Himalayan Odyssey(9)

Monday 8th October, 2007

Last night it rained continuously but it was fine when we got up this morning. Breakfast was cornflakes at around 8:00am and then we were on our way to Dingboche.

The first part of the track was all downhill through the pine and rhododendron forest to the small village of Deboche. It was very pleasant walking after the hard slog uphill yesterday but I always have mixed feelings about going downhill when I know that the destination is higher than where I started out.

(l to r) Shirley, Ang Nuru, Barry, Passang, and Dominic
on the track heading north from Tengboche

Along the way there were some very good views of Ama Dablam through the trees.

Ama Dablam from the track near Deboche

After passing through Deboche and a wall of Mani stones, we came to the inevitable river crossing by swing bridge. Fortunately the bridges have all been in good condition and the only issue is dealing with the traffic in both directions. It's relatively easy to pass oncoming porters but I prefer not to be on the bridge when there are Yaks on it.

After the bridge the track rises very steeply and is much harder walking. We arrived at Pangboche (3930m), about half-way to Dingboche, after about 2.5 hours walking and had lunch there. Barry and Shirley were feeling pretty OK but Dominic and I were both knackered so we decided to stop there for the night. I was feeling a bit weak - probably lack of nutrition exacerbated by the belly lurgy of the last few days - and a bit light-headed too.

While Dominic and I lunched - I had chicken soup and toast - Ang Nuru went off to find us a room for the night at Sonam Lodge. Barry and Shirley carried on to Dingboche while we headed for the lodge. The room was comfortable looking out over the river towards Ama Dablam. Reading in bed during the afternoon my vision was a bit blurry which made reading difficult. I had experienced this on the last couple of days while walking but it seemed to clear after a while.

Emphasising the difficulty of the day and that I, at least wasn't acclimatising too well, my O2 was at 72% and pulse at 72. The pedometer reading was 7008 - about 5.25 km.