Up at 7:00. Great sleep except for the barking dogs. Commissioned the pee bottle last night - 750ml!
Today was an acclimatisation day so we trekked to Khum Jung (12,475 ft).
We walked up to the Namche airstrip then over the ridge 12,753 ft (max reached) before down to Khum Jung. Today has been dominated team-wise by the 'bot'. Darryl, Hayley, Glen and Leeza had tummy bug/diarrhoea. I've been lucky (three solid movements before lunch).
The walk up was okay, but we took slow, slow steps on the way up.
We visited Khum Jung School. Sir Ed Hillary built the first classroom here in 1961 which is still there. There were two classes going; Class IV and some gorgeous nursery kids all writing their lessons. The school is much bigger now. There's a statue of Sir Ed there. It made me so proud to be there.
Lunch at a bakery and the Khum Jung monastery (another yeti skull!).
Khum Jung is a beautiful village. At the monastery, there was food to be collected from a family who had suffered a loss. They donate food to the village.
The walk back was uphill through the mist and then down through mist, light rain and then torrential. Stayed dry though!
Mike said this trip would be not just a physical challenge, but how we dealt with it mentally. I think I'm doing OK ...
When Rachael and I crossed over the peak at Khum Jung we weren't sure which way to go. We heard some music and thought it was a party. Then some ghostly white figures appeared out of the mist. We had no idea what the shapes and music were until it came closer and we saw six yaks carrying sacks of rice clanging their neck bells and being guided by a whistling guide - "Yakzillas in the Mist".
Lama Fu joined us for dinner and gave us a blessing. Lama Fu is Tibetan and has been in Namche for ten years.
Some vocab:
tashi dilei - I wish you well (make a lotus shape with hands)
chorten - memorial
tooli sha - bye bye
touchei - thank you
tang bo - how are you? / I'm well
Today was an acclimatisation day so we trekked to Khum Jung (12,475 ft).
The walk up was okay, but we took slow, slow steps on the way up.
We visited Khum Jung School. Sir Ed Hillary built the first classroom here in 1961 which is still there. There were two classes going; Class IV and some gorgeous nursery kids all writing their lessons. The school is much bigger now. There's a statue of Sir Ed there. It made me so proud to be there.
Lunch at a bakery and the Khum Jung monastery (another yeti skull!).
Khum Jung is a beautiful village. At the monastery, there was food to be collected from a family who had suffered a loss. They donate food to the village.
The walk back was uphill through the mist and then down through mist, light rain and then torrential. Stayed dry though!
Mike said this trip would be not just a physical challenge, but how we dealt with it mentally. I think I'm doing OK ...
When Rachael and I crossed over the peak at Khum Jung we weren't sure which way to go. We heard some music and thought it was a party. Then some ghostly white figures appeared out of the mist. We had no idea what the shapes and music were until it came closer and we saw six yaks carrying sacks of rice clanging their neck bells and being guided by a whistling guide - "Yakzillas in the Mist".
Lama Fu joined us for dinner and gave us a blessing. Lama Fu is Tibetan and has been in Namche for ten years.
Some vocab:
tashi dilei - I wish you well (make a lotus shape with hands)
chorten - memorial
tooli sha - bye bye
touchei - thank you
tang bo - how are you? / I'm well
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