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Everest - Day 6 - Amber's Had Enough
Entry 33 of 45 | show all | print this entry |
Day 6: Tengboche (or Stingboche as nicknamed by Dan) 3860m - Devuche 3770m - Milinggo - Pangboche 4000m - Shomare 4070m - Orsho - Tsuro Wog 4136m - Dingboche 4360m
The enjoyment of trekking has all but evaporated. I hate eating the same food, I hate being cold, I hate having no electricity, I hate having to pay over 2 quid to have a mildly warm shower, I hate our porter. Doing Everest straight after18 days on Annapurna is just too much.
The scenery is beautiful more so than the Annapurna I think for you are constantly surrounded by towering peaks rather than just occasionally. The villages were nicer on the Annapurna though as the ones here are mainly just lodge towns.
The trail is super busy and that's really annoying especially when you pass everyone only to have to wait for our porter to then have to pass everyone again. From now on we're just going to leave in the morning saying we'll meet him at our final destination.
So this morning I woke to Oliver rummaging through bags. It was 5.30am. He was off to photograph the sunrise over the mountains. I guess one of us has to do it, I'm just glad its not me!! I got to stay curled up in the warmth of my sleeping bag for another 1 1/2 hours listening to everyone else rise, marvel at the view and pack.
The "hotels" that we stay in are basically made out of chipboard. It's like staying in a cardboard box. The walls are so thin you can hear everything in the room next door and three doors down, which sometimes makes for entertaining listening but means sleeping in is a virtual impossibility.
Standard day for most trekkers is to start rising about 6.30am, pack bags, eat breakfast, have a chat about the days route then get underway between 8-8.30. They'll then trek for an hour or so, break for tea 15-20 min, trek for another hour or so, break for lunch 1 hr and then trek to their final destination with a few10 min water/view breaks in between. Most arriving at around 2 or 3.
As our porter sooner discovered, Oliver and I just like getting there - no sit down breaks, no lunch on the way just the occasional loo or photo stop. That way we're all settled into our hotel by 12.30 and have the rest of the arvo to eat, read and relax. So far that's worked fine but with altitude on the up I think we're going to have to start joining in the rest of the herd.
One thing about altitude is that it makes your skin look disgusting. Every single line stands out. My hands look like that of a 90 year old. Even Oliver's commented on it. No matter how much moisturiser I put on it just gets sucked up. Oh also your mascara starts to freeze at 4,000m (yes I'm still wearing mascara... well not any more I guess) and sunscream freezes just below 5,000m. Useful little bit of information for you.
Anyways back to the days trek. Oliver managed to get great sunrise photos despite freezing his butt off and we made tracks at 8.15am. First part was nice downhill through what looked like witches woods with fairy floss moss hanging from skeletal trees - eerie but very pretty. Rhododendron was once again everywhere. Would be spectacular when in full bloom (May). We left the forest and crossed over the river into much drier terrain. Looking behind us there were stunning views of Tengboche sitting in the palm of the mountains.
Uphill to the town of Pangboche we manged to pass everyone and have a clear run ahead. It didn't last for long however as we had to wait for our porter for 15 min or so putting us last behind a long yak train and a group of 20 or so people moving at very slow pace. It was then we vowed to just meet our porter at the end each day.
Pangboche is the last major town (population 600) inhabited all year round. Shortly after leaving we were accompanied by eagles dancing above our heads and a massive vulture sunbathing amongst the rocks. This thing was HUGE! After gawking at it for some time and taking numerous photos, we continued on up and headed towards the tree line, about 4,100m where the landscape turns to dry, barren, boulder strewn scrub.
This led us down to a "bridge" across a bitterly cold river flowing under and through ice. The "bridge" were sheets of ply. Not the most comforting or study structure when crossing a deep fast flowing river thrashing against rocks. After posing for a few photos and making it safely to the other side we started yet another ascent to a ridge over which lay the town of Dingboche nestled in front of the incredibly spectacular Ama Dablam mountain. This mountain is stunning.
After pricing a number of hotels - room rates are basically the same NR100 (0.80p) but hot showers range from NR250-400 and battery charging from NR250-400 per hour per item!! When on a budget these things add up! Choosing the cheapest hotel in every respect we head back down to the main village path to find our porter then settled in for the afternoon doing our usual diaries, reading, trying to play UNO without our smelly porter joining in etc etc.
Where I stayed:
Peak 38 View Lodge
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