We saw Dingboche first from a reasonable distance away, which always helps with the motivation to make the last few miles. When I arrived at the outskirts of the village I noticed only a single path/"Street" through the middle of the village. This consisted of rocky path no wider than 6-8 feet flanked on either side by buildings or stone walls, with a small stream running down the middle of the path of the path. The village itself was long and thin, inclining some 20-30 meters higher at one end where all the more handsome and larger lodges appeared to be. Getting to the lodge required negotiating both the stream that ran down the main path, but also the number of Yaks and horses that seemed to be wandering aimlessly down through the village. I arrived ... read more

In the morning we waved goodbye to the other group from Peregrine (our tour operator) who had stayed at the same lodge as us the night before and who were traveling down to warmer climes in Namche Bazar. They left us with tales of biting winds, chilling colds and exhausting climbs and treks to reach Kala Pattar and Everest Base Camp (EBC). Thanks for the motivational talk guys!! Starting out from Pangboche, the weather was warm and cloudless. Ascending slowly for an hour or so to Shomare for lunch was straightforward and presented no difficulty. The terrain had truly changed compared to Tengboche, and now all around us there was scrubland without a tree in sight. No one had spotted the last tree on the way up so we promised to look out for the first ... read more

An odd phenomenon is the fact that my most of the my chocolate bars I had brought over from the UK have started to puff out like balloons. After much discussion with my fellow trekkers, we come to the conclusion that this is due to the higher air pressure the chocolate bars were sealed in is forcing the bag to expand into the lower pressure air we are now living in. I then offered the question as to why the chocolate bars we could buy at the lodge didn't exhibit the same phenomenon? We remained baffled.... read more

Setting off down the valley, with the clouds more or less cleared afforded some beautiful views of Ama Dablam, Everest and Lhotse Shar. Todays trek to Pangboche was a short and easy walk of some 2 hours, descending about 150m, crossing over the smaller Imja Khola river, before ascending fairly steeply uphill by 250m into Pangboche. The journey was interesting if a little uneventful. Along the way we passed a lodge called Rivendell, which I assume was a reference to the Elvin Kingdon in the Lord of the Rings books. There are certainly many parallels with those books and the incredible scenery we are in know and are due to head into. It does feel a bit like we are passing now into the misty mountains, and heading for Mount Doom (Everest) with the watchful Eye ... read more

In the main lodge/meeting room there are 6 tables down one side of the room, a further 6 tables down the other side of the room, and at the end where the dung-heater is there is another table between the two rows on either side of the room. I am sitting here reading my book on "History of the Second World War" - a somewhat weighty tome that is drier than the Nepalese air, and I am having trouble getting through it. The sound of german voices catches my attention and I look around the room. To my left are 3 tables of American trekkers. I sit on the table of Aussie trekkers, and surprisingly to my right are two tables of my British compatriots to whom I have not even spoken to. On the opposite ... read more