The Stinky Family

To Loboche, Nepal -- 4910m (16,100ft)

Meg here today.  I’m feeling much better.  I took another altitude pill this morning, and I think it really helped.  Our night was choppy because Kylie came into our room around 12:30 a.m., and it took all of us at least two hours before falling asleep.  Dean, being the great man he is, went to her room so she could take his bed and wouldn’t have to share my narrow bed.  She had seen some shadows she thought looked like a Yeti, even though she knew there was no such thing.  The night view, however, was amazing.  The moon must be near full as there was so much light on the mountains. Truly, the view was once in a lifetime.  But, whoa, it’s getting cold.  Even this journal entry, which I’m writing just before noon, has me in fleece gloves.  

Kylie and Dex have done well so far, though they both saying they often can’t catch their breath -- join the club! The initial climb today wasn’t so bad.  I was glad we did it this morning and not yesterday.  It took us about an hour to get to the top of the first big hill.  Once there, we saw all the memorials for sherpas that had died while climbing the mountains.  Kylie was telling stories, and Dex seemed to be feeling good as he stayed up near Dean.  The lovely couple at the Kala Patthar Lodge offered us cookies, two Mars bars ,and a Twix for the “road.”  They were impressed with the kids, and the man even said that the Nepali kids don’t carry as much.  We took pictures with the woman and then were off… except Dex said he had to go the bathroom... then it was my turn....  Fifteen minutes later, we were really off.

New Zealand guide featured in Into Thin Air

I was amazed at how many helicopters we saw this morning.  There were no fewer than six just on the climb up the hill.  I think it must be a fairly common sight seeing trip.  We’d did hear though that many flights are actually evacuations for trekkers with altitude sickness.  

Once we made it to the top of the ridge, we got to look down into the river valley and saw some big yaks drinking in the icy river.  It was nice to be on the ledge walking on level ground.  It didn’t last long.  Much of the river was frozen, though you could hear water flowing underneath.  After about fifty minutes in the valley, we came across the first buildings of Loboche.  It is one of the uglier towns for sure, but thanks to the kind woman in Duhgla, we are now at the Above The Clouds Lodge run by her sister.  

I'm glad I'm not carrying that

Our Above the Clouds lodge

This afternoon, we were able to do a short side trip to see the “Italian Pyramid.”  It is a small research station set up by the Italian government in the late 90’s.  The pyramid is very pretty, solar panels on all sides to keep all the instruments running. Below the pyramid is an attached lodge and restaurant.  We were met at the door by a man with an Italian accent who passed us on to Daiwa, a young Nepali, for a tour.  Daiwa showed us around saying that in its heyday, there were 12 staff members.  They are now down to three or four people due to Italian political turmoil and lack of funding. They have meteorological equipment, seismographs, and rescue equipment all in a snug space.  It was a neat short trip, and the kids were bouncing about like mountain goats on the boulders lining the trail.

The Italian Pyramid and Pumori

Daiwa and Kylie

As usual, we crowded into the lodge dining hall later in the day for warmth and dinner. There was a good assortment of trekkers -- a couple from Switzerland; Scott, a solo American from Idaho setting a blazing hiking pace; another young couple, and Brit Alex and Kiwi Christine who met while working in Mongolia. It was great fun to huddle around the stove and share stories. Later, as the food arrived, we were invited to join in a round of "Poo Head" instigated by Scott. It turned out to be a slightly more complicated version of card game Karma that we've been playing for months. Unfortunately, we ended up being the stinky family as Dex was the Poo Head loser the first hand and Kylie the next. Quite appropo given our last showers were in Kathmandu two weeks ago. Good thing were a tight knit family.

Bucket in, bucket out