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On top of the world - today we cracked the 5000m barrier (up to 5360m)!
Our trip from Marchermo, our overnight stay was non-eventful, other than we began our trek towards our next target village in the snow and ice at -3 degrees! I hadn't first good night I'm days and after an immediate steep climb, we reached a plateau, which was magnificent to see! The mountains surrounding us were incredible and we had an opportunity to got our sight on the first 6000+m peaks! The atmosphere here is amazing! There is peace and an incredible closeness to God! It is touchable!! It is a real experience and I felt how small and insignificant I really was.
Before we reached Gokyo, we passed three beautiful mountain lakes, which were all covered with ice. Here, the peaceful atmosphere was only disturbed by the bells of the Yaks passing by, transporting goods between places. Gokyo is located next to the last lake on the one side and on the other, one of the largest glaciers in the world. It is an amazing sight, and we enjoyed a close up view of millions of years of ice, spreading over kilometers, carving through mountains on both sides and being covered by gravel and large boulders, drawn from the mountains in its way.
We aren't to bed early again, all warmth we could get was from our hot water bottles, which were just filled minutes before....invaluable!!
We had an early start today, wake up call at 4h30 and leaving for our hike at 5am. It was freezing and the higher we got, the colder it became, eventually peaking at -5 Degrees! The climb was almost instant and steep! We needed to cover 600m within 2 1/2hrs! It was exhausting and as Devan told us when we reached the top, it was the most difficult climb of our tour....:)
Irrespective of this, on the way up, we got our second view of Everest and Lhotse! On top of the mountain, we were rewarded with the most spectacular panorama views....the highest peaks in the world greeted us!
It was for me one of the most humbling experiences ever! We are indeed insignificant! And although we are trying to conquer these peaks and wanting to make them ours...we will maybe conquer some of the peaks, but in the end these magnificent mountains have been there for millions of years....and we are here for some years only!
Having had a wonderful morning hike, with an amazing view, we came back to the lodge for breakfast, a brief rest and then, packing again! At 12 noon, we set out back to Macherma, where we will be staying for another night.
I will not forget today... It is not only about the wonderful images I will treasure in my mind, but it is also about the personal experiences, interactions and chats we had throughout the day and in fact throughout this trip this far! I think that the combination between nature, the wonders of this world and is imams interacting within this context make for an amazing combination!
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