Lobuche 4930m 4.75 hours
I awoke at 5am however stayed in my “Walrus” sleeping bag until 6:30am, nice and cozy.
Our pre-ordered breakfast was ready at 7am and by 7:30am we were on our way. The trail to Dughla at 4600m is fairly flat and a pleasant walk made more enjoyable listening to Tshiri, Ishower and Bikesh talking and laughing their heads off – what a great sound. Charles and Spencer were well ahead of us but they said they could hear their laughter carried by the wind.
We arrived at Dughla much too early for lunch so had tea and snacks, then tackled the huge hill up to the Memorials of those that have died on Everest.
We spent a good half an hour here looking around and taking photos. As we started on our way we got behind 3 yaks and their herder and followed them to Lobuche. It was slow progress but so cool to be sauntering behind these adorable creatures. And we were constantly being entertained by Tshiri’s music and Spencer singing along. At one point we were dancing Nepali dances while Bikesh videotaped us – that should be a laugh.
We arrived to Lobuche and the Peak XV Lodge (owned by the same people that own the Valley View Lodge in Dingboche) at 12:15PM. The food is fantastic here so we all ordered pizza.
At 2PM we set off up behind the teahouse for our acclimatization hike up to 5100m or so. Upon our return I had a tea and then read my book in the dining room until dinner. The dining room is the focal point of the teahouse and is always warm and great for people watching.
We had a great dinner and then had to retire early as it got too warm and stuffy in the room. There is a group of Russians staying in the rooms beside us and were a bit noisy, singing Russian songs and drinking Jamaican rum. They must be heading down. Amongst the hubbub I fell asleep but apparently the people next to Charles and Spencer were a bit more disruptive.
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