22.01.10 - 7.10pm (1.29pm UK), ref Return Trek Day One. Six sleeps to go.

Last night was the coldest night ‘on record’ for us since the trek began. Outside, temperatures dropped to -34c. Thankfully it was warmer inside the lodge, although not that we felt it at -9c. We all kept waking up with headaches & frozen noses (complete with contents) & each went to sleep with a feeling of dread that there would be a horrible nudge from nature at some point during the night…

I haven’t researched, but in our room, nature called once for Rob & twice for me - & yes, it was unbearable. To top it all, I ran out of loo paper & couldn’t find any replacement, then when I had eventually found it I was about to get back in to bed & realised I had the raging munchies! At the point Rob opened an eye to see what on earth was going on, I was huddled at the bottom of my bed munching away on a packet of Digestives I had bought to feed off a couple of days before! He said I looked like a little mouse! Although noisier though, obviously, as I had woken him up!

Nevermind. We were blessed with a lie-in today as it was the first day of our return trek & we had chosen not to take part in the optional trek to Kala Patthar at 4.30am - of course! & the brave soles who had chosen to do it weren’t due back until 9.00am - hence, we got up at 8.00am & prepared our yak bags for the first trek day back.

It was a steady trek all day, over very very loose rocks & uneven rubble which was very very tiring. It’s a miracle no-one turned an ankle or worse. We were also walking headlong into a bitter ice cold wind which was coming straight up the valley towards us - no prisoners. Our pace was good though, & although we’re not dismissing the continued wonder all around us, there’s a definite determination in our step now as we can see the next goal in sight - home.

We dropped 1000m in height today (3300ft) & walked for 5 hours (we had a break & lunch in addition to this time), arriving at our lodge in Pheriche at around 4.30pm. Sadly, Pheriche is right slap bang in the centre of the valley we walked though, so consequently there is a cold draught running down the corridor & the rooms of the lodge. As I type, we’re all huddle in the dining room in just about every piece of thermal clothing we own! The journey to our bedrooms is going to be a hard hard one - goodness only knows what the temperature will drop to tonight…

Anyway, only 6 sleeps to go - 4 in lodges - so it’ll soon pass.

Everyone very upbeat, health levels good overall.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

21.01.10 - 7.00pm (1.19pm UK), ref Trek Day Nine. EBC-Day.

WE DID IT! WE MADE IT ALL THE WAY - ALL OF US! WOOHOO!!!! What an amazing day. I could have blogged through all the details first, leaving the amazing climax until the end, but we’re all just too elated to hold back - & to be honest, there’s no guarantee I’ll still be awake at the end to type it! Wiped out doesn’t even come close.

Now I know in previous blogs I’ve commented on hard days, & how I’ve been mistaken about those days being the hardest having actually found harder days to draw reference to… & I know I’ve commented on long trekking days - & early ones - & how I’ve been mistaken about those being the longest &/or earliest having actually found longer &/or earlier ones to draw reference to… Well, hold on to your hats - today was the mother of all hard, long & early days! It was an immense day.

One of the party pulled out (lots of reasons, will fill you in when we get home), which left 12. Everyone was in remarkably high spirits as we prepared to leave at 7.00am - hours before sunrise. Down jackets, thermal leggings, lucky pants, warm hats, Michelin gloves… all were needed. As we stepped out of the lodge into a temperature of around -20c (it had been -6c in the lodge & a number of us had struggled to regulate our breathing as we climbed into our sleeping bags the night before - me included) the surroundings were quite surreal. Silence all around, except for the rise & fall of boots & walking sticks, no conversation - symbolic of the gravity of the task that lay ahead, & an almost ‘moon-like’ landscape - white dust everywhere, rocks, no vegitation & just huge mountains on every side. All the moment needed was 2001 Space Odyssey & it really would have been complete!

Our aim was to get to Gorak Shep for 10am, where we would have our ‘lunch’ before the trek to Base Camp itself. We reduced our back packs to a minimum & did the same with our clothing, as the trek that lay ahead, as well as being the toughest we had experienced all trek - & for the some of us the toughest of our lives - it would mean getting to Base Camp & back in the same afternoon. It was to be the final climb, to the 5360m goal, & what we had all come to achieve. We knew that in lots of ways, things would never quite be the same after this day was over.

