We got our first glimpses of Everest today! Well, really our first glimpse of any mountains. When we woke up, the fog had dissipated and we could see mountains from our campsite. At breakfast, our guide told us that if we were able to hurry and make it up the hill behind the lodge in time, we'd get a great view of Ama Dablam. So, we hurried, somehow I made it up the hill, and what a view we had.
A little while later, after charging up some more hills and stone steps...gosh, I felt slow....but, people in my group told me I was doing fine, so hopefully that's the case. Anyway, after some more crazy up, the clouds cleared, and we were able to see Everest....and Lhotse. It was so cool to finally see the mountains I've read so much about over the past year.
With all the rushing, we made it to lunch about an hour ahead of schedule. That gave us some time to see a nearby monastery. Our guide knew the monk from his monastery days, so he gave us a tour and explained how everything worked.
The rest of the day was tough but manageable. The sherpa sauna combined with decongestant worked wonderfully, and I woke up feeling much better than I have in days. But, because we missed a day with the flight delay in Lukla, we had to combine two days of hiking. Like I said, not bad, and would have been two really easy days if we had split it.
Once we got to the lodge, I basically found my tent and collapsed on the little mattress that goes under my sleeping bag. At some point, I said, 'there are a bunch of things I should do (open my wet for some reason sleeping bag, pull out the stuff I want to hand wash when the washing water gets here, etc.) but I'm so tired, all I want to do is lay here.
We're camped by another lodge....it was interesting to learn that the lodges and villages we've stopped at grew up around the trekkers. They have a main room where we've been hanging out - it has lights powered by solar energy and a small furnace that heats the place using Yak dung. Surprisingly, it doesnt smell, though, it did try to explode earlier.
Tomorrow we have another acclimatization hike. It's basically several hundred feet straight up. Hopefully, at some point I'll be better at these hills. I'm beginning to get a little worried about the Kala Patthar hike at the end of the trip. Hopefully I have the strength to make it...or they let me crawl. I gave in and started taking the Diamox, maybe that will help, along with getting over the sick.
Other than that, I paid $6 to get both garmins charged so we can continue to track our treks. I have no idea what the phone battery looks like, it had half a few days ago, but things tend to lose battery life in the cold. I'll figure it out the next time I use it, I guess. Maybe there's a coffee shop with free wifi here too...I'll explore tomorrow. I don't plan on paying $9 an hour to use it at the lodge.
Ok...time to brave the cold and head to bed.
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