Day 8 – Dingboche (4,410m) to Lobuche (4,910m)
Having said our farewells to Fleur and Dirk who had left sometime earlier, we set off on our way. We started out on the route we’d taken the day before but instead of heading on upwards we followed the contours of the mountain to the adjacent valley. Here we came across Fleur and Dirk looking like they’d already done a day’s walking! Rather than taking the higher path they’d descended into the valley, only to retrace their steps when realising they’d taken a wrong turn. With Rabin’s guidance we were smugly on the right track and so with safety in numbers we decided to stick together.
Before long we’d caught up with Charles, the affable Singaporean we’d met at Hotel Everest View and who, as it happened Dirk and Fleur had also spent time with. With guides and a porter we became a group of eight and spent a fun and tiring day all walking together.
Fleur, Me, Kate, Charles and Dirk
Dughla tea house
After a welcome cup of tea at Dughla (4,620m) we followed a steep track to find ourselves at a plateau surrounded by memorials to lost climbers and Sherpas. It was an emotional and sobering experience and a reminder of just how remote we now were. There were memorials for Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, who lost their lives in the previously mentioned 1996 Everest disaster but the largest memorial was saved for Chiri Sherpa who climbed Everest an incredible ten times, sadly losing his life on his eleventh attempt.
As we pressed on the landscape became evermore stark and impressive. Under foot the terrain became increasingly tricky as we began walking on rocks left behind by ancient glaciers .
After reaching Lobuche and eating dahl bhat, Kate, Charles and I took a half hour trip to the Italian Pyramid. Since 1990 the Pyramid has been giving the international scientific community an opportunity to study environment, climate, human physiology and geology in a remote, mountain protected area. The pyramid is a modern, abstract structure that strangely suits its surroundings well. Unfortunately the main pyramid was closed but we were treated to one of the best cups of masala chai we’d had in the mountains made for us by the warden. Whilst there we had our pulse and blood oxygen levels taken. Kate came out a single point better than me on both counts, but we both fared better than Charles, who by now was looking a little peaky.
Tired returning to the tea house Charles began to complain of a headache. Once back he hadn’t improved so we persuaded him to take one of his anti-AMS Diamox pills. Fleur had also been suffering with a headache so we gave her some of our pills (by then we had enough to spare even if we needed to take them) and Charles’ guide was feeling ill so he too took a pill. I started to get a little headache, so as a precaution and because of my bad experience at Annapurna I took a pill. Dirk had already been on the drug for a couple of days so I t was pretty much a full house of Diamox takers – all apart from Kate that is, who by now was feeling somewhat smug not only because of her lack of drug dependence so far, but also because of her outstanding performance at the pyramid!
Kate’s readings…
That evening we heard the terrible news that a locally well known Nepali sherpa man had died. He’d been working with a Spanish Everest Expedition who are trying to be the first team to climb the mountain in winter, without oxygen. He had fallen ill at Camp 2, been helped down by his colleagues and was airlifted by helicopter once a distress call had been sent out, sadly dying on route. It was unclear why an SOS hadn’t gone out sooner and whether or not the Spanish Expedition have a satellite phone that would have enabled a call to be sent at a much higher altitude. We’ll probably never know the full chain of events that led to his death, but it was a somber day in the mountains and a reminder for us all to take the conditions we were living in seriously.
Whatever had happened the situation couldn’t have been helped by Everest Link – the area’s mobile phone and wifi service provider being out of action. This meant that all tea houses from Pengboche upwards were completely without any form of communication and with no phone reception our mobiles were also redundant. We were walking one of the highest trekking routes in the world with no technological means of contacting the ‘outside’ world. We couldn’t help but feel somewhat isolated and a little vulnerable – especially with people becoming ill around us.
With our goal tantalisingly close we went to bed with mixed emotions. A local man had died and friends were ill, especially Charles whose deteriorating health was by now a major concern. For those of us still well enough to attempt it base camp beckoned, we’d so nearly reached our goal. Dressed in all our clothes, tucked under two blankets and snuggled in our sleeping bags, we drifted off to a fitful nights sleep. We were just about warm enough… And so nearly there.
Everything was frozen, inside and out!
It was getting even colder and we heard that further up the mountain at Kala Patthar it was reaching -48 deg C before dawn.
Day 8 – Gallery
height until we actually reached the summit at 5,616m. Here we were rewarded with breathtaking 
Our first climb of the morning led us to the world famous 
The route from Namche Bazaar to Khyangjuma was a short and relatively easy one so Rabin took us on a detour to see the 
The third tea house of our trek was the best so far. A draught proof room with stunning panoramic mountain views and en-suite toilet made us very happy – it didn’t take much at this point! We ate our evening meal in the company of the friendly family running the lodge who then treated us to popcorn and 
After our usual dahl bhat lunch the two of us explored Namche’s labyrinth of pretty, narrow streets. With it’s shops selling local and branded products, cafes, bars and local market there was plenty to keep us busy for a couple of hours. We bought and wrote postcards, stocked up on toilet roll and invested in some down mittens for Steve’s unusually chilly hands, before settling into a cafe to contemplate the trek ahead.
Huddling around the ineffectual electric fire in a vain hope to keep warm we got to know Stephanie and Paulo, a young Columbian couple now living in Brisbane. Unfortunately, we were later to hear that, having reached Base Camp and on their way back down Stephanie was taken ill and had been flown to safety. 
2 days later we were sat in the 
Inspired by mountaineer 
Now I have no idea how I got talked from point A to point B, but as we sat out a 4 hour delay because of snow on the Lukla runway I was bitterly regretting my apparent moment of weakness in agreeing to this madness…
Our afternoon trek was a beautiful and easy introduction to what lay ahead. We walked through the snow that had prevented us from flying earlier in the day, past numerous 
We arrived at our first tea house in 
Our day started with great news – Charles was feeling better! Unfortunately though he still wasn’t quite fit enough to come with us to Base Camp. With the altitude playing havoc on his body he would rest a while longer before heading out later in the day. And so it was that on the 19th Jan 2017 Steve, Fleur, Dirk, Rabin and I set off to achieve our dream of reaching at EBC via 
 
Base Camp is a large area, situated on and alongside the 
perfect conditions we picked our way over the tricky 
In bright sunshine and with hardly anyone else in sight – the joy of trekking at this time of year – we posed for our Base Camp photos. Excited and emotional we celebrated with friends made along the way and remembered those who hadn’t quite made it. It was a special moment for us all.
Having put up prayer flags we scrambled back to the track, found a sheltered spot and munched on a picnic of chocolate and biscuits. Dirk then produced a 7-year old Cuban cigar he’d been saving for a special occasion – this he decided was the special occasion he’d been waiting for.
For Jack that meant an eagerly awaited game of chess with the school chess champion. Mrs Carrie Newman a TA at Huish school had very kindly donated 3 chess sets. Jack, who runs a chess club at school was looking forward to a game or two whilst in the village. Steve and James were also challenged to matches and so all 3 boards were being used simultaneously – with varying outcomes. Jacks match ended in a one all tie -with lunch beckoning they decided to shake on the draw. Steve and James were less successful…