We left the town of Gorak Shep (5170m/17061ft) at 11.30am & stepped out onto the broad sandy plains that led to the immense rock falls left behind by ice falls of many years gone by. The temperature was bitter, but helped by the fact that the wind was with us. We passed many frozen lakes & the noise our walking poles made as they hit the ground told us that sheet ice wasn’t very far beneath us.

It wasn’t long before we started climbing & as we rose above the plain, the landscape started to change dramatically. As we climbed nearer to our goal, huge tears appeared in ground in the valley before us, made as the ice beneath forced its way out into the open. With the dusty dirty top surface & the pure white of the ice exposed from beneath, the effect visually was that of a coconut that had been cracked open & just left on its side in the valley. They were vast too - far bigger than any of our photographs will truly show as we couldn’t get near to show the scale - but they were immense.

We continued to climb, & we continued, & we continued… & we started to flag. As each corner was turned & the elusive Base Camp was still nowhere to be seen, we each began to wonder whether we had enough in us to get us there. The Yfriday song ‘Strength will rise’ with those wonderful words from Isaiah 40 will never again sound the same to me - I sang that song over, & over, & over in my head. Mike & I were also looking to each other for strength & each spurring each other with the words from ‘Eagle’s Wings’ -

“Hold me close, let Your love surround me.
Draw me close, bring me to my knees.
& as I wait, I’ll rise up like an eagle -
& I will fly with You, Your spirit leads me on,
in the Power of Your love.”

Suddenly, Base Camp was there. Within touching distance. It had taken us 2.5 hours, which doesn’t sound like much, but believe me, we virtually crawled the last few meters. I, in actual fact, just sat down when I saw it. I had nothing left in me. I was completely spent. At that moment I could have sat there for an hour & been positive I still wouldn’t have had the energy to move. I just sat there & said to the Sherpa next to me “I can’t do it. I’ve got nothing left. I’ll just watch from here & see how I feel when they come by on the way back.”. But he had other ideas.

He stayed with me for a moment, then led me step but painfully slow step to Base Camp where, by now everyone had reached. It was all I needed. I found some energy from somewhere, because in a moment we were all hugging, crying, videoing, taking pictures, collecting souvenirs… it was magnificent.

We had achieved what we came here to do. Some of us would do something similar again in the future. I can’t speak for everyone obviously, but for two of us this trip has shown us just what we have been blessed with in this life & although this has been the trip of a lifetime in many ways, it has been the trip that has shown us that, in this lifetime, there is no place we would rather be than with those who make us complete. Rob & I are now counting the days until we return home.

In fact we daren’t ring home beforehand because we both know we’ll be uncontrollable!

Having spent 45 minutes at Base Camp, we trekked back to Gorak Shep, arriving at 5.15pm, a journey time of 2.5 hours again which is very telling of how tired we were as the journey back is usually much quicker than the journey there. We walked in to the wind all the way - & it was a very, very cold wind too. The only piece of my face that was showing was a thin line above my specs & the rim of my thermal hat & that was enough to give me a really bad headache. Our Sherpa leader very kindly carried my rucksack for me as I was just wasted & I really didn’t know where the energy was going to come from to get back - in fact none of us were really sure, but you know what? It came. Funny that…

Your prayers carried us today. Without a doubt. Without loving families & friends praying for us, we just wouldn’t have got through it as a whole. So it works. It really works. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We start our downward trek tomorrow. The majority of us have opted out of the bonus trek to Kala Patthar at 5545m, which would have given us the best view of Everest so far. But, at a 4.30am alarm call & a 3 hour hard trek, we decided that we had already achieved what we came here to do, the rest is just decoration - & we’re too wiped out for aesthetics! I know a lot of you will feel it’s a great shame to miss this part out - especially as we’ve come so far already - but hey, we’re not proud, just let us see your photos when you’ve done it!

My cold sleeping bag beckons, accompanied by Rob’s loud snores (he’s got really bad Claire), so I’ll bid you nite nite & God Bless.

