EVEREST TREK : DAY 24

Day 24. Nunthala to Ringmu.

Tuesday 2 April.

I didn't fell too bad when I got up and I had some porridge and coffee for breakfast. It was a warm day and we both decided to wear shorts. It wasn't long after we started that we were sweating and the fleeces came off. It was nearly 4 hours of slow slogging to get to the top of Tacksindu La. There were so many false summits it was disheartening. We stopped twice for tea which was refreshing and got us going again. My stomach was feeling a lot better but I was exhausted, probably due to not eating. The harder the climb the worse I got and the top never seemed to be there. Moira pointed to a string of prayer flags strung across the top of the next steep slope, telling me it indicated the top. I didn't believe it until I went through the gateway and the path began to descend on the other side.

Small waterfall

We should have been going to Junbesi today but I couldn't manage it. Brin said the next village Ringmu was an hour down the hill, we decided to have an easy day and stop there for the night. It was a fairly easy and quick descent but I was suffering badly and very glad when we eventually reached the village.

Outside the lodge there were tents pitched ready for a Japanese party that we had passed on the way down. The lodge was a dump but it had beds and that was where I headed straight away. Moira went down to the dining room and had chips for lunch, she brought me back a bottle of coke and a packet of biscuits for my lunch. I stayed in bed all afternoon but later went down for dinner, I had a plate of porridge. There was no heating in the dining room but Brin managed to arrange for us to eat in the kitchen. It was very smokey but at least warm. As soon as I finished my meagre meal I went back to bed.

Mule-train heading for the river

The blankets we got were a ton weight and the bed was very narrow. This resulted in all the blankets slid off when you turned over and the weight caused them to fall to the floor. I didn't sleep very well and the toilet was outside at the bottom of the stairs, a mission to get to in the middle of the night.