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Ryan checking in...
The next morning we awoke at 6 bright eyed and bush tailed, the early night had paid off, or so we thought. We had a 7 hour trek ahead of us, and according to the guy who ran a reggie bar (which by the way flooded with rain from the monsoon downpour whilst we were casually eating our momo's,) after lunch on todays walk was going to be all up hill and a test for anyones endurance. So we pulled open the curtains to see mist, cloud and the monsoon still reeking havock, the heart sank with what lay ahead, doing it in the rain wasnt that alluring.
So we walked and walked and errrmmm walked, and the rain rained and rained and errrmmmm rained...
Katie being her usual organised self had forgotten her waterproof, but luckly Ongchu our guide had lent her a spare, which to my amusment turned out not to be as waterproof as the gor-tex label promised!!! I on the other hand was bone dry, i love being perfect ha...
We stopped for dinner in a little village and again we both had Dahl bhat (rice, soup of lentils and veg/potatoes all cooked in lovely spicy sauces) which is bottomless, which brought a massive smile to my face. What a feast and it was needed because after lunch we quickly crossed in to the Sagarmatha National Park were the journey only consisted of one direction.... upwards. Luckly the sun had decided to make an appearance, plus we had passed our bag laden porter, yuuurrrssss my manhood was slightly restored...
The walk up was hard, step after step after step, short breath after breath after breath and although we were getting closer and closer to what seemed like heaven, ironically every step felt a little closer to a lillte place called hell.
We finally arrived at a rest stop were we could see everst for the first time. The sun was out the skies were clearing, surely we can lay eyes on the prize? As we looked down the valley all the surrounding snow capped mountians were out in full force:- Lhotse, Ama Dablam etc, but there was one cloud left on the horizon and that sat over Everest and decided it wasnt going to move any time soon. So it was back on with the walking, now having the worst behind us of climbing there remained only an hour to go, easy......... How wrong!!!!
The next hour was the hardest. It wasnt as steep but the the previous 2 hours had sucked all the energy out of me and Nelson. So it was head down and plod mode, leaving Katie and Ongchu behind me, this was my battle i had to overcome...
We finally arrived at the gates to Namche Bazar 3440m, the last bigish settlement before the monastries and small villages en route to everest. We were both shattered but the place was amazing. How do people live here, no roads, everything that is needed such as food supples, building supplies etc are all carried up on the head of a poor porter.
Namche was sat in a sort of bowl surrounded by mountains on three sides, whilst the fourth side was open to the flowing valleys with there vertual 90 degree slopes with countless waterfalls plummeting to a unseen river somewhere miles below.
Dodging the lose chicken and playing kids who run up and down the mountain side with ease and surprisingly unwatched by any adults eyes, even though there were sheer drops over every path and every wall!!! It makes you realise how over protective we are in the UK...
Gasping with every breath and with burning legs we trundled onwards and unforgivingly upwards (our loadge was one of the higher ones to the far side of the settlement), it was still a specatcular place to behold, we were far from home! Gordon, you would have loved it... We crashed into our lodge and to my dissapointment the bloody porter had beaten us there even though he was carrying twice the weight! Although i am convinced he only beat me because i had to wait for katie ha ha! So was sank into the benches in the lodge and drank tea then showered and ate more dahl bhat before falling into a energy deprived deep sleep at 8pm... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
- comments
Stuart Smith Gordon would struggle, I havent heard you mention any bookies on the way up!!!!!!!!! Keep up the bloggs really enjoying them. Keep going Glasshoppers
Jane Yes Keep them coming - it is making me very jealous but they are really interesting.
Gordon Ry it sounds great ! one thing you and i no is that your mum would not of made it (to many hills) !!!! katie still the same then forgetting things ha ha !! Great blogs and pics look out for them all the time !! xx
Anne & Pete Everest should be a piece of cake after all your practice in the Lakes!!!!!!!! Glad you are both enjoying/surviving the trip and looking forward to more news and pictures xxx
Ryan Ha Stu i think you might struggle there, altho they do seem to edge there bet with the snakes here so there must be one somewhere... I thought the same gord, mum would not have got on the plane to Lukla...
Georgina Nelson God if Mr and Mrs good body struggled theres no hope for the rest of us mere mortals!
Cav Happy days guys!! Sooooo jealous. Looking to get out this Sat but two of my mates ran the Liverpool marathon so it might just be a trip to quarry for some sports climbs. Pictures are amazing. Keep up the good work. Ps. I'd copywrite your blogs and release some memoirs!!