Today is a day that dreams are made of…

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

20.01.10 - 7.40pm (1.55pm UK), ref Trek Day Eight.

Today, after the usual start/breakfast/head-off, a really steep ascent out of Dingboche was really the last thing I needed - I had managed to eat a couple of rounds of toast & a cup of boiled water for breakfast, but having eaten nothing nothing for 24 hours I knew today was going to be tough. & it was. Really tough. So tough in fact I was all for stopping & turning around to go home. But I didn’t, I kept going, & it felt like it nearly killed me, but it didn’t.

As I mentioned previously in the blog, some of the group are struggling in various ways & each day gets tougher for all. We’re all just focussing on tomorrow I think - the big one, the big cahoona, the icing on the cake: Everest Base Camp! But more on that in a minute…

The actual trek from Dingboche to Lobuche (4960m/16368ft) would, under normal circumstances, have been a very pleasant day’s trekking - & the fit sprightly young things amongst us breezed it - but on the back of varying levels of extreme fatigue & poorliness at various stages it felt a long hard day. Even though the fit ones are making light work of the treks, the conversation levels have dropped significantly, as everyone fights for the same low levels of oxygen - currently at about 50% less than we are used to. At over 16,000ft believe me, it’s very apparent - even putting our sleeping bags away is a real labour.

Along the route we came to ‘The Tombstones’ which is the burial place of many who have lost their lives whilst climbing & decending Everest. Many of the names of those whose pictures we had see at the museum as we left Namche Bazaar were listed there. It was a very sobering sight as these memorial stones stood out against the background of magnificent mountains like teeth.

There are no trees now. We left them behind this morning. The landscape is very barren & there are rocks on rocks on rocks, left from a time long ago when the glaciers above have melted & made giant slashes in the mountainside to make way for their water flow - with it have come the rocks. Now, as the waters have long ago ceased, all that remains is the huge & impressive rocky river beds.

After arriving at Lobuche at about 2.30pm, we were given an after lunch ‘option’ of climbing to a ridge at 5200m to see Everest Base Camp ahead of tomorrow & to see the Khumbu Glacier. It was a long walk & the group were able to see the sunset too - which I’m told was magnificent. Sadly I didn’t go due to ‘conserving energy’ for tomorrow…

Right, tomorrow - a monster day! Up at 5.30am, breakfast 6.15am, leaving 7am & walk for 3 hours to Gorak Shep. Quick rest, then 3 hour trek to Everest Base Camp! Back to Gorak Shep for around 4pm to eat & get ready to collapse! We will stay there overnight. We have been told tomorrow will be the coldest day yet - full thermals & down jackets required at all times!

OK, off to bed now, time’s 8.10pm - I need sleeeeeeeeep! Nite nite.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

20.01.10 - 7.25pm (1.45pm UK), ref Trek Day Seven.

Sadly, I’ve managed to get food poisoning. I went to bed feeling none too well last night & within hours was more than a little ‘worse for wear’. It carried on through the day today & when I wasn’t sleeping was ‘indisposed’. This carried on through the night too & after a steady stream of rehydration sachets (thanks Rob) & some tablets I was feeling very weak but certainly a chunk better by the morning. I’ve asked John to write today’s blog long hand for me to copy out when I have a moment as the other guys did do some activities which are well worth sharing.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

Written by John:

Today is designated a rest day, but for those who have acclimatised well there is the possibility of climbing Nangkar Tshang, at 5100m (16800ft) it overlooks the summer settlement of Dingboche. It’s an attractive proposition, not only for the great views, but also to employ the principal of climb high, sleep low. Dingboche is an attractive village set on a wide shelf above the Imja Khala River. Most villagers are at present earning a living in Kathmandu, but will return to sow seed in the small fields in March & stay until harvesting in September.

The fields are sometimes terraced but all are attractively bordered with dry stone walls. The other commercial activity is trekking lodges & the main season for this seems to be March to May & September to November.

So, at 7.00am two porter Sherpas knock on the door with ‘bed tea’, a ritual which goes back many years & expeditions. There’s now a frantic rush to dress for the climb & use the moderate facilities. There are two toilets, one conventional & the other the squat style. It’s a dubious decision to use the latter as the floor is concrete, somewhat damp & is frozen. One even needs to hack through the ice on the water bucket in order to ‘hand flush’ the toilet.

