Trekking Day 7: Shomaré to Dingboché

Shomaré's cutest puppy

Shomaré to Dingboché: The Stats

Distance Walked: 4.5km

Hours and Minutes Taken: 2 hours, 33 minutes

Origin Altitude: Shomaré, 4064m

Destination Altitide: Dingboché, 4308m

Approximate Total Metres Ascended: 317m

Approximate Total Metres Descended: 105m

Weather: Blue skies scattered with cloud. Cloud and wind increasing throughout the morning. Cold.

Morning Temperature in our Tea House Room: 4 degrees Celsius

Chris had a horrible sleep getting up four or five times to use the bathroom, trying to sleep with a headache, waking with nausea at times, having a sore throat and coughing on and off all night. When we woke this morning the first thing we did was grab the guide book out to read about AMS (acute mountain sickness) to evaluate our situation and decide whether we should be continuing with our planned ascent today. It's hard being at this altitude because things like a sore throat and a headache can't just be disregarded or pushed through like at home.

We ate our preordered breakfast of muesli with hot milk and a pancake. The pancake was served with jam, peanut butter and honey which, while looking very natural and delicious, was solid thanks to the freezing temperatures. As we ate our breakfast the man who ran our guesthouse, Everest View Lodge, pointed out the mountains and ranges for us. From this height we could now see Nupla (5885m) poking its head above the Kwangde Range. Mt Thamserku (6618m) had taken on a different shape as we now sat North-West of it. Kantega (6783m) looked stunning now that we had come far enough to see it properly and, as always, Ama Dablam (6828m) stood tall. He also told us how he can walk from Namche to Everest Base Camp in one day and how he breathes normally until getting above Base Camp. What a guy! Pity his wife won't let him be a climbing guide anymore. Fair enough though...only two days ago a Sherpa died setting the trail up from Everest Base Camp.

Chris was feeling well enough to take a few photos of the stunning morning we had awoken to. For the first time on this trek the perfect blue skies were dotted with fluffy white clouds. The clouds did nothing to take away from the beauty. The brown and white mountains looked like they had been painted on a bright blue backdrop. Before we left our guesthouse owner gave us the name of his friend and their lodge in Dingboché so we headed in that direction.

Chris forges a path just out of Shomaré

As we climbed out of Shomaré the terrain changed dramatically. It was suddenly dry, dusty and barren. Trees had been replaced by low-sitting alpine shrubs. We had finally crossed the tree line. The path was vague as we trekked across a rolling arid stretch littered with patches of scrub and the odd pasture.

We followed the Imja Khola, its wide, rocky bank carved by a narrow channel of cold rushing water. We stopped to rest at one point and as I swung my bag around the plastic bag I had tied to it, containing our communal bread and jam, came tumbling off onto the rocks. The jam did not survive...its glass jar shattering into hundreds of pieces. I showed a nearby porter what had happened as I thought he might appreciate a laugh at our expense. He did and he also kindly offered to take the jam back to Shomaré with him to save us carting it up to Dingboché. He was already carrying over 60kg on his back so we thought this was a very kind gesture.

At Tsuro Wog, where a stone house sits amongst yak pastures, the trails to Pheriché and Dingboché split without us realising it. Thankfully we continued in the right direction and descended to where the Imja Khola met the Khumbu Khola which emerges from the Khumbu glacier. We crossed a small bridge and proceeded along the West bank of the Imja Khola. It was windier here than anywhere else on our trek to date making it a struggle to walk in a straight line and causing the bread I had tied to my bag to come tumbling off for the second time today.

Tsuro Glacier

The Tsuro glacier could be seen sprawling from Ama Dablam on our right on the opposite bank of the river. The trail took us climbing a low ridge at the top of which we could see Dingboché, overlooked by chortens, up ahead.

The wind continued to blow us around as we walked into Dingboché. On the hunt for Himalayan Lodge, as recommended by the owner of our lodge in Shomaré, we continued on and up through the township for some time. Eventually we stumbled upon Mingma's Himalayan Lodge but the place was deserted. Just as we were about to leave though Mingma's wife came running down the hill to show us around. We took her offer of three beds for 100 rupees total and dumped out stuff, ordered some lunch, and tried to warm up in the lodge restaurant.

Mt Thamserku seen from above Dingboché

As it was already freezing and only going to get colder we decided to get our acclimatisation walk over and done with. We rugged up in our down jackets and set off up the path which leads to Lobuché and climbed 100m or so up. Chris still wasn't feeling 100% so when snow flakes started falling from the windy skies we took that as our cue to head back, leaving Anando to explore the hill on his own.

Back at the guesthouse Chris deteriorated. His headache worsened, his sore throat was painful and he was generally miserable. I watched as he went through waves of better then much worse than days past. He had, for the most part, lost his appetite and was ticking all of the altitude sickness symptoms boxes. I tried my hardest to figure out the best option. It was getting late in the day so walking to a lower altitude was becoming less and less feasible. And, with a stubborn Chris on my hands, convincing him that this was a good idea was difficult. I wasn't exactly managing the situation well either. I was crying and Chris was sick...not a good combination.

When Chris looked at me and said that he thought we should talk to the guesthouse owner and consider walking down I knew he was not ok. I grabbed Anando and went to talk to the owner. Unfortunately Mingma's wife wasn't there but her brother sat Chris down, gave him a glass of hot water and told us that she would be back soon.

We all stood around the restaurant and watched Chris, willing him to feel better. With my beanie on his head and a blanket over his knees we fed him half a diamox (for altitude sickness) and warm water and waited.

Mingma's wife advised us to spend the night in Dingboché, as it was too late to walk down. We were to eat garlic soup, keep warm and hope for the best. So that's exactly what we did. We were sat around the yak dung stove to keep warm when the other two residents of Himalayan Lodge turned up. They were a good distraction from a stressful afternoon. We exchanged stories of India and discussed why none of us are planning to return any time soon. We swapped ibuprofen (to thin Chris' blood) for vegetable fried momos and chatted while Chris went through waves of better and worse.

He struggled through half a bowl of garlic soup while I had the Sherpa stew and not long before 8pm, we all went to bed. As we left the restaurant to walk across the courtyard to our room it was snowing. We knew we'd felt cold for a reason.

Snow covers the Himalayan Lodge courtyard

 

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