Lost track of what day it is a long time ago...

We are in Dingboche (just over 14,000 feet) now, a few days ahead of schedule, and will rest up for our climb that we leave on in a few days.  It is nice to be back at a lower elevation and hopefully it will be a little warmer too.  I'm impressed that they have internet here.  It is a nice little town with Ama Dablam looking down on us, and we can see Island Peak down the valley which we will be climbing in a few days.

When we left Namche I had already caught Erin's cold, I thought it had gotten better, but now it is down in my chest and downright flemy and nasty.  I am going to start taking some antibiotics to see if that clears it up....hopefully.  So far I have been ok with the altitude minus a couple of small headaches and a couple of restless nights but we are down quite a bit lower for the next few days so should have some relief. 

After Namche we stayed one night in Thame and then 2 nights in Langden.  In Langden we did an acclimization hike up to a better view of Kyajo Ri in hopes of making the trek over the pass easier.  The few days up to Langden was really nice.  We got away from the crowds and got to watch the Tibetan traders coming down from the Nangpa La pass with goods from China on the real yaks.  Most of them are from the ethnic group called Khampas I think and they are very unique looking with their features and long hair.  The people and lodges have all been great so far, very friendly and wanting to please you and it is unbelieveable how many speak English and speak it well....I wasn't expecting that.  After Langden though we lost a lot of the cultural experience as the "towns" above there only exist for the few lodges and people don't live there otherwise. 

After leaving Langden we headed over the Renjo Pass at +/- 17,500 feet depending on the book/map that you consult.  It was a longer day of walking but we all made it without problem.  The views were unbelieveable...too much to even try to explain.  I am glad that we decided to do the circuit in the direction that we are going as the views are all in your face versus at your backs.  Just being able to walk and look at Everest (and all the others) for an entire afternoon is just awesome....and difficult to describe.  From now on I'll just mention Everest but the others that you see often are just as incredible (Nuptse, Taboche, Cholatse, Kantega, Thamserku, and eventually Lobuche, Ama Dablam, and tons more that I can't think of right now).

That night we made it down to Gokyo with great views of Cho Oyu.  We spent 3 nights there to further acclimate and to take advantage of some of the day hikes out of there.  The day after we arrived we were all beat and didn't do anything.  And the second day we opted to go up to the lakes rather than Gokyo Ri.  Again, incredible views of Cho Oyu all the way up and then that pesty Everest came into view again:)

The weather has been clear and wonderful, but cold....and even colder inside the teahouses I'm convinced.  The night before last our water bottles even froze in the room....it'll be nice to sleep in a warm bed without being bundled up in a sleeping bag when I get back home.  Erin and I have both been sick but have been surviving just fine.  On our last morning in Gokyo before a short walk to the next town of Thagnak Erin decided that she had enough and was going to head back down.  It kind of happened suddenly but I think between her cold, a slight headache in the mornings from either the altitude or a crappy pillow, and constantly being cold she thought it best that she go back home.  I felt bad, I don't think that she knew exactly what to expect when she signed up to come along, but we didn't argue with her as we were only going to be heading up in elevation for the next few days and felt that she had to go with what her gut was telling her.  Since Jay and I didn't need to continue paying two porters to carry our stuff we send Nima's son, Rinzig (I think), down with Erin and Nima continued on with us.  We still have her climbing gear that we had sent up separately to where we are now and we just paid Nima to take that to her if he can catch up with them in the next few days. 

After we parted ways with Erin we also said good bye to Cho Oyo, crossed the Ngozumpa Glacier and arrived in Thagnak in less than an hour and a half.  We stayed at a great lodge there, the best so far I think with "solid" plywood walls that seemed to keep our hot air inside for once and a kitchen that held the smoke away from where we were sleeping....it was borderline luxurious even if you had to walk quite a ways outside to the squat house. 

The next day we had another long day going up and over the Chola Pass (again +/- 17,500  feet depending on book/map).  This pass was supposed to be a little more difficult but it wasn't bad at all.  The only thing that made it difficult was the number of people coming up and over and having to constantly be aware of rock fall.  In fact, a couple of weeks earlier a porter had been killed by the rockfall and it was easy to see how that could happen with so many people, and jackasses at that, who are oblivious to what they are doing and not paying attention to others.   We were going to stay on the other side of the pass in Dzonglha but got there a couple of hours earlier than we had expected to (Nima is running us up and down the hills now!) so we decided to push on to Lobuche.  This would also hopefully allow us to get to where we are earlier so that we could catch Erin's climbing gear up with her.  We got to Lobuche by about 2 in the afternoon and found a room.  There were a lot of people there, the town in general was nastier than the others, and I was ready to get out of there as soon as we got there.

We decided to do a day trip up to Kala Patthar at just over 18,000 feet the next morning, hurry back for lunch, and then meet up with Nima to head down to Dingboche.  We didn't get started until just after 8:00 am and it took longer than expected to get to the top of Kala Patthar, about 3 hours total up, and almost 2 hours down.  It was exhausting for me after the long day before and struggling with being sick but it was soooo worth it.  Pumori, Everest, Nuptse, and the Khumbu icefall were so close and Ama Dablam came back into view too....and again, clear blue skies!  We rushed back to Lobuche, ate some lunch, bundled up and walked another 2 hours downhill to where we are now....Ama Dablam in our face the entire way...not so bad. 

We are going to change lodges here shortly.  After we went to collect our climbing gear and send Nima on his way Jay saw the shower at the other lodge and was sold.  I gotta admit, as much work as it is here it'll be nice to have a shower.  It is funny the things that you just deal with while traveling that you wouldn't accept at home.  It becomes a lifestyle here, purifying water, eating, trekking, eating, taking pictures, writing in my journal, eatting, and then spending 12 hours laying in bed waiting out the night....but I love it! 

I'm not sure if I'll get online again before we leave for our climb or not on the 7th.  If not, I'll send out an email when we are back in Namche probably.