There is one sink situated at the foot of the stairs leading to the common room. The tap for the sink is frozen & so water is provided by a plastic container at the side. The common room where we dine is of a design found everywhere: in the centre is a stove, the fuel for which is either wood or yak dung. Needless to say there is competition for the seats around this feature!

Breakfast is served at 7.30am & at 8.30am we’re off, leaving poor Tim behind with his version of the Khumbu Quickstep!

We climb steadily past two stupas - Buddhist monuments - & by half way our numbers have dwindled from 12 to 6. It’s hard going, but the ever widening views are encouraging & the six make it to the summit; a rocky outcrop with a drop of about 200ft on its eastern face. There’s much photography of the surrounding mountains, particularly Lhotse to the north & new views to the east along the Imja Khola Valley. Island Peak stands alone in the distance & behind a beautiful ridge which has a perfectly symmetrical peak at its northern end, the Holy Mountain of Cho Polu. Behind the ridge in the far distance is another 8000m peak, Makalu.

The group returns to the lodge about 2.00pm & after lunch some rest in their rooms. It’s been an exhausting exercise, though bound to have done some good on altitude acclimatisation. The good news back at the lodge is that Tim is feeling a little better & for once takes advice to eat only dry biscuits. He’ll soon be back to his bouncy self.

Most of us go to bed at about 8.30pm. Tomorrow is another big day, along the terrace above the Lobuche Khola which flows out of the Khumbu Glacier. It’s getting very exciting!

JF, for Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

18.01.10 - 5.45pm (12.04pm UK), ref Trek Day Six.

I think I’ll give up commenting on when & where the next blog update will be uploaded. Having arrived at Dingboche guess what? The man with the key isn’t here…! Apparently that’s it now until we stop off at Namche Bazaar for lunch on the decent & I can’t remember what day that is - but I guess you’ll know because all of a sudden there’ll be days & days of blog info to read through!

The internet points from here on are only open in high season - which isn’t now - so my hopes to connect at ‘the highest internet café in the world’ at Gorak Shep have been dashed. Nevermind. On with today.

The usual 7.00am-9.00am schedule ensued this morning. We’re all getting really streamlined with our yak bag preparation in the morning now - so much though that we’ve got the ‘squeezing every last moment out of being in our nice warm sleeping bags’ off to a tee. This was particularly useful this morning as last night was one of the coldest so far, & they’re only going to get colder now as we approach our goal. Even the barrel in the loo with the water for flushing in it had a thick layer of ice on it when we went to use it this morning.

Today was a seven hour trek with only 2 stops - one for fluid at about 10.45am, the other for lunch at about 12.30pm. We started walking downhill along a very cold, very enclosed tree lined path which was barely concealed ice most of the way. There was a very cold wind too, so everyone had their warm hats on. I couldn’t help but feel we were undoing all the hard work of our uphill trek of yesterday, but it was necessary to get down to the bridge to cross the valley. After about 45 minutes we broke out into glorious sunshine & the temperature changed immediately. Although not ‘hot’, it was quite pleasant & we continued, now uphill, to regain the height lost by the start out.

It wasn’t long before we again split into groups & for some reason most found today a hard day - harder than normal - with many complaining of tiredness. A few of us have suffered with altitude sickness, a few a finding it just hard going & a few are struggling to sleep - which is a killer when you consider the massive exertion each day.

Out of all the mountains we have seen during our journey, the most picturesque by far - & one many of you would recognise if you saw it - is Amadablam. It’s a very distinctive looking mountain, but today we travelled around its perimeter & it totally changed its appearance! It was amazing. It now, as we look at it from our new dwellings, bears no resemblance to its former shape at all. It’s now no longer our favourite!

After a hearty lunch, we trekked on towards our next stop, Dingboche, which is where we will stay until Wednesday morning.

We arrived ahead of schedule, at 3.00pm, & were greeted with the customary cup of black tea. Many of the group have taken to drinking it at mealtimes actually, but for me it’s a no no. I’m just a bit too set in my ways - I’ve tried it & I’ll have the free one, but that’s as far as it goes!

