14 SEPTEMBER, 2013 - TREK BACK TO TENGBOCHE

As I sit down to write this, my view is the summit of Mt Everest.  Not a bad view for writing a blog post.   Also while I write this, Tom and Alex are totally dorking out over some dorky game they both love.  Let me clarify, they are not playing a game, they are just reading about the characters in a game.

Tom: “Increases to 900 in 950 range!!”
Alex: “That’s huge!!”

This is getting bad.  I am unable to have an intellectual conversation with either of them.  I had hope for Alex, that hope has been dashed.

Today started a bit rough.  The boys slept in mainly because both were having stomach issues throughout the night.  I will leave out the details, but long story short, Alex has joined team Cipro and Tom is also feeling pretty crummy.  I also woke up not feeling great. My body was not looking forward to hiking today, but I knew it was now or never.  So I packed up and put on my nature girl outfit and I was ready to go.

Group picture in Pheriche before leaving

Good bye pheriche

I was sad to leave Pheriche, I spend three nights there, longer than any other place so far on this trip.  It’s a lovely little village and was a very good home to be while I rested.  So I said goodbye as we walked out and took some final photos.  The hike today was mainly a flat and easy walk, but there were two uphill sections that tested my very restricted lung capacity.  I am just so annoyed by this whole sick thing.  Today should have been not a big deal for me; instead it looked like I had not already spend 5 nights at 14,000+ feet.  Oh well, I need to accept it I guess.  Also it makes me feel a bit better to see the boys not at 100%.  Does that make me a bad person?  If it does, I don’t care.

Views while Hiking

The hike today was lovely.  When we walked from Tengboche to Dingboche last Monday we had to walk a different route because a landslide had taken out a bridge.  Today we got to walk the original route to Tengboche along the mountain side and though a lovely village called Pyanboche.  When we got to the bridge I expected to see a fixed bridge.  What we saw instead was the broken bridge and an improvised bridge closer to the river that required a bit of finesse to get to and cross.  This hike is definitely keeping us on our toes.

Eleni crosses the new bridge

So now we are at the Hotel Himalaya in Tengboche, the same hotel we stayed at before, the same hotel Tom referred to as “like a Four Seasons”.  Tom’s assessment is way off (I mean how can it be 5 star without Bacon) but it’s been a good home.  The best part is the main window in the common room looks at Everest. And Everest is still peeking out above the clouds giving us a hello. It is very likely this may be out last view of Everest.  I hope that is not the case, but weather has not been in our favor.

Views while Hiking

Other things from Today:

1.       Last night I had to use precious wifi and battery life to prove to Alex that Red Pandas do live in Nepal and do live in the area we are hiking through.

2.       At lunch today, I thought I saw a photo of a red panda across the restaurant.  It was just a photo of a man picking strawberries.

3.       While I was walking very very very slow up the last incline into Tengboche I kept a sharp eye out for Red Pandas, but they are nocturnal.  So no luck.

4.       As Tom and Alex dork out next to me, I told Alex, that he can do better when it comes to best friends.  Alex disagrees.  They really are two pees in an oblong pod.

Mountain child

 Counts:

Red Pandas: Sadly none.

Coleman Wipes: Tom wants you to believe we are low, we are not that low.  We have entered the frugal stage of wipe usage.