Camp was struck and we set off for what was to be a leisurely stroll to Lobuche. But someone forgot to tell Sherpa Mingma about the leisurely bit - he set off at such a gallop, I soon fell back unable to control my breathing. I was, after all, still recovering from a chest infection. Smithy was further back still - her cough was getting worse each day - so we enjoyed the walk around the ridge and down onto the Khumbu Glacier at our own pace and ended up just 10 or so minutes behind the rest of the group anyway. That night there were 3 games of 500 on the go - great fun!
The plan for the next few days was to trek to Gorek Shep, then hike to Everest Base Camp. The next morning we'd all climb the 5545m Kalar Pattar then hot foot it down to Dingboche, stopping along the way at Lobuche for lunch. Well, Smithy decided not to go. That she would be better off trying to rest and conserve her strength for Island Peak. An excellent idea, but Lobuche not being one of the nicest or interesting places to stay in by one's self, I decided to keep Smithy company. After all, we've both been to Gorek Shep before and climbed Kalar Pattar and neither of us really fancied the walk into EBC....
So next morning, we waved the rest of the group off and settled into a lazy day in Lobuche. We did some washing - which promptly froze in the wind - played Yahtzee, read Empire magazine - lent to us by the lodge owner, watched the clouds come up the valley, drank tea and chatted to other trekkers as they began arriving in the afternoon.
Next morning, we decided on an early start for Dingboche, so with Sherpa Tengi, we set off down the valley. I was feeling a little under the weather, with stomach cramps, because my period had just started - the 4th one in 3 months!!! Not happy! Two and a half hours later, we got into Dingboche just as a heavy mist rolled in. We didn't expect the rest of the group until about 3pm but it was 4.30 before they all turned up with mist frozen in their hair and on their coats! They were all a bit beat, but not too tired for a few games of 500! We'd all got chatting to a British woman who had climbed Island Peak a week or so ago. She said it was the scariest thing she had done, but had a huge sense of achievement. I bought another pair of water/wind proof gloves for a mere 500 Rs (AUS$10) as I was worried that mine weren't big enough to let me wear inners in them. Smithy talked to Pasang about her options and it was decided that she could go to Base Camp and still opt out of the climb if she wasn't up to it. Everyone went to bed feeling really exhilarated about the next few days. We were going to climb a mountain!
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