Everest - Part 4

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Day 16 - Deboche to Shomare and back to Pangboche

We left just before 9. A relatively easy day planned that take us just over the 4,000metre mark. Rhi felt better so we set off. By Pangboche (3,890) though, Rhi was starting to get headaches gain. We carried on as far as Shomare and had lunch there, but Rhi's breathing was extremely laboured and the headache wouldn't budge. So we came back down to Pangboche which is about halfway between Deboche and Shomare. We're starting to worry that if the AMS doesn't pass soon we'll run out of time, money or both, so for now, we're just hoping it'll click into place.

Day 17 - Pangboche

Rhi is still feeling bad and the headache was still there this morning so we wait another day. The owner of the lodge is a nice lady and has made sure that we're comfortable. In the afternoon we went for a walk past Shomare to see if she would cop ok and we had lunch at a lodge there, we met two Australian Geologists and an Australian called Bill who was particularly entertaining.

Rhi was feeling better and we're hopeful that tomorrow we can move on again.

Day 18 - Pangboche to Pheriche

No headaches! We had a late breakfast and decided we'd b ok to move on. To make sure that Rhi had enough oxygen running around her body we took some of the weight out of her bag and into mine.

We're now above the tree line and strangely, at 4,200 metres above sea level, the ground is sandy. We're really heading up now and it's getting pretty cold now. Almost freezing at nighttime, and that's inside.

Day 19 - Pheriche to Dingboche

It was only an hours walk over the top of ridge and down the other side, but Dingboche is 130 metres higher which means we'll be able to ascend to about 4,600 tomorrow.

Once we got to Dingbochewe went for a walk to help cclimatize, we got to 4,500 and the air is really thin up there. Rhi is now taking Diamox to help with the altitude, if I struggle to breathe like I did today, then I'll be on it too.

In Pheriche we managed to have some tests done to show our oxygen saturation levels, which showed mine as 94%!a(MISSING)nd Rhi as 85%! (MISSING) It xplains a lot as noral would be around 90-95%!,(MISSING) we'll see how t0omorrow goes, but it's getting exciting now as we're so close. As we go to bed, the altitude is 4,325m, which is only 1,125 from Kala Pattar. We've walked that in less than a day before!

Day 20 - Dingboche to Thakla

A two hour walk that took three, we climbed nearly 300 metres before dropping down to cross a glacier into Thakla, it's a filthy village with only one lodge, and they know it!

The place was full of Kerosene, and had anyone dropped match the whole place would have gone up. Anyway, we chatted with the other guests, a Norwegian called Vegard, a Canadian group and a Swiss family whose children of 6 and 9 spoke almost perfect English.

Later on a Swedish woman was carried in having suffered severe AMS, which is making it all a touch worrying with the number of people we've seen getting ill.

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