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.