Dingboche sits at 4260m (14,000ft), which is 400m (1320ft) higher than yesterday. The lodge seems nice - basic, as the others, but nice - & wait for it… it has a sitter loo! There was great excitement at this & suddenly everyone was desperate to go!

Tomorrow is a ‘day off’ to acclimatise. So, true to form, we’ll be leaving at 8.30am for a 2 hour trek to 5100m (16,830ft) which, if you do the maths, is an 840m (2,830ft) climb! We’ve seen it - & yes, it’s every bit as daunting as it sounds…

We’ll get back in time for lunch & then the afternoon will be our own… it is our rest day you know! I’ll let you know how we get on.

Anyway, back to today. After finding our rooms - & the sitter - some went off for a bit of an explore while others availed of the ‘facilities’ & spare time before dinner to wash hair/shave/unpack/prepare bedding/have a nap. Dinner was served at 6.30pm & for some, bedtime followed shortly after! I think the latest anyone has been in bed all trek is 9.30pm - the earliest 7.00pm. The days are just so gruelling, sleep is very welcome.

Well, it’s nearly my bedtime, so I’ll love you & leave you & catch up with you ‘tomorrow’. Night night.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

17.01.10 - 5.35pm (11.55am UK), ref Trek Day Five.

Before beginning today, may I explain something to those of you who, like me, haven’t got a clue what a meter is in terms of feet? The rough conversion, so I’m assured by my far more intelligent companions, is to multiply the metres by 3, then add 10%. Give or take, that’s it.

Anyway… on with the trek!

A 7.00am wake up with yak bags ready for loading by 7.45am. Breakfast immediately after followed by departure by 9.00am. A warm temperature greeted us as we began & the sky had not a cloud or blemish in it, it was beautiful. Today’s task: to trek to our next lodge in the village of Tengboche. Not a great distance away, but sitting at 3867m was 317m higher than our lodge last night. There was a high percentage - probably 75% - of hard uphill trekking. Again, we split into natural groups, but it was an enjoyable journey through woodland. The woodland cover was welcome actually, as the sun got warmer & warmer & the shade was welcome - albeit cold.

The expected eastern wind came, but the perpetrator(s) remained unidentified!

Walking isn’t straightforward. Because we’re on the go all the time - & because you just get used to snow being all around you, to the point where you stop seeing it - we forget the low temperatures we’re actually walking in. The majority of us are in just a base layer or thin fleece, but some of us (I have to say with pride that I’m one of them!) are even down to base layer t-shirts! However, we really feel the cold when we stop for a breather or go in to the shade. Anyway, back to the point, what we forget is that the ice along the trail doesn’t melt - even when the sun is on it.

So, as we walk along the dirt tracks, every now & then we’ll be reminded that lurking beneath the dirt is sheet ice as one of the group lets out a cry & goes A over T & lands in a heap, covered in dirt. Fortunately, no-one has been hurt yet & the damage has been limited to a dirty bottom, but it’s a reminder to us all to stay alert.

Arriving at Tengboche around 1.30pm, we sat down to our pre-ordered lunch (our Sherpa leader is very organised & had brought menus with him to enable us to order ahead). Some of us are becoming more adventurous with our choices, some (like me) are sticking to the old faithfuls, like eggs. I really am pushing my friendship with my room mate Rob to the max…

After lunch started our ‘free afternoon’… so we all wrapped up ready for our ‘300m (1000ft) in an hour’ optional extra, kindly proposed to us by our Sherpa leader! Boy, that was hard. I thought the other walk was hard, then the one after that, then the one after that… but this was hard. Lungs burning, every pore open, sweating profusely, conversation the furthest thing from our minds… we climbed, & we climbed, & we climbed. But we did it! A tremendous sense of achievement when we reached our goal, which was really just a prep for the altitude we’ll be reaching tomorrow. The view was spectacular - & Tengboche looked like a little lego town it was so small.

We were shown where we would be walking tomorrow - Dingboche at 4260m - as we could see the trail from our position. We could also see the Everest View Hotel which seemed soooo far away, yet we had only been there 2 days ago! The distance we had covered by foot seemed phenomenal, but I have to say we’re all making a really good pace.

