Woke up in the morning wishing could stay back and not have to walk again! Plus i could see the 150 metres of steep scree slope from the window. So yes, the first bit of walk from Dughla is up up and up a steep slope - i think took us the better part of the hour. Then we come across all the stones erected in memory of climbers- westerners and sherpas both...death does not distinguish:).This was also the time when reality struck of how serious this trek really was. Passing by memorials of those who passed trying to conquer this menacing mountain, as well as passing by those being carried down.Gulp.
The scenery is beautiful yet vegetation-sparse save for some brown shrubs.. ( I MISS the tree cover). After this we walk down into the valley and then its a straight walk to Lobuche. Not too tough, plus we're wearing all our clothes, and yet the bags seem even heavier than the day before...ughh this altitude!Its cold- constant snot flowing from my nose when i am out in the dry cold. My nose is goner- chocolate brown by now thanks to exposure to the sun...There's a lot of snow on the ground and there are streams that we need to constantly criss cross .The top of the streams are covered with delicate ice. One bit i froze as i felt the ice crack below me!( NO! i do not want to get my feet and socks wet!)...luckily managed to skim and skip to safer territory...thank God for Goretex shoes:). We'd also met a French couple here- in their late 40's/50's- he was talking about how his friend saw a snow leopard in this region once:)...
Reached Lobuche- i could see the water bodies flowing was too close to the settlement. I was going to think twice before i drank this...Settled in the room. 2nd day in a row we had reached before noon..suppose we needed rest for the next few days that promised to be longggg days:). But then we weren't really lazy people were we, plus the added bonus of being curious cats. So we decided to anyway go and check out this pyramid- short walk down. Started walking but i felt tired and headache- so turned back. Came back and sat reading...many people came in and out. Some on the way up like us , some on the way down...But here i encountered the dirtiest bathrooms of our entire trip. Luckily i managed to go around and find another bathroom which was Indian style and cleaner.... Hot chocolate and settled around the fire. I think darkness set in by 4 pm that day and snow...we could see white falling from the skies and frosting the windows....As usual, we were reading quietly and then started talking. Another couple- Paul and Lisa joined in..soon we were hearing crazy stories from Paul. He is doing the trek in converses!!! The 4 of us moved to another table for dinner. That was fun couple. Post dinner back to our places around he fire. 3 girls came in- from some Scandinavian country and they were athletes and gymnasts and sportswomen. Was good chatting with them. Then another couple burst in over the threshold! The guy could barely speak.. He( Indian) went and sat on the sofas whole the girl( British) came and sat with us around the fire. The guy took a long while to recover after which he quietly had some steaming food. He didn't speak at all. The lady told us that he'd left 4 am that mornin from Lobuche and gone to Gorakhshep- Kalapathar. She left at 6 am and joined him to EBC...phew! That's a long journey they'd done! 8 pm..we all went off to bed...
Well.... next few days would be crazy- we're sure of that!
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