a Factor 50 cream.
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| Protection for the crops |
The little girl comes back to play cards with me and noticing a dirty mark on one, promptly spits on it and wipes it with her sleeve. Porters walk past the entrance to this lodge carrying their heavy loads ever higher up the mountain. Ghostly figures in the driving snow.
I decide to go back to my room where I take a preventative Sinex tablet and vow I will never leave my wife at home, no matter what sort of adventure beckons.
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| My room at the Peaceful Lodge |
After a short while I decide it is not very healthy, emotionally, sitting on my own in my room, so I lock up and go to the lodge dining room. To my surprise I come across someone I know. Helen, a fellow volunteer with Trek C had been at Pheriche suffering from D & V - I wasn't aware she hadn't been able to continue to EBC.
She had been escorted to Dingboche the other day when I was really poorly, ready to accompany Trek C to Namche as well. It was so nice to have a friendly face, confirming this was the correct lodge.
The owner of the lodge lit the Yak dung burner in the dining room and everybody huddles round trying to get some of its early warmth. Two other trekkers have joined Helen and I. An Australian woman who is trekking on her own and a German climber who has been here many times, but is suffering from early AMS. He has had to descend to Dingboche for further acclimatisation.
The Australian lady is really chatty. A lovely woman who works with socially-deprived youngsters back home. Approaching the yak burner for more heat, she gets a little close and the front of her duvet jacket melts into a hole. Feather down starts to float everywhere. 'Shit, shit, shit' she shouts, for the down jacket is rented. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to darn the man-made fabric and mend the hole.
My thoughts extend to Trek C having to navigate their way back down from EBC during the snowfall. An early start will have been necessary to have attempted Kala Pattar (5,199 metres), before descending via Gorak Shep. It is now 1615hrs and there are no signs of them. The cloud base has also dropped, mist cloaking everything... and the temperature is plummeting.
Trek C yaks start to arrive... unloading is an unceremonious affair. Bags thrown left, right and centre. The yaks are carrying their own food in the form of hay bales. It won't be long before the trekkers arrive - it is now nearly 1700hrs. I hope I get the same friendly welcome as that from Trek E.
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| Trek C transportation |
Snow is falling heavily now - I'm so glad to be here in the warm, toasting my feet and hands on the yak burner and drinking lemon tea. Suddenly, through the gloom, people begin to arrive. I go out to greet them as they have experienced a very long, difficult day. It is 1800hrs and they had been trekking from before 0600hrs.
John Dick (Trek C Leader) comes straight over to introduce himself. He has met Deborah (Trek D Leader), so had been expecting me. He is a lovely chap - a true gentleman in every sense. The evening was spent chatting and Trek C make me very welcome - a lovely group of people, every single one.
Tired, I excuse myself for bed, visiting the basic loo on the way. To my horror I discover I have diarrhoea. I take the anti-bacterial drug, clothrimazole and an Imodium in the hope that this works overnight before having to trek down to Tengboche tomorrow at 0830hrs.
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