Day 7 Highlights
- A very long hike for the day
- A never ending steep climbed
- Memorials of the famous climber perished on Everest
- Extremely cold
DAY 7 Travelogue - Doesnt look like making it!!
Same routine, ready at 6:30 waiting for our breakfast of boiled eggs as we have to eat something to survive and thatâs the safest thing I could think of. Coffee and eggs are in front and am trying to finish them somehow, though donât feel like eating. This could be a sign of altitude sickness but for me it started from the beginning therefore I know it is not the altitude sickness but some other sickness. My friend is having the same problems, may be on the way we ate something that caused it. Anyhow the day has started with a very cold morning. I started of the day with five layers, one should never forget the layered approach in the mountains or the cold weather. This makes you comfortable and help adding or removing layers according to the weather conditions.
We have started climbing a mountain that could go as high as 5500-6000m but our target is to gain 200-300m (altitude) from where we are and then return to Dengboche. I think this much should be enough for acclimatization the today. The trek is quite rough rather it is just climbing through rough patches and loose rocks, and the climbing angle is quite steep. Formula remains one step after another one, slowly but surely. We keep going on this endless trek and I keep an eye on the altimeter so that I call to go down when we are beyond 200 meters. We are meeting a lot of other hikers on the way, some in bad shape and some in a better shape. We made friends with two British ladies here; their guide is a very helpful guy and he also did the Everest summit in 2009. It is very interesting to meet this guy who climbed Everest, he is a very good guide and he really encouraged us for the next few days trek. We are quite motivated after talking to him and he has promised to come see us at our place after our return from todayâs hike. We are over 200m now and are continuing our hike for some more time before we would return. The views are splendid from here and that is what keeps us going for some more time. We are feeling much better on our physical front as compared to yesterday. Yesterday towards the end of the trek we really became desperate to finish it; it was too long and too tiring all the more without any lunch and food. We did take one Snickers each though.
We are having the views of the mountains around and Dengboche could be seen far bellow under the mountain as a few dots of habitation. We can see three valleys from here and it is incredible to have climbed to this place. As soon as we took break it has become extremely cold although the sun is out but it is not warm. Wind is gusting as we are high and on a ridge and it tries to blow us away. We are holding our feet and are planing to go down now.
The way down is not difficult for our energy levels but it is tough for the knees and toes and one has to be really careful coming down. One slip or a wrong foot in hurry and thatâs it. My old tested worn out Timberlands have worked really well so far and am very happy that I didnt buy new shoes for the trip. Worn out shoes is the only way forward for hiking as these are well tested and feet sit nicely in them.
This is the third time on the trek as I meet this Nepali lady who is very friendly and has married a Swiss old guy, probably double her age or more and they come to Nepal for mountains every year. Not that they donât have any mountains in Switzerland but they donât have the high mountains there. Tomorrow we will probably go over the highest point in the whole of Europe including Monte Blanc or any other highest mountains of Europe. This lady is very friendly and is listening to Indian music whenever we meet up.
We are already down and sitting in our dining room, I ordered a club sandwich today to try. It turned out to be a good decision as it is not bad and Iâm eating some of it somehow.
The Canadians suggested visiting the French bakery some 500 meter away down towards the slope. And we are having a walk towards the bakery now, just bought some glue on the way to fix my friends glasses. We are heading to the French bakery to try some brownies and coffee. It is a small bakery but a busy place as there are other travelers already sitting there. Some are enjoying their coffee and some their pies. We just came to know that for brownies weâll have to wait another 1.5 hours as those are over. So we are sipping coffee to kill that time. We are having chat with some new faces here as well. Couple of Americans, Dutch, Germans girls and boys etc. There are more Europeans on this trek, may be they love mountains more than others or may be Nepal is marketed in EU better than elsewhere. We are done with our coffee and donât feel like waiting for more for the brownies so we left. We are back in our tea house and just changed our room to the one with a lock. Itâs a small wooden mobile home kind of a place having small rooms on both sides. Anyone would walk or move around in these ten rooms the rest of the people will immediately get to know due to the construction of it. It has been quite a windy day today and that adds to the cold as the wind chill factor increases.
Lima Sherpa (British ladies guide) has come to meet us as he promised and we are clicking pictures with him. He is really a nice guy and knows about the area as the back of his hand, he is a smiling Sherpa, as he smiles all the time. He again encouraged us for the next few days of the trek and promised to support our guide as he is new to the field.
Guides play very important role in case of any eventualities here. People suffer from different kinds of mountain sicknesses and they are the one who know what to do after that. Moreover they are the ones who would organize any rescues if necessary. Lima suggested us to start taking the Diamox half a tablet to increase our chances of reaching the top. Because God forbid if the sickness starts then there is no going forward and one will have to rush back if possible to come to lower altitude unless someone wants to take a chance on her/his life. We want to play safe and have decided to start taking the required half tablet in the morning and half at night.
It is getting cold again because the evening is approaching. We are spending most of the time in the dining room today. We have good company of Ray (the Dutch), the Canadian group, three British girls and a few more tourists. Discussions, chit chat, jokes and thatâs about it for the rest of the day because outside is extremely cold. After enjoying our time in the dining room we are retiring early today so that we could take some rest and enjoy stories that we tell each other every day. Head lamps are on as we approach our room which is in the backyard really with a garden front and marvelous views on either side. It is too cold so we came straight to our room. Warm and cozy in the beds telling stories to spend the night. Tomorrow is another very long day. No sleep but Good night!
