Today we trekked up to Dingboche (4350m) – a fairly short three hour walk, and we got to the guesthouse by 11am. With the sun this hot, it was a relief to get inside.
As we climbed past 400m, the trees all gave way to shrubs, and the ground is getting much drier – sand in places. The bare rock and rivers, and the lack of green give the area a much more remote, desolate feel, but the landscape is as beautiful as it is stark.
I met another Englishman today at a stop on the way up, and he had turned around near Dingboche because he had devolved altitude sickness. Turning back was obviously a hard decision to make, but almost daily there are rescue helicopter flights overhead reminding us that it was the right one. Even after descending a few hundred meters, he said he was feeling better already and vowing to return in a year or two, with a mountain view
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| Memorial to Scott Fisher, leader on expedition to Everest Summit who died in 1996 (as detailed in book/film 'Into Thin Air') |
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