The descent back to town was far quicker & we arrived back in good time to synchronise with St Luke’s morning service ending as the St Luke’s Six, plus Ruth, plus Elizabeth (see other trekkers list, 16.01) formed a circle outside to lift our prayers to our Maker. The start was delayed slightly as we waited for Bob to join us. After waiting for 20 minutes we went to look for him & found his room mate had locked him in their room. His room mate assured us he didn’t know he was in there…

Rob read Psalm 121 - a shared favorite & very apt - after which some of us prayed. It was a wonderful & reverent capsule of time & was made even more poignant by the towering Himalayan mountains, in all His glory.

Anxious not to appear religious nutters to the others trekkers who were just the other side of the window outside which we were gathered, Mike suggested we quietly place our arms around each other. We did this, at which point Mike broke into chorus at full blast with no particular song, but it included lots of hallelujahs! It was a priceless moment!

The lodges are getting progressively more basic each stay & this one is true to form. We keep saying the rooms aren’t cold, but I think that’s just because we’re becoming numb to it. Believe me, It’s cold. Very cold. Super cold. So cold that in the night, you’ll wake yourself up if your face is poking out of the sleeping bag even a little. The sleeping bags we’ve hired, combined with the thermals we’re sleeping in ensure our bodies stay warm, but any ‘pokey out’ bits get very cold. We each put off going to the loo until the absolute last minute (tonight’s is outside!) & so far we haven’t had ‘loo clash’, but believe me if we do it could get messy!

Oh, & the loos, let me tell you - it’s a hole in the ground! We were spoilt to begin with as a couple of the lodges had sitters (like we have in the UK), but they’re long gone. You either squat or not - & if not, you’re in big trouble. Sorry to be so explicit, but I have a responsibility as editor of this blog to keep it real & let you know what it’s like here on the front line. One of the hardest things to do - once you’ve got your head around the concept of what is required of you whilst hovering over the hole in the ground - is to stay like that until the job is done, with your thighs burning like they’re on fire & the cramps are setting in! Don’t these people know we’ve been walking all day?!

Of all the things good old Sir Edmund brought here, the very least I’d have expected from a fellow Brit would be to have introduced proper loos! An Englishman’s time spent there is, well, very British. Anyway, shall I move on… no pun intended!

As seamless links go I think this is up there with the best… more eggs, cheese, potato etc. are on their way shortly as we settle down to share food together, so I’ll sign off. Sadly no internet here at Tengboche - “the man with the key isn’t here” is a phrase we’re starting to hear a lot, I think it’s our equivalent of “the cheque’s in the post”. I’m assured Dingboche will have it, so I’ll try again there.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.

16.01.10 - 7.47pm (2.06pm UK), ref Trek Day Four.

Welcome back! Thanks for all your comments, they’ve been great to read - a touch of home, here in the heart of the Himalayas, you’ve no idea how wonderful that is for us. We’re all having a wonderful adventure, but I know I’m not alone when I say how much I miss my family. I carry each of them very close to my heart, every day & night.

I’m going to just start today’s blog, if I may, by introducing you to the other members of the team. We’re a bit of a family unit now & we’ve come to know many of each other’s ‘isms’, which is making the trek even more enjoyable.

Ladies first, as is the correct etiquette: we have Dr Jess & Elizabeth. Guys: we have John, Trev, Mark & Chris. We can fill you in on their ‘isms’ when we get home!

OK, back to today. Up at 7.00am, bags packed ready for the yaks by 8.00am, breakfasted & ‘tally ho’ at 9.00am. Today, Saturday, is the official market day in Namche Bazaar & the route we took out of the village yesterday on our walk to the sunrise view & Everest View Hotel was full of market activity so we took an alternative route out.

This was nice actually, because it took us through an area which we would otherwise not have seen - an area where daily the local people sell their produce: yaks cheese, garlic, oranges, butter, rice, herbs &, of course, a small collection of western goods like batteries, torches, beer & - randomly - Horlicks! I really fancied stopping to buy some of that… you can’t beat it before bedtime!

