Everest Trek part four, Pangboche to Dingboche

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PANGBOCHE TO DINGBOCHE
30/5/10: Both of us slept fine. We had to endure packet noodles again for breakfast. It was a late start because we only had to walk 3 hours or so to Dingboche. By 8:00am we said our goodbyes to the weary headed Sherpa’s, porters and guide and started to walk up the valley. When we hit the first flight of stairs and immediately felt exhausted. Jacinta had a slight headache from the altitude so we took it easy. The track was relatively flat until we reached the bridge crossing the Lobuche Khola River. From the bridge to Dingboche it was hard, we slowly climbed 200m; this was the highest we had ever been, even higher than the ABC trek two weeks ago. At 4410m high, Dingboche was an important acclimatization point for us; we would stay two nights before sleeping any higher. Arriving into Dingboche you could tell we were in the high country by how dry and treeless the terrain was. The air was dry and the wind had a slight cold bite to it. Jacinta developed a slight headache which progressively got worse during the afternoon. We found a nice lodge called Sonam Friendship Lodge for only 100NRS/ night and after more packet noodles for lunch we wandered outside just to look around. Aba Dablam to the right and Chhunkhung up the valley were both still obscured by intermittent clouds. We decided to do a short climb to a gompa overlooking the town, this would take us to a height of 4550m or 110 meters higher than Dingboche. The theory was that by acclimatizing to this height it would give us a better chance of sleeping during the night. As light fell it got colder and colder, we peered out the common room window. The elderly lady of the house brought a big bag of Yak poo into the room; this gave the air a sweet cow poo smell. She stoked the fire place and lit the poo, the room warmed within minutes enabling us to take off our down jackets.
We ordered fried veg, cheese noodles, just before dinner, the elderly lady brought out a piping hot towel just like the ones they give you on the aeroplanes, it wasn’t a replacement for a shower but it felt so good to wash away old sweat and dirt giving us a fresh feeling again.
While we ate, we spoke to an interesting American man named Morgan, he also had travelled for some time; we would later get to know him quiet well. With all the Yak poo running out it was time to enter our freezing room and crawl into our -10C sleeping bags. It was nice to warm up again after the initial strip down to put on under thermals. Our breathless bodies needed desperate rest; the thin air didn't do Jacinta’s headache any favours.

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