Woke up to frosty windows that had such beautiful patterns on the window panes:)...of course that meant it was freezingly cold:). Have our usual hot chocolate breakfast and decide to head to the "gompa". We try to ascertain the direction from the map. See one tiny dot and just set off. Just before we leave, another evacuation right in front of us.Pulmonary edema! gulp! That scene had all the drama of a Hollywood film...People tensed and milling around the chopper, people giving the thumbs up to the pilot, people looking worried and hopeful after the chopper takes off, watching the chopper till it melts into the horizon....
We see no trail but according the the map, the gompa's beyond the right side hills...so we climb up through the brambles and steep up. Once we reach the top we realise we gotta go down again and over another hill then another...argh! There is NOBODY around. Then finally after 3 hills we see a snakeline of people heading for a mound of stones and strings of prayer flags high up the next hill. Well fair enough. We bump into one of the Irish who we'd met on the first day. They were a huge bunch- about 15 people when we'd met them at Phakding. They had docs etc on the team and everyone's blood pressure, saturation etc was regularly monitored. Extremely fit group. We learn that the group has thinned down and only 6 people are pushing towards the base camp(WHAT!!!!) Apparently most of them had to be evacuated and some of them had to turn back coz of AMS. Those evacuated had suffered from Pulmonary edema and well as the brain edema...gulp! We went up to the gompa...the view from there was awesome. Mountains seemed so so close and you could see through the valleys all around:)
We were the last to come back down and I'd seen a clear cut path when were talking to the Irish guy that seemed to go down into Pheriche and meant we avoid all those horrible hills.!I was right. Was easier than the way we'd come.Except that i funnily tripped one time(yeah yeah clumsy me!). On the way down though the decision was made. We do NOT want to be airlifted or carried in a hearse or have to descend! We would take it slow, no matter what the guides and the guide book said. We'd break the journey and stop at Dughla for a day and then continue to Lobuche. We came down, freshened up , read a bit and then read a notice for a Acclimatisation talk that's held everyday 3 pm in Pheriche. Pheriche has the ONLY set up for doctors and a medical facility to treat and research AMS ( like seriously! WHY do people not stay in Pheriche and listen to this talk on their way up rather than down!) Was a nice talk- no scary bits but when and how we should be cautious. At the end they offered to measure our O2 saturation and Pulse for 100NR. We were of course more than eager after hearing about the Irish. Turns out we were the healthiest. Healthy as horses the doctor said. Our saturation was 92 or something- enough for us to run up the mountain according to the knowledgeable doc:). Met a young girl who was trekking alone, without a porter and also an Indian- Gautam fro Bangalore. He was telling us how he had gotten Pulmonary Edema when he was driving in Ladhakh and hence after that trip always carried a portable machine to constantly measure saturation( like REALLY!..wow!)
Somehow felt like a heavy 2 days. Needed to speak to people back home. One minute phone call 300NR and internet at 20rs per minute. Settled for internet. Emailed the folks and close friends about my whereabouts, chatted with a couple of friends, tried to even initiate a video call- but the internet was painstakingly slow! Nevertheless felt so good to talk to someone back home:)..(homesick already?!)
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