Everest trek - Day 11 - Kala Patthar then Pangboche

Kala Patthar
5170m to 5600m (+430m)

4:30am. Wakey wakey! Today was the going to be the highest point of the whole trip, with some magnificent view of Everest hopefully! I didn't get an inch of sleep - I was excited about today and mild altitude sickness is ever-present. I wake Helen and Dave who aren't feeling so good with slight headaches and also had no sleep. Out into the silent mountains the stars are brilliant. With headtorches we set off to the base of Kala Patthar and begin the slog up. There's a few torches already on the hill and more coming behind us. Helen and Dave decide to wait at the point we reached yesterday which I then thought was about half way - this was not the case. I press onwards and overtake a group of Italians. I have to stop every few minutes to catch my breath, and also the unveiling views. My heart is pounding against my chest every time I start moving again and I feel light-headed. Just when you think you've hit the top there's more! The top section has larger rocks and requires a little more navigating. After an hour of steep trekking I finally reach the prayer flags and weather station, announcing the summit - at 5600m (over 18,000 feet) I imagine this is as high as I'll ever be, using my legs!

Everest is mostly visible. Only a section of the western Cym hides behind Nuptse. The Everest south ridge past camp IV (26,000ft) and up to the Hilary step is crystal clear and the wind-blasted summit (still 2km higher than me) looking formidable. Anti-clockwise from Everest I could see Kumbutse, Lingtren, (the beautiful, and my favourite) Pumo Ri, Chumbu, Lobuche, Awi, Mehra, Nuptse and Lhotse. Being at this height, around all these giants really makes you feel everything, your senses are alive - the hairs on my neck stood up and a warm shiver passed through me! 

30 minutes later and the masses were approaching so I decided to make my decent. Going down is much easier, skipping across the rocks and almost running on some sections. I get back to the bottom with a light head and aching knees, and head for the warm lodge where Helen and Dave are waiting with some breakfast - I'm famished!

Gorak Shep to Pangboche
5170m to 4000m (-1170)

After breakfast we grab a quick photo with the wonderful Himalaya lodge family then it's down down down. There's no set plans on how far we're going to go today, but (as usual) I have an idea that we'll go as far as we can as fast as we can, seeing how far it's possible to get down in one day! Helen and Dave didn't initially share this unnecessary determination but we still made very good time! We hopped it over the glacier bridge that we struggled with before (someone had repaired it) and promptly into Labouche for a cup of sweet black tea. The hill down to Thukla seemed long, even longer than going up for some reason. There were now more and more people heading up, looking punished by the gradient! All of these people had walking poles - I don't understand walking poles - are they for actual support when walking? Most people just seem to tap rocks with them before taking a step, like they're testing if it can support their weight or not. I can only think of Stevie Wonder when I see trekkers in sunglasses with walking poles. Maybe if I'm old and wobbly and still trekking, I'll get some.

We hit Thukla at 12:30 and hide from the water now falling from the sky. Once clear we quickly make our way down to Penriche (via a muddy bog) to see how it's different from Dingboche (stay in Dingboche!). More black tea with a particularly cute companion dog (who's name I forget) and we're walking again. Now about 3pm and we're fooled thinking we'd arrived in Pangboche, but we then realise it's the next village, 30 minutes further down the valley! Legs with no energy, shoulders and back hurting we slouch into the same lodge, and same room we'd occupied on the ascent. I wouldn't recommend going this far (20km) in one day (especially after climbing Kala Patthar with on no sleep) - Dingboche would be a sensible stop! 

Everest trek - Day 5 - Tengboche to Pangboche

3860m to 4000m (+140m)
2.2km - 2 hours

Super-easy day today with only a 140m climb over 2.2km to aid acclimatisation. Had a good nights sleep, apart from the occasional rat scurrying noises, and some extremely vivid and surreal dreams (effects of high altitude). One I remember: I visited my friend Paulie who had moved to a huge cave in the mountains with his girlfriend. They were sitting on one sofa each, but they were surrounded by hundreds of other sofas of different shapes and sizes, none alike, and they all had the clear plastic wrapping on. Paulie told me that they were collecting them. That's all I remember.

Dave was feeling much better today and we all had Tibetan bread crowned with a fried egg. There was broken clouds about and this morning and Lhotse, Ama Dablam and possibly the tip of Everest revealed their massive selves - it's hard to explain or record how beautifully enormous they look!

The trail from Tengboche drops steep down into a cool, shady rhododendron forest - this place must be incredible in the spring. We saw two dogs, still joined after mating but facing opposite directions - quite a disturbing sight. The path then passes a nunnery and crosses a bridge over the river, then it's once again up, up, up. On this up I could really feel my lungs begging for the 38% missing oxygen! The sun was now fully out and I switched my trousers and waterproof for shorts and t-shirt. Here we met an Englishman called Tom, a German called Verena and a Swede called Martin.

We arrived at Pangboche at 10:30am and checked into a bright triple room at the Himalayan lodge - run by Nema and his friendly family. As the sun was out we did a little washing and put it out to dry on the wall outside, but of course as soon as we did this the rains quickly came! I had some powerful garlic soup and we spent the afternoon reading, lazing about, eating pringles (300 Rupees) and watching bad Indian soap operas on TV

Room 9 at the Himalayan lodge

Us!

