Acclimatisation Trek Above Pheriche

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At breakfast there is a rumour it was -12 at Pheriche last night, i'm not sure of the accuracy of this, but I do know that the condensation on my window which froze solid last night (see picture), took longer than two hours to melt as they were still there as we left for our trek at 8.30am! The GP from the HRA and his partner had come to the lodge to warm up by the dining hall's central fire and I notice everyone is wearing down jackets this morning. Keen to get warm and moving, we shovel down breakfast and head out.For our acclimatisation trek today we climbed up the eastern wall of the valley, literally zig-zagging straight up the steep scree walls and up onto the lower mountains. Suriya is intrigued by the phrase 'zig-zag' and I realise I can't explain it to him! He looks at me as if i'm slightly mad! We ascend and ascend taking in more and more spectacular views. The wind is beating prayer flags furiously around us and howling down the valley as the sunshines warming our faces. I feel this morning as if I am finally really at the edge of the himalayas! We trek for the first half hour with a friendly Swedish group but our pace is a light faster with just the two of us so we part ways and everything becomes quiet and focussed again. Although I can see the advantage of group trekking in the evenings and at mealtimes, at points such as these, I am grateful to be trekking alone. In such a place it is a real gift to be left with your thoughts and your soul can be so free with all this space and beauty!We continue up for about 2 hours until we reach a magnificent viewpoint and my altimeter watch reads 4700m. The view is of the valley on one side and the massive himalayan peaks on the other. I stand with the wind buffeting my clothes and take it all in, stunned by the silence, the cold wind and the searing sun. It is pretty surreal standing on these platforms, seeing what we are seeing. I notice Suriya is also feeling good and begins to sing a Nepali love song about scarves blowing in the wind, the meaning of which is lost on me but sounds nice anyway. I have noticed he always walks with his arms folded behind his back which seems strange to me as I use mine for balance and I wonder if he should fall forward, if he could outstretch his arms in time.... We stop for a cold drink and add some stones to the multiple cairns around. We chat about how they are called stupas here and cairns in the UK. As we sit we see a massive bird gliding in the air above us, it has pale underwings and Suriya tells me it's a lammergeier. As we reach the top of the ridge it is possible to see another village, Dingboche where will stop when we descend. Suriya promises yet another nice lodge there and hot showers, sounds good.By midday we are getting hungry and the sun is high in the sky. We decide we will turn around and head back to the lodge. As we descend we come across and English group who are making a video on one of the rocky outcrops along the route. They are filming and acting as if they've reached Everest Base Camp which strikes me as rather odd and slightly dishonest but Suriya and I just smile to each other, keep our heads down and walk on.After a lunch of egg-fried rice I decide to buy myself a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate and sit in the dining hall savouring this marvellous treat, morsel by morsel! The sun floods in and a small group of trekkers and I watch the helicopters which fly intermittently up and down the valley to Lobuche beyond. We were told by the HRA at yesterday's lecture that people are often evacuated from Lobuche for acute mountain sickness and we were also told about a recent evacuation the week before. An experienced climber decided to cut his trekking time down as he had no previous problems with AMS and had his family waiting back in Kathmandu for him to finish his trek. He ascended to Lobuche in just 4 days and had to be evacuated by helicopter for suspected acute cerebral oedema or fluid accumulation on around the brain, due to altitude. Altitude sickness is a strange pathological process as it strikes younger, fitter trekkers rather than older ones and can also strike the same people at the same altitudes as they have achieved before without any problem. It is certainly an area where more research is needed. I am still sitting in the sun when a small Nepali girl of about 3 or 4 comes in and sits down next to me. She is very cute, with rosy cheeks, fly away hair and a rather encrusted nose. She chats away and gestures at my pen, I give it to her and some paper I have lying around and we take turns to draw things; faces, houses, mountains, strange swirly things and then each other. As the light fades, she heads home and I head to my room. Tomorrow we head on to Lobuche.

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