Day 10: Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp to Gorak Shep

The trek to Everest Base Camp was no where near as lame or boring as we were led to believe. It was not an anticlimax in any way. Perhaps this was due to the heavy dump of snow that had left everything in brilliant white. The trek there took nearly 2.5 hours and travelled along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier.

Just as we were about to cross the glacier we looked up and realized that we had to cross a section of track about 100m long that passed under some incredibly overhung rocks about 30m above us. Right before our eyes rocks were tumbling down the slope, one of them was as big as a television. Some of the rocks at the top were the size of small houses and though they may well have been secure we had no way of knowing. We plucked up the courage and dashed through this "kill zone" as fast as our altitude effected lungs could take us... Thankfully making it through with no injury (or death).

We then set across the glacier taking time to look at the beautiful lakes and deep crevasses that were scattered along it and then we reached the prayer flags that symbolised "Everest Base Camp". Many people don't know this but there are actually two base camps, one is for the day trekkers and one is for the actual expedition teams that are climbing Everest.

On account of the heavy snow all expeditions had pulled out of the climbers camp except one, the Korean Expedition. They would not let the snow defeat them and were determined to make a summit attempt. As there was no one around to object we trekked the extra 300m and took some photos around the real Base Camp and the awesome views of the Khumbu Icefall before heading for home.

We again had to cross the "kill zone" which we again managed without incident. The walk back to Gorak Shep was nice and easy and took around 1 hour.

Anyone who comes up this far and skips Base Camp is making a huge mistake in my opinion, it was one of my favourite things so far.

Day 6: Tengboche to Dingboche

After some planning we decided to head to Dingboche instead of Pheriche. Not only was this a slightly higher altitude but it also meant that we were able to keep the company of our new friends a little longer.

Our new friends were Rob (from England), Hanna (from Wales) and James (from Canada). They were all really lovely and our walks were filled with a range of conversations from latest movies to the production process of Maple Syrup. Time passed a lot quicker in their company.

We started around 8am from Tengboche and had a wonderful gradual trek through beautiful rhododendron forests which were laden with Old Man's Beard (a light green stringy lichen that hangs from the branches of the tree).

We worked our way up the valley at a reasonably even altitude passing through a few small towns along the way before coming to a broken bridge that was washed away in some flooding years ago. We crossed over the Imja Khola river on a small wooden bridge and then began our ascent up to Dingboche.

On the journey we met a German man who had been a part of a group of 6 who after crossing the Reno La on their way to Gokyo were hit by the bad weather mentioned yesterday. His group was travelling alongside a group of 8 who were also following the same trek but during the white out caused by the heavy snow the groups were separated. His group were in the front and all the way to Gokyo they heard the sound of avalanches tumbling down the valley. Hours later they finally reached Gokyo settled into the first lodge they found and we're having dinner when suddenly 5 of the 8 members of the other group burst in and immediately the Sherpa guides started on the radios calling in for Search and Rescue - aparently part of the group had been hit by an avalanche and three members were knocked down the mountain and were presumed dead. A grim idea of how terrible conditions have been. Aparently it was the heaviest October snowfall received in 15 years.

The terrain suddenly changed and before we knew it there were no trees to be found, shrubs and grasses replaced them and after a winding 30 minutes ascending up the mountain we found ourselves in the snow. I have never trekked in snow before so it was a wonderful (all be it slippery) experience. We continued to ascend until finally we came around a corner and saw the town of Dingboche.

Dingboche (4410m) took us by surprise, located right at the base of Mt Nangkar Tshang (5616m) not only was it huge compared to all the other towns we had passed since Namchee but the location could not be beaten. Lhotse was in full view but was shadowed by Ama Dablams North Face which towered majestically over the town as it was only 4km away.

We checked into our accomodation had some lunch and then wearing sandals or flip flops we headed up a large snow covered hill behind Dingboche. Our footwear would not get the best of us as we scraped and clawed our way up through the snow to the top where we were given views off a completely new mountain range that was at the bottom of the Khumbu Glacier. The views were out of this world and we would have stayed up there admiring them longer if it had not been for the bitter cold which drove us down the hill and into our warm rooms.

Our accomodation was amazing and the staff were even better. The lodge we stayed at was called the Snow Lion Lodge and Restaurant. We celebrated Aaron's 30th birthday with a wonderful chocolate cake from the bakery attached the lodge.

Good news is that Aaron seems to finally be beating his cold and my knees are no longer giving me pain on our treks. Got my first blister however... So that sucks a little.

Day 4: Namchee Bazaar to Tengboche

Woke up to the sound of no rain on our roof. Opened our window and there were blue skies all around -not a cloud in the sky. We quickly packed our bags, downed a quick breakfast and headed off for our next destination, Tengboche.

The walk was amazing, beautiful valleys... snowy peaks all around us glistening in the morning sun and then suddenly there she was... Mt Everest... "The ugly sister in a room full of beautiful women" as she was once described. The tallest mountain in the world paled before Ama Dablam with her sharp walls and incredible structure. Lhotse was also standing out and looking extremely impressive with her pointy peak. I just had to sit down for a moment... Take it all in. Wow.

Stopped again for a brief moment at a stream to fill our drink bottles before continuing downward. As we walked on the mountains came closer and closer till it almost felt like we could reach out and touch them. The trek led us to Sanasa then on to Phungi Thanga where we stopped for a quick bowl of noodles before the long ascent to Tengboche. We crossed another amazing bridge where we had to wait for yet another set of yaks and then almost immediately the ascent began.

Two solid hours of up hill trekking brought us to the beautiful town of Tengboche with its open green pastures and incredible views. We headed straight to the local monastery (or Goomba) mistaking it for a hotel (to which a little monk kindly explained it wasnt). Tried another place but they were already full and then on our third attempt we got a double room at 200 rupees a night (AUD$2.10). Score!

We dropped our bags in our room and then raced outside as clouds were beginning to set in and we wanted to get some good photos. Headed back to the monastery and got a few snaps of everything around it, took some pics of a yak then headed inside to get some lunch and get warm.