EVEREST TREK : DAY 17

Day 17.  Pheriche to Tengboche.

Tuesday 26 March.

Some of the mountain scenery on the route to Tengboche

Moira didn't have a very good night, coughing and sneezing. She revived a little after having a few puffs of her ventilin inhaler. Also when we went down for breakfast they had the fire going which was the best reviver. 

We started with our rain jackets and gloves on but it was only for a few minutes and at the top of the hill out of Pheriche that we were warmed up and off they came. It was another fine and glorious day, the deep blue sky enhancing the snowy white of the peaks. After the initial climb it was downhill to the junction with the path to Dingboche that we took on the way up. We were now following the contours above Imja Khola river valley. There was a lovely flat section which we had enjoyed so much coming up, before dropping to Somare for our tea break. After our tea it was still easy going still above the Imja Khola and along the contours to Pangboche. Moira wasn't feeling very good at all, and the infection she had was now in her chest. Hopefully the antibiotic she began taking this morning will help. We stopped again at the same place in Pangboche where we had tea on the way up and had another cup and a half hour rest for Moira, she was feeling a little better as we continued.

We remembered this part of the route as the place where we first met the British group walking for Cancer Research. The track dropped to the suspension bridge over the Imja Khola. This time we noticed the old bridge underneath. It was wooden slats strung together by rope, not one that Moira would have enjoyed. On the other side of the river the track was wide and smooth. It dropped down gradually to the few lodges and Buddhist nunnery at Deboche. After that it was a long steep climb to Tengboche. The underfoot conditions were poor, mud churned up by the numerous yak trains. It was a relief to make the top, but disconcerting when Brin said that the lodge we stayed at previously was full and a lot of the others as well. Eventually he got us into a very big place and the room was very good. 

Moira got into her sleeping bag and had a sleep. I went down to the dining room and had a bowl of soup. A young couple I sat beside, Nick and CarriAnn were South African. They had been working in the UK for the last 7 years but were now returning to SA to work in Cape Town. I spent an hour talking to them about trekking and South Africa. They intend to do the Camino de Santiago when they finish here. Moira came down a little later feeling better for her sleep. She had some soup then decided to go back to bed. I sat reading most of the afternoon, it was warm when they put the fires on at 4 pm, there was a fire at each end of the dining room. Just before dinner I had to get Brin to go up and waken Moira. The lodge was very busy and we had a Russian sitting beside us at the table. Next to us was a large party of Australians, which included I think , grand parents, parents and children. Maggie Piper was the wife of the head of the UN in Kathmandu. He had been there for 5 years but was now being relocated to Senegal. Friends and relations had come to Nepal to join her in the trek to Everest before she left. They were good company and we talked about Australia, trekking worldwide, and our recent visit to Senegal when we cruised to SA, albeit for only one day.

It was nearly 9 pm when we got to bed. There was a lovely thick duvet and we were lovely and warm for a change. The only problem was that I have now started coughing, caught what Moira has got maybe.