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Published: November 21st 2009
Day 5 - Tengboche to Dingboche (4410m)
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and potatoes and a last look at the monastery, we headed off into the clear, cold morning just before 8am. As usual, Ratna set a good pace down the hill and we enjoyed it after the climb the day before. The way was lined with rhododendron trees (unfortunately not in flower) and an abundance of old man's beard - Bear Grills would have been jealous!
As the path levelled out we came across 'Rivendell Lodge'. Not quite from Lord of the Rings in appearance, but the setting was definitely worthy; a valley with green hills and rushing river at the bottom. After a short distance of slowly inclining path we were faced with another bouncy bridge then a steep, rocky climb up the other side. At the top was a nice archway leading to the open and less green expanse beyond.
It was quite a hard walk to Pangboche mostly due to the now increased altitude, making it harder to get oxygen around the body and somehow made us feel heavier!. The path was varied in its ups and downs, but was extremely rocky
and sparse of trees due to us being above 4000m now. Eventually the path wound its way down to a small river crossing and then it was a 20min up-hill stretch to our final destination: Dingboche.
Our guide told us that the main place trekkers stay - Pheriche, in the neighbouring valley - was quite windy an overcrowded, so Dingboche was a nicer option. We agreed as it was surrounded by mountains and the lodge itself very comfortable. The restaurant area had several windows that were filled with sunlight when we arrived and we soon bagged a couple of seats in this area, ready to have lunch. Our room was also a pleasure to be in - a sunlit room! It was warm and welcoming, and maintained a little of this heat into the evening (not enough y the time we got to bed though!) After Warren had washed our socks (a daily ritual by now) and had lain them out to dry on the corrugated iron roof outside, we went for a wander around the village.
The village itself, despite being surrounded by towering mountains, was quite level. From our lodge though we had to skirt uphill
a little to find the main path as we were on the very edge and away from the central area. A secondary purpose for this trip was to find some chapstick as we had neglected to think of this in our packing and were both starting to suffer from sore lips. Amazingly, amongst the other lodges we found a small store that sold just about everything - including our quarry. The price was a reasonable nrs100 - only 300% above the RRP and not the scary mark up we were expecting! Happily we returned to out spot in the sun inside the dining room (via a scramble over a stone wall and through a field) for some reading: a reward achieved only after a very brief wash in some extremely cold water! The dirt from the trail gets everywhere (especially up my trouser legs) so in the absence of a shower this had to suffice. Brrrr......
That evening we sat at 4400m and prepared to have a Nepalese style pizza. Before this though the host brought out a hot towel for our refreshment - very unexpected but welcome! Our pizzas were surprisingly tasty (despite the tinned mushrooms) and just
as we were getting chatting to Ratna the corner of the room erupted in noise. Some Iranian climbers were celebrating the birthday of an important member of their religion and in response to this a couple of then were dancing around the room and offering a bowel of nuts (varied and in shells) to the rest of the guests, who were encouraged to clap. Once they had done the circuit of the room one man started throwing huge walnuts from the bowl to random people - I got one! This festive 'performance' was followed by the most enthusiastic member of the team dancing on his own in the centre of the room next to the wood burning stove. Of course, after one dance he began dragging male members of the now 'audience' up to dance with him in his Iranian/made up style. Each person gave it a good go - one even beating the Iranian at his own elaborate game and carrying a glass of water on his side while dancing without spilling it (like his mentor') Much to Warren's relief, after 4 men the novelty had worn off and Warren as next in line escaped an embarrassing experience. What
fun! In high spirits we went off to bed to get enough rest for our 'acclimatisation' session the following day.
Day 6- Acclimatisation day at Dingboche
Our hotel sat nicely below a towering mountain and reaching a point called Nangkar Tshang at 5100m high for views of the valley was to be our aim for the day. The steep dusty path climbed straight up the side of the mountain, zig-zagging back and forth. There is little vegetation at this height except the dry bracken that grow on the hillside. We had to walk slowly as the air was becoming so thin by this point that we were short of breath and our hearts were pounding severely in attempt to get precious oxygen around our bodies. Our porter Kamal was supposed to come with us to acclimatise but after 20 mins he 'felt lazy' and called it a day. Looking at the steep track ahead, we didn't blame him.
