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Published: December 19th 2018
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Today has ended up being much more tiring and challenging than originally planned. I think we have ascended something like 1000m today which at this altitude is tough.
Our lodge was again late with breakfast and this time they hadn’t lit the fire so it was very chilly waiting. We weren’t in much of a rush but sitting in the cold isn’t much fun. Finally fed (our porridge was at least lovely & hot) we went on our way.
First stop the bakery at the top of the village for 2 chocolate danishes, and then to the tap at the top to fill up our water.
We then headed out of the village towards Chhukung. This morning was cloudy and windy compared to previous days but it was warm enough when the sun decided to make an appearance.
The guide book describes one lone tea house on the way, unfortunately this was shut so we made do with a muslei bar and some water. The water is so cold though that it’s not very appealing and I don’t think either of us have been drinking enough.
It only took us 2 hrs to get to Chhukung and we arrived by
1030. Finding a room to stay in was easy - we have a nice room facing the sun with big beds that are unfortunately fixed so we can’t push them together. After settling in we decided to have an early lunch of noodles before going on an explore.
We decided to head up towards Chhukung Ri and see if there were any views despite the clouds. This is a long way up - the peak is approx 5500m. Chhukung is at 4730m and Dingboche, where we had come from, at 4360m.
After a challenging 2 hour ascent we reached a pile of cairns and prayer flags. Above the clouds we could see the tips of the mountains opposite. On a clear day you can see into Tibet. This was not a clear day. The wind bought more cloud in and our view quickly disappeared. To our left was a view point, to the right was the summit. The summit was a good distance along the ridge and prob another 100m up. Deciding that it prob wasn’t worth the extra effort given tomorrow is going to be a long a challenging day we enjoyed a snack and started back down
Ascending towards Chukkung Ri
The clouds caught us up before we reached the top to our lodge.
On arrival I was delighted to discover the fire already lit. After changing into clean, dry clothes we retired to the dining room for tea and a danish. The room is a little too large to have just one fire but it’s warmer than outside.
Tomorrow, assuming the weather is ok, we head over the Kongma La pass. It should take about 6-7hrs to get to Luboche (excluding breaks). There are no teahouses along the route so we are going to have to get a packed lunch from our teahouse. Frozen Tibetan bread and boiled eggs sound so appealing!
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