Everest trek - Day 12 - Pangboche to Namche

4000m to 3450m (-550m)
8.95km

The low altitude rains seemed to have come back with occasional views of Ama Dablam as a treat. Last night we slept like babies, we all completely passed out! Oxygen levels are still only 60% but already I can feel the difference. Leaving Pangboche the weather was glorious. We had a sunny stop in Tengboche where the bakery was now open, consuming bad-ass coffee and a tasty cheese roll. Something worth mentioning (and he might kill me for this) is Dave thinking he was going to release some high altitude flatulence (HAF) that turned out to be solid. An emergency pant pit-stop in the mists was undertaken professionally then we were on the way again, with endless ribbing and laughter from me and Helen. In Namche we again stayed in the same lodge and room (Valley view) as we did before! (who says we're habitual??)

Himalaya lodge

Inside Himalaya lodge

Namo and his family (Himalaya lodge)

"old man's beard"

Escaping Yak!!!

Tengboche bakery

Dave's pants

Good ol' Namche Bazar

In the evening we went to the cinema bar and fittingly watched "Everest". It has some amazing visuals but is ruined by an oh-so-common U.S.A. cheese-fest overload - it's painful at times. 

Everest trek - Day 6 - Pangboche to Dingboche

4000m to 4350m (+350m)
6.0km - 3 hours

At the 4000 metre milestone (kilometrestone?) we're now pretty high! Sleep was broken last night, with many more colourful dreams. We left the lodge at 6:30am accompanied by Scratch & Sniff, our two  new dog guides. Our reason for leaving so early most days was to miss the afternoon rains which seemed to start around 2pm. This morning, breaking routine, there was light rain to start but it quickly cleared. The trail has a steep climb before you've even left the village, but soon flattens out along a treeless valley side, with the river far below on the right. Today was Helens turn for travellers stomach - there's no escaping it! The walking here is easy and the trail opens up onto a mossy, yak filled plain. If you want to go to Penriche keep left and high where the path goes up to the top of a hill; if you want to go to Dingboche keep right and low, where the path goes down to the cold, angry river and over a bridge, which is sometimes, apparently, not there! After the river is a steep climb up the hill, opposite is  an impressive iron scree. Once over this ridge Dingboche comes into view.

We stay at the Moonlight lodge, which is owned by the sister of Namo at the Himalayan lodge in Pangboche. There's a real lack of tourists about, the only people I saw were a South African couple we'd not spoken to (yet) and Tom, Verina and Martin who were staying over in Penriche but were on a stroll to see what Dinboche was like (they preferred it). A little stream runs though the town, and at the top of this stream, providing some flavour to all of the water below, was a dead dog. It was there for as long as we were there; no-one seemed bothered about moving it from the water supply! We took an acclimatisation walk up to 4500m but wind picked up and the afternoon rains moved in again.

In the evening Dave created a dungeons and dragons map. He was the dungeon master and me and Helen the characters, which we drew while waiting for Dave to complete the map. My character was called Scarlet Tigernipple, a buxom, bare-chested, brunette warrior in chain-mail pants - I think this says something about me (bear in mind I've been travelling for a long time). We completed the map without dying and I found a rusty nail which I hope to use in a future game.

Scratch

Y=AK2

Bridge over troubled waters

Make a furnace - smelt the iron - craft a sword!

Dingboche comes into view

My room at the Moonlight lodge

The owner of the Moonlight lodge with MonstaB

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