Tuesday 30th March 2010 - Dingboche to Lobuche

Tuesday 30th March 2010 - Dingboche to Lobuche

I wake up today in bad shape. The headache is worse than ever before and I feel really tired and lethargic. We are woken at 06.30am for a departure time of 08.00am. I pack my rucksack very slowly and take two Panadol Extra, hoping they do the trick. This headache is right at the bottom of my skull on the back of my neck and is not particularly bad but constant. The tiredness is new to me however, I have been feeling strong up to now and lacking in some motivation to go on at the moment. I have put too much stress on myself about making it to Base Camp and more importantly Kala Patthar. I cannot fail to make it there or I fear my dream of climbing Everest is lost. The first few hours of today's walk are slow and steady on my behalf which is fine. The ground is relatively flat and allows me to save my energy. I had heard from some trekkers we passed on the way down that if you can get up the hill before Lobuche then you will make it to Base Camp. We stop in Dughla at 4600m for Lunch after a few hours walking and from there we can see the hill we must climb. It looks OK but I know from further down the mountain it will not be easy. The hill is only about 200m high but will take thirty to forty minutes to climb. I am struggling today with confidence and motivation. I also seem to be quite dizzy at times too. I spend most of the day talking to myself about how I cannot give up, I cannot quit at any cost. I hate quitting and even have a tattoo on my legs saying "Never Give Up".

I eventually struggle up the hill, on top of which lay memorials to fallen Everest climbers. I am too tired to fully appreciate the moment following the climb but you can definately detect a sombre atmosphere here. I will spend more time on the way down looking at the memorial plaques to see who they are for but right now I just want to get to Lobuche. We pass Base Camp for Lobuche East, there are some tents set up for an expedition and I start to get a feel for what it must be like to be here for a prolonged time on a climbing expedition. Once we reach Lobuche it begins to snow and it is bitterly cold outside and inside. Prackash had suggested earlier in the day that we would go for a little walk in the evening up a little higher on a small hill, this he said would be good for our acclimatisation. Lobuche is at 4940m so every extra effort now would make all the difference. I am sitting in the restaurant feeling a little sorry for myself, the headaches are not improving and its really snowing hard outside. I spend maybe an hour talking myself out of going but by 3.00pm when the group were due to leave I run to the room to get my wet weather gear and I join them. Only about half of the group goes on the walk. That maybe might make the difference between success and failure. To get up and go when you really do not want to is what defines success.

We are only out for forty minutes but I am so glad I went. We throw some snowballs and just mess about. There is no internet access here, well at least none I can find so it will probably be a day or two more before I get the chance to email home. That makes me sad but in a way helps me focus on the task at hand. While we are out walking we see a tent marking the spot where the body of a porter lays covered in the snow. Prackash was sent a picture on his phone of the dead man, people actually took pictures of the man as he lay dead. I could not believe this but maybe it is a cultural difference between us. Nobody is exactly sure about how he died but they suspect mountain sickness and alcohol were involved. Soon after this a helicopter flies in to take his body back to Kathmandu. My attention turns to tomorrow, the big day is finally here and I am now so close. The walk to Base Camp will be about eight hours round trip in total so it will be a long day at our highest altitude. I am almost ready for home now, Once I achieve my goals I will of course be delighted but by then it will be job done.