The first part of our trek took us to where we would be lodging for the evening - Kenjoma at 3550m. It was a relatively uneventful journey with some fairly harsh uphill climbs, but they were short & on the whole the trek was kind to us. We stopped briefly to look around a Sherpa Museum, which was very, very interesting - it was an old Sherpa cottage that has been preserved & opened as a museum. It contained an array of original artefacts, the uses of which were explained & demonstrated to us in great detail. The owner of the museum - & as it turned out the last inhabitant while it was still a house - is a keen photographer, so after the museum we had a look around next door where he was displaying many of his photos. They ranged from historic images showing authentic Nepalese to scenic images pulling in all the great Himalayan mountains - the greatest of course being Everest, for which a whole room was dedicated.

As we left & continued on our way, the views continued to take our breath away & Everest kept getting tantalisingly closer. The mountain face on the opposite side of the valley to which we were walking was just so clear in its detail. We stood in awe of the infinite detail that was right before our eyes, feeling close enough to reach out & touch. We all took copious amounts of pictures, mine with every intention of joining them to make large panoramic spreads to show their awesome detail, but somehow I feel the true magnificence will only be able to live inside our memories.

After eating lunch, we headed off for the second part of the day: a trek to Khumjung at 3780m. The trek to it was hard I’d say - not as hard as the previous day, but it felt hard. The saving grace was that it only lasted for an hour & a half. Khumjung is a town built in an area that was once covered by a glacier. The glacier has since melted, leaving an abundance of rocks behind. Over many hundreds of years, the town has grown & until last year was a busy lodging town for trekkers on their way to Base Camp. For some reason (maybe down to the poor technological facilities), it seems that trade has now moved to Namche Bazaar (where we have stayed for the last two nights). As a consequence the town is now very quiet. There are many, many buildings around, & they are all very neat with their painted green roofs (a Hillary initiative last year), but a lot of them are now empty with the owners working away in Kathmandu.

We were supposed to be visiting the Khumjung Monastery, the Khunde Hospital & lastly the Hillary School at Khumjung. However, the Monastery was locked & the bloke with the key was nowhere to be found, so we moved on to the Khunde Hospital. This was excellent. Built in 1966 thanks to the remarkable efforts of Sir Edmund Hillary (who, I am finding, was a phenomenal man & who has done so much for the Nepalese people - changed their lives really, beyond any way they would have ever imagined. I shall certainly be reading more about him when I get home to the UK), this hospital receives zero funding from the Nepalese government yet serves thousands of mountain people.

We were fortunate enough to find the doctor who runs the hospital at home (the hospital closes on Saturday!) & he very kindly showed us around. This little brick walled, tin roofed building, has a consultancy room, a delivery room with incubation, a small lab, a drug store, an x-ray cum ultra-sound scanning room & a short stay room with 2 beds. In another building it has enough beds for up to 12 patients to long stay, should the need arise. Totally funded by donations & fund raising by the Hillary Trust, this little hospital in the middle of nowhere is amazing. I just wanted to donate all the money I had left to them!

Because the hospital visit took so long - because we had so many questions! - the sun had disappeared behind the mountain shadowing the village & the temperature started to plummet. Everybody layered up quickly & to be honest didn’t pay as much attention as we could have to the Hillary School - our attention was on (a) getting back before we froze & (b) getting back before it was dark because a lot of the route was ice underfoot & we were worried about our footing.

However, we had a quick look around the school & made it back to the lodge just in time as the sun set on the horizon.

Tonight’s lodge is good - sadly no internet, so you’ll be reading this a day later - but it has a television on which the Sherpas insist on watching tail to tail Bollywood at full blast! Television, humph - just what we’ve come to get away from. Nevermind, when In Rome…

The evening meal was yet another inventive combination of potatoes, eggs, cheese & vegetables. I’ve a feeling there’ll be another severe eastern wind this evening/tomorrow…

Signing off then. Hopefully I’ll get a good selection of pictures posted tomorrow as the internet is good at Tengboche & we have a ‘half day’. So, unless our Sherpa leader has any of his ‘optional extras’ planned, I’ll have some time to compile & upload.

Tim, for SLS, signing off. GB.