Month: May 2019

Today was a similar height gain, time and distance to yesterday with a very steep start out of Dole and then gradual upwards hike over terrain similar to English moorland before dropping down slightly into the tiny settlement of Machhermo at the end. The weather was a bit cooler and less sunshine than previous days. We are now above the tree line at 4400m and getting into snow territory. In fact this afternoon while we were sat in an altitude sickness presentation by the Mountain Rescue medics the clouds rolled in and there was a brief flurry of rain and sleet. Tomorrow should be interesting…

Ok – thought I’d put in a bit about health, which is a real focus area on an adventure like this. There’s plenty of material about do’s and don’ts regarding altitude acclimatisation – I’m not going to regurgitate all that, but here’s what I’ve done. On top of physical training I started taking a herbal mushroom powder supplement called Cordyceps about a month before travelling – the idea being that it would start to stimulate the ability to produce extra red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body. I’m now taking two of these capsules daily to give additional boost. On top of this I gave in to the temptation to get some prescription drugs called Diamox. As well as being a treatment for altitude sickness it helps to reduce the symptoms in the first place. Started taking these at the beginning of the trek and will continue until we are well past the highest point in about a week’s time. So far so good. On the downside, I had a dose of man-flu on the week before leaving the UK. Self-inflicted or not, whilst I shook off most of it, I have struggled to get rid of the blocked nose and niggly cough. Bring on the Sherpa remedy of ginger, lemon and honey tea (or GLH as we call it). This is like Lemsip without the paracetamol and appears to be helping slowly. There is no fever so I’m not unduly worried at the moment. Earlier start tomorrow for the hike to Gokyo and the lakes where we will spend 2 nights.

I am planning to write something about the baggage porters and also more info on the lodges. If there’s anything else you would like to know please leave a comment and I will respond.

I was more than happy to wake this morning after sleeping well, which is a good sign in terms of altitude adjustment. The settlement at Mong-La consisted of about half a dozen buildings – I wondered if the villages higher up the valley would be any bigger. So a relaxed light breakfast of omelette was followed by final preparations for what promised to be a short day walking. We began with a long, steep winding descent for almost an hour, losing 300m height in less than a mile. I’ve written before that I tend to struggle more going downhill, I have to concentrate on where I place my feet and find it difficult to relax. There were a couple of wobbles with loose gravel but I managed ok in the end. There will be more of these to come. The sun was making the going hot as well, some of the people we passed coming up in the opposite direction were visibly struggling – even a couple of Sherpas! Not the case however for the lithe, tanned man in white vest, shorts and running shoes who came past running down the path like a mountain goat.

We had a short tea break at Phortse Tenga, soaked up some sun and went on our way, knowing we had some 400m of elevation gain in the next couple of hours. The were some steep stepped sections but it was not too strenuous we crossed several small bridges over streams running down the mountain and eventually climbed up to view spectacular waterfalls. All around the views back to Khumbu valley and ahead to our current destination we’re opening up as we got higher. After a short rest stop near the waterfalls we carried on before suddenly rounding a bend and discovering we had arrived. It was 1pm.

A relaxed lunch of fried eggs and Tibetan bread (which I love) meant the opportunity to catch up on some social media and post yesterday’s blog before having a nap. Writing this now as we wait for dinner. Temperature is falling and the rooms are cold but the dining room has stove. This place is busy and we are hearing stories of seriously low temperatures, snow and ice where we are heading. I’m still quite anxious about what’s to come but just taking one day at a time.

We have started a daily monitoring process of our oxygen levels and any potential altitude sickness symptoms. Nothing to report yet. Today we were up at 7 and out of the lodge by 8.15 expecting a long day. Although the trekking will get tougher as we gain more altitude, at the moment I am pretty comfortable with the demands. Since Phakding we have covered about 16 miles in 2 full days walking and gained about 1400m altitude. Because the paths are uneven, winding and at times narrow and steep, the pace is very slow, which also helps the gradual acclimatisation. So for someone who is accustomed to hitting 20 miles a day even on rough ground, it’s an easy pace to deal with.

The weather so far has been clear hot and sunny until mid afternoon then hazy, cloudy and a lot cooler in the evenings, turning progressively colder at night. We expect sub zero temperatures in the next 10 days as we get into the real high stuff.

The walk from Namche today started with a steep climb up out of the town for an hour or so revealing fantastic views of the valley and peaks behind. We eventually reached Syangboche airstrip where we stopped and had an impromptu penalty shoot out at 3800m. As usual England failed gallantly!!

We then continued to ascend up to a small ridge where we had the best views of Everest and its surroundings so far. Awesome!

Descending into the village of Khumjung we stopped for lunch at a more rustic tea house in traditional Sherpa style. Khumjung’s development has been funded by the Sir Edmund Hillary foundation and is a very well set out farming community with schools, a hospital and well maintained buildings.

After lunch we continued to descend out of the village and passed the point where the EBC route veers to right and our path to the left. We then began a long ascent winding around the hillside as our destination came into view at the top of the pass. The sheer scale of the mountains and valleys is a lot more evident now and with the peace and quiet punctuated occasionally by the sound of helicopters flying through the valleys both above an below us. After a couple of short rest breaks on the uphill stretch we reached Mong La shortly before 4pm. WiFi initially good but the place relies on solar power so at about 8.30pm after dinner everything went off except the lights.

Tomorrow is a half day trek to Dole.