Trekking to Everest Base Camp: My Experience PART THREE

travelstheworld (54)in #travel • 7 years ago

You can find Part One of this series HERE
You can find Part Two of this series HERE

Pangboche to Dingboche to Lobuche - The Long Way Up

The trail is getting more and more barren

Hello Steemians, in my last part of this series I ended up arriving in the early afternoon in Pangboche, after spending the rest of the afternoon drinking ginger tea and resting I shared a nice dinner with a British couple who were heading to Ama Dablam Base Camp. One of the things I really enjoyed about this trek is the openness of all the people in the teahouses, there wasn't a single night where I didn't have long conversations with people from all over the world while eating dahl bat staying warm by the wood stove.

Heading to Dingboche

The following morning I started early and hike for a few hours across relatively a relatively flat trail to my next stop, Dingboche. This village was the first stop that was definitively above the treeline and was completely surrounded by towering mountains and a rocky, barren valley. Dingboche is approximately 4400m above sea level and it is the second place everyone is advised to spend an extra day acclimatizing to the altitude to avoid sickness. I arrived in the early afternoon after a leisurely hike and found a teahouse to stay for two nights which was not difficult as there are many to choose from in the village. After talking to a few of the workers at the teahouse I headed out to the local bakery for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie. It is worth noting that all of these villages have a bakery of some form that produces all types of pies and pastries and most are really quite good. After my pie, I headed back to the teahouse to rest as I was starting to feel sick from the altitude and all the hiking. Up until this point, I hadn't felt any effects of the altitude but now I had a dull headache that wouldn't quit and my stomach felt like it had a rock weighing it down. I decided against taking anything for it and had a small meal and lots of water and went to bed.

Dingboche from above

Exploring around Dingboche

After a long sleep, I woke up feeling a lot better and had a big breakfast to get a good start to my day and give myself a huge boost of energy. I spoke with a few people in the teahouse about what there was to do in the area and I decided to just hike some of the ridges in the area and skip some of the more intensive hikes. I headed out at around 10:00am to explore the ridge that separates Dingboche and Pheriche, they are neighboring villages where the latter houses the American hospital that specializes in altitude sickness. The hike up the ridge wasn't very difficult but the views were 360 degrees of some of the most breathtaking vistas I have ever seen. I spent most of the day sitting and relaxing/meditating or playing with the local dogs exploring the ridges before heading back to Dingboche for dinner.

The view from the top of the ridge

Pheriche from the ridge

Selfies in the wind!

So majestic

Heading to Lobuche

The next morning, I said goodbye to Dingboche and started my trek to Lobuche which was about 4 hours away with a few very difficult spots along the way. The trail takes you through the valley and then through a very small village called Dughla before going up the challenging Lobuche Pass. The pass is a section of trail that is about two dozen switchbacks heading up 100-150m in altitude, it is quite tough and you will see a lot of people gasping for breath and I was no exception. Once you reach the top you will see the markers left by family and friends for all the people lost on Everest. It was quite eerie to see just how many people have never come down from the mountain, every year there are people that go risk it all to head to the top of the world but never make it back down. I spent a few minutes quietly exploring the memorials before heading on to Lobuche, it is about 45 minutes past the top of the pass to the village. I arrived in the early afternoon and set about finding a teahouse...

Goodbye Dingboche