Monday 29th March 2010 - Dingboche, another rest day?

Monday 29th March 2010 - Dingboche, another rest day?

Thankfully we do not have to pack our main rucksacks today, It is almost a luxury. We are given a small lie in this morning, our wake up call is 07.30am instead of 07.00am but every little helps. Acclimatisation (I learned form our first acclimatisation day) is just as tough if not tougher than a trekking day but we get finished around lunch time so it probably balances out. Porridge seems to be doing the trick for me in terms of energy throughout the day so I stick to that principle, the coffee leaves a lot to be desired but needs must. As we have to order breakfast the night before you sometimes are not in the mood for it once it arrives but it is vital, at altitude it becomes harder to eat, you just do not feel hungry but you must. No food equals no energy and up here you burn about 5000 calories a day just surviving, that does not account for calories burned while walking so you needs lots of calories in your food to make up the balance. I can already feel a major difference in my waistline since we started trekking.

I pack a light day pack today which contravenes what I did on our Namche acclimatisation but I just do not want to carry a heavy load today. I think my day sack weights roughly 10kg which is about what I would carry at home on a day's hike. It is cold this morning but thankfully the sun is shining and the sky is crystal clear compared to the dull overcast sky we arrived here with yesterday. We have excellent early morning views of Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Dingboche is right at the base of Ama Dablam, it is such a different looking mountain from up close, your mind foolishly tells you that you could climb that. We walk from Dingboche at 4350m to approximately 5000m. We cannot tell for sure as we passed a sign telling us we were at 4900m and went a bit higher but not exactly sure how high. Jamie felt like testing himself today so when we stopped for a short break he tore off and we didn't see him for at least ninety minutes. It was myself, Scott and Asif with Bickash (one of our guides) out front with the rest of the group behind. We got to a point where we were told the group normally turns around but we thought it would benefit our acclimatisation if we went a little higher. Greed takes over however as we neared the top of the peak we were on. It was 5300m approx \t the top and we were within sight of it. Climbing for about two hours we came across Jamie, he was on his way down from the top and said it was about forty five minutes still to climb. It was about then that we were turned around from below. Prackash said we had gone high enough for that day. Asif though wanted to continue so Bickash went along with him to the top while myself, Scott and Jamie turned to head down. They say you should not do more than 500 - 600m per day for safety and we were pushing our luck. I was already suffering from headaches and was feeling quite dizzy so that influenced my decision to turn around.

I managed to get a great nights sleep last night but I am still suffering from the headache. It is a constant at the moment and only when walking do I seem to get any relief, the Ibuprofen keeps me going. Some of the rest of the group have had to start taking Diamox, Kris, Ebrahim, Vanessa, Yasir, Thelma and Kevin that I know about. From hearing their accounts of the mountain sickness it is something you do not want to get. I am determined however to get to Kala Patthar without it, call it crazy and stupid but it would water down the achievement for me personally if I have to use it. Ask me that when in the grip of mountain sickness and we will see if I give you the same answer. I have been quite good so far on this trip for doing the right things to help avoid mountain sickness, eating whenever I can, garlic soup, loads of water (I drink about five litres a day at least). The water that I am drinking is completely treated now. Up until Namche I was buying bottled water and drinking that but since then I have been getting local tap water and adding Chlorine tablets, one tablet per litre, leave it to mix then add a Neutralising tablet and leave that for five minutes. So thirty five minutes per litre to treat water but so far I have not had any problems with it. It tastes perfect and is disease free.

On our way down I pop another few Ibuprofen, I know later I will be glad. We climbed to around 5000m today and descended very quickly, I know I will have a splitting headache later. The weather today was immaculate all day and the panorama of mountains around us is spectacular. We get some excellent photographs along the route today. We get back to the lodge at lunchtime, we have only been gone about three hours but I am glad for the break. I could do with a shower but it is too cold to venture outside so a baby wipes shower will have to suffice again. Baby wipes are the single most luxurious item that I brought along with me, they keep you clean(ish) and relatively smell free. We are left with a long day to put down the time. I head off to the internet house again to get a lift and hear some news from home. There has been one day so far that I haven't emailed Laura which is great, gives me such an energy boost to hear from home. I start thinking about home, in one week we should be on a plane heading for home. I have decided I wont call until I get to London. Unlike most holidays when people never want them to come to an end I see this as a project. Yes I love it here but I am here to do a job, Base Camp and Kala Patthar. Once I do those I am ready to go home. Another thing I have decided is that next time I come back here to climb Everest, Laura is going to have to come with me. She can stay at Base Camp and stay there for the two and a half months. It is eleven days since I left home and I have yet to shave, It would not feel right to go back to Kathmandu without a mountain face so I think I will have to keep it.

According to Prackash we are on about 60% oxygen here compared to sea level. I can well believe it too, sometimes you feel you are sucking on the air and getting nothing from it. I indulge in a Masala tea, Ebrahim and Asif introduced me to it, it is a mixture of milky tea, cinnamon and other spices and I love it. While in Kathmandu we had a Tibetan tea, that was made from milky tea with butter and salt. That was disgusting and I swear I will never have it again. I think the smoke from the fire does nothing to help the headaches, up this high there is no fire wood so they burn dried Yak dung instead which gives off an unusual odour. Warmth however is better to have and even sitting right beside the fire I am still in multiple layers including a down jacket, fleece pants, thick wool socks, thermal tops and bottoms, and its only going to get colder.