Pangboche fields

Ama Dablam revealing her shoulder

Everest trek - Day 4 - Namche to Tengboche

3500 to 3860 (+410m)
6.75km - 7 hours

Departing a rainy Namche at 6am the route heads east then switches north following the river far below. Occasional breaks in the weather give more glimpses of huge piles of rock; just when you think you'd seen the summit, something else appears higher in your line of sight. I prefer it like this and liken it to a beautiful lady (or man in Helens case) teasing us; If there were no clouds it would be a full frontal - and where's the fun in that?! We stop at the Ama Dablan lodge and Dave, who's had rumblings all morning, has to make a swift visit to the outside long-drop squatter. Maybe those sausages weren't such a good idea. The lodge owners are very friendly, and this would be worth considering as a second acclimatisation day as it's the same altitude as Namche. There's a big outside seating area with views down the valley - we had a quick glimpse of the mighty Ama Dablam before the clouds moved over again.

Feeding the crows 

First view of Ama Dablam

The route then went steep down into the now-thickening clouds. This was where we encountered our first companion dog; they randomly walk about on the trails following tourists and Sherpas and are very friendly and healthy, and greatly appreciate a biscuit or two. I'm ashamed to say I forget the name we issued this particular canine, maybe Hector - I'm sure Helen will correct me in the comments! Eventually you get down to Phunki Tenga and the Evergreen lodge next to the river. There's a sign saying that this is your last chance for refreshment before a two hour climb; this is not the case, there's three or four better cafe's over the river. Also the toilet in Evergreen was bad... very bad! We had a cup of instant noodles each (I had seconds!). Just before the marathon climb is a TIMS army checkpoint but they wouldn't let me take a picture for this diary. Dave was feeling extremely rough and weak, so I carried Helens bag on my front and she carried Dave's, but he still had to stop often for a rest or be at one with nature. We arrived at the top around 1pm and had a welcome cup of sweet black tea - It took well over two hours to get there!

We checked into the Tengboche guest house, a cute little place with good food and friendly staff (one of the girls was particularly cheeky). I had a compact and cheerful single room (blankets provided). There's a bakery next door but it was closed until high-season. At 3pm every day you can go into the monastery and sit with the monks as they chant, occasionally stopping to slurp hot tea. This was the first time I felt the cold, and switched my shorts for trousers. The weather was wet in the afternoon. In the evening the lodge owners lit the stove and we sat in the cosy restaurant for hours talking and discussing statistics! I had a Nepali curry, which was delicious and enormous; the rice and vegetables just kept coming!

Up up up up up up up up...

Bakery - closed :'(

Everest trek - Day 3 - Acclimatisation

3450 to 3500 (+50m)
0.5km - 20 minutes

Today was meant for relaxing and getting used to the 65% oxygen level, but we were feeling OK so decided to move the acclimatisation 50m higher up the hill in Namche. We had a breakfast (I had garlic toast!) then trudged up and asked at a few places. The expensive places are up top, the most expensive being $120 for a single room (I forget the name of the place) - which seems ridiculous - would someone actually pay this?? Eventually we found a brand new place called Danphe (the traditional bird of Nepal). The beds were literally wooden boards. The owner said we would have a room for 300 Rupees and put a mattress and blankets on the beds; we were also offered a free hot bucket shower. We only used one bucket between three of us, but a little mis-communication meant the owner brought another large bucket of steaming water up!

We walked over the Everest view point next to the army post but again couldn't see north up the valley for the clouds. We were however treated to a sneaky peek of Chamlan (7300m) in the east - baring her side then quickly covering up again.

Sexy!

To aid acclimatisation a little more we did a walk up the hill behind Namche, taking us to 3800m. After a while Helen and Dave had minor headaches and I was feeling a little spaced (also we could only see 20m and the wind was fierce) so we walked back down the other side and into town. We bought some yak cheese, cheese biscuits and some (wait for it) canned "chicken" sausages in brine. We went back to the room and munched this (Helen, being a vegetarian, didn't have the sausages!) - once finished we went to dinner. In the dinner room I offered my mascot (MonstaB) to a little child to look at but she thought I was giving it to her and took it away into the kitchen. Not wanting to lose another mascot I had to steal it back from a child, who looked at me like I was an evil villain!!

High winds and mist at 3800m

Painting the prayer wheel

Looking down on Namche school

Mascot safely in pocket

Pokhara, Nepal

The bus journey from Kathmandu is a single road heading out of the valley and winding down the mountain. The road is packed... PACKED with trucks and buses end to end. I've never seen anything like it. The dust thrown up, and black smoke thrown out by old, struggling diesel engines is unbelievable! The plants look like they're covered in snow, or have just been through a nuclear holocaust, or volcanic eruption. It's sad, and as I think this I realise that I'm part of this (and I did this journey twice). The people of Pokhara want an international airport to increase business, but most people go to Pokhara from Kathmandu anyway, and would probably want to visit Kathmandu too! I'm not sure it would help in any way - it would just mean more guest houses (there's 500+ already) and big planes over peaceful Pokhara. When I first arrived there in rainy August, 80% of guest houses were probably empty and huge discounts could be found. October brought tons of tourists but I still cannot believe that all guest houses were full. That said, Pokhara is an incredible place and has so much to offer :)

Apocalypse?? No, just the road from Kathmandu

My time here was spent with some great people: Jasmina, Bishnu and his family, Ganesh, Sita, Baba - we became very good friends and they kindly took me to their homes, introduced me to their families and fed me. Jasmina I'd met in India 7 months before - we'd never kept in touch but had randomly bumped into each other in the Prabin cafe - very surreal.