20 March
(Day 10 of trekking)
“Day 10 was a different awakening to the usual blue sky and sunshine, with snow falling steadily. Today was to take us from Dzongla to Lobuche.
After the standard hot porridge and black tea we set off with still gently falling snow, the trip today somewhat shorter at around 4 hours which will hopefully give the team an opportunity to recover some of their reserves after some big days in recent times.
Obviously, with the weather being so closed in it was near impossible to get a look at any of the peaks, that said, add a layer of snow to what you know is already there and you get yet another unique visual perspective of the region.
The first half of the leg today saw more Yaks and Naks plying their trade in the snow, and some amazing horsemanship as a Nepali local barreled down a snow covered rocky track on the mountain without the horse missing a beat.
After a break to catch our breaths (literally) it was onwards towards Lobouche along the way encountering a huge frozen lake which we had to cross. Here was another example of majestic beauty in a remote location where nature does its own thing.
Just after lunchtime we arrived at tonight’s Tea House. A great spicy noodle soup, flat bread, and curried potatoes plus black tea awaited us. I must admit that tonight’s sleeping arrangements may be even more challenging than usual.
Approx 2.5m x 2.5m twin share hardly big enough for both to be in at the same time, ply board walls, doors, floors and ceilings, no heating and two bloody big single glazed windows that do nothing for heat loss. As I type this the bedroom and the outside temperature are the same so there will be no removing any clothing, but into bed fully ready for tomorrow is the plan.
The remainder of the afternoon was left to our own devices with the ever popular ‘chase the ace’ card game tying most up.”
– Tony