There was a rocky scramble near the top but the views were more than worth it with with panoramic views of two valleys, dozen of snow capped peaks, turquoise lakes and the gorged paths of valleys carved out by
glaciers that have since receded. The way down was easier on the heart but the steep downhill on lose gravel (and dust) meant that our legs still had to work just as hard to keep us from slipping back down. By the time we reached the bottom, we were shattered and had proven that going down was far from easy. We spent the afternoon recovering and relaxing in the bright sunshine in the dining hall of the lodge.
That evening, two of the Iranians were still at the lodge as one of their friends had been taken ill and they were waiting around with him. They befriended us and although there was a big language gap, we talked a bit for a few hours and they showed us lots of funny video clips on their phones, some pictures of Tehran and best of all some videos of the party the previous night with some of the poor Brits that were dragged up to dance.
That night we wandered through the cold back to the room to find that the lights barely worked as the solar battery chargers hadn't done their job during the day. We were warm enough
in our super sleeping bags but the killer from this point on was the dry air. Its not something you guess with all the snow around but the humidity is exceedingly low so it sucks the moisture out of your mouth with every breath and you wake up with a sore throat and cracked lips. There isn't much that can be done to prevent it but it meant that we had to carry a lot of drinking water with us to avoid dehydration (dehydration in freezing temperatures!)
Day 7- Dingboche to Lobuche (4910m)
Again setting off pretty early, we started to head back up the route we'd taken yesterday but instead of climbing the mountain again, followed a ridge along high above the river towards Lobuche. This is a route found by Edmund Hilary prior to climbing Everest. In the early years of attempts to summit Everest, climbs began in Tibet as it was thought to be the only way of accessing the great mountain. Political problems in Tibet made attempts impossible so a new route had to be found. In Nepal, Everest is mostly hidden by the 'Lhotse wall' which is why our photos so far have
only shown the tip of Everest peeking out above the other mountains. This route skirts around the sides of Lhotse and Numptse, providing a suitable path for expeditions to get to base camp on the Nepalese side of the border.
The paths became rough and gradually change into rocky scrambles up hillsides - a challenge for our increasingly aching limbs. At the top of Thokla pass were a lot of monuments to climbers that had died on Everest, ranging from rock cairns to grand designs with plaques. One of the most famous ones was to a Sherpa who had broken several records including most ascents of Everest, fastest summit time, climbing Everest twice in two weeks and a record staying on the top without oxygen for 22hours. The altitude of nearly 5000m was already having an effect on us so we had great respect for him by this point. Many of the people we'd met along the way had not come this far either through choice or through sickness so the trails began to thin out of other trekkers.
Thankfully after climbing Thokla pass, we were rewarded by an gentle climb following along the side of a receding
glacier for 30 minutes before reaching Lobuche, our destination for the night. We carried out the usual routine of changing out of our hiking clothes and I washed the socks in a barrel full of water that was so cold it turned my hands a shade of blue (Stacey helped me warm them again later though). We hung them outside but the icy wind rushing up the valley soon started to freeze them into rigid shapes.
The views were fantastic so we put all our warm clothes on to sit outside with a Thermos of tea, admiring the snowy peaks for as long as we could bear before the cold got to us and we had to go inside to defrost. That evening we watched the outside temperature on a wireless thermometer and it was amazing how quickly it dropped when the sun set, going from a positive figure and soon reaching -10 Celsius. Almost thermal underwear weather!
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david blewitt
non-member comment
Jealous, as ever.
Looks absolutely fabulous. Bet you are both fit as lops now! Just a thought, is your camera rated to work down to that low temperature? Did you have any bother? (I remember attending a slide show many years ago of someone who climbed in the hymalayas, and his fancy electronic pentax wouldn't work in the cold. Used as backup an old mechanical Kodak.