We started the morning in Tengboche. I slept through the night for the first time since coming to this side of the globe. Only took me a week to flip my biologic clock. We were sleeping at 12,000 feet, the altitude at the top of Breckinridge. Anytime I have been at the peak of Breck, all I want to do is get off the top because it was too cold, too windy, and a distinct lack of O’s.
We packed our stuff then went to the Tengboche temple to see a Buddhist service. The temple was amazing. It was phenomenally detailed and intricately decorated. It was full of symbols, all too inscrutable for me to understand. The service began with one monk chanting and then another one joined in and then finally a third monk joined in. There was a forth monk, that I think was an intern because all he did we dutifully refill the tea cups of the three tenors. After watching them chant for close to an hour we stood up and funneled through a line where a monk offered a short prayer for each of us and presented us with a ritual scarf, Katas. One of our photographers, John, was granted permission to film the service. They told him that no one had filmed it for 10 years. Not sure about that because there is a scene in both Into Thin Air and Everest that looked like they were filmed in that room. My final take on the experience, “cold but peaceful.”
After the service we had breakfast and then packed up and set out. I continued to be frustrated by the small size of the day pack. It is only 26 liters and it was nearly impossible to pack my down, rain gear, first aid kit, sun hat and warm, and gloves, snacks, water, sun screen. This was made worse by the fact that our duffles were loaded on the yaks early so by the time we were done with breakfast the gear was packed tight so anything you needed for the morning you needed to carry. This has been killing me especially because I need the iPad and scale to record morning weights.
The hike started down through a beautiful and fragrant rhododendron Forrest. We were following a guy carrying corrugated steel on his back. That looked pretty heavy. Stay in college kids or you may find yourself carrying corrugated steel up the Himalayas. We passed Rivendell and gave our regards to Elrond and the elves.
Rhodedendron Forrest. Just like the Smokeys.
We cruised down from Tengboche until we hooked up with the Dudh Cosi, the river which drains the Kumbu Ice Fall (The Ice Fall is the first obstacle after leaving Basecamp when climbing Mount Everest). It was a cool hike and for a long time that morning we were able to look over our shoulder and see Tengboche. We passed a collapsed bridge from the 2015 earthquake. In fact people were always pointing out earthquake damage all along the trip. It was a defining moment for the entire region, both in the mlountains and in Kathmandu. The ridge was a pile of twisted steel still connected to one side of the ravine.
We crossed on a higher bridge. It was an exciting bridge crossing. I have enjoyed all of them except for that famous double bridge. That one was just too high for me. This one was fine. As the group started crossing the bridge some yaks started crossing from the other side so some of us turned around (hence the people facing both ways on the bridge picture above). We cruised until about 1:00 and came in for a well deserved lunch. It was a vegetable soup called Sherpa’s Stew. We ate it in a cool tea houses. All of the tea houses have a eating area that has windows on three sides with great views.
After lunch we cruised into Dengboche. We had magnificent views of Ama Dablan, Everest and Lohtse. But mostly Ama Dablan. Dengboche is a small village. We stayed at the Everest Resort. The resort name is quite a stretch. We are starting to see mountain inflation. Lower on the mountain water was 100 rupees for a liter. At Dengboche it was 250 rupees. In Tangboche they charged your phone for 300 rupees. In Dengboche they charged 300 rupees for an hour of charge.
At 14,000 feet when the wind begins to blow its gets cold fast. Note: Corrugated Steele Guy in the background.
The graffitti you see in the Himalayas is…different.
Plastic cups are light and don’t break. Perfect for Himalayan Tea Houses, but Peter Rabbit?
Crossing the Dudh Cosi (again)
The kids on the trail were cute.
Ama Dablam
Solar powered tea kettle warmer could boil water, possibly helped by the high altitude. We saw these reflectors everywhere.
The hike into Dengboche
Clouds over Dengboche. Almost every afternoon we had clouds roll in, at higher altitudes this usually meant hiking in the mist.
Popcorn a staple snack in the tea houses. Who knew?
Checking vital signs in Dengboche.
That night Jim and English Paul talk about altitude sickness. We were now at over 14,000 feet, about as high as any place in the continental US. They said this was the place where we might see people start to get sick. They went over the Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness Score and asked us to assess ourselves every morning and every night.
Later that night Mark and I did a duet of The Cremation of Sam McGee.