Setting off up the Khumbu

Today began pretty slowly as everyone got to grips with our new lodge-based lifestyle, after the luxury of the Summit Hotel. Washing this morning was limited to a bucket of warm water on the wall outside the lodge, or the cold tap inside the building.

We had breakfast about 07:30 and after a certain amount of faffing we left at about 08:30. Having spent weeks walking with Klaas learning to improve my time-keeping to meet Dutch Army standards, I’m now sharing with Rich, who’s another ex-soldier. He’s ridiculously tidy and efficient, so we were both ready to go at 08:00 – tomorrow I may be a bit more relaxed!

We walked slowly through Lukla, pausing to take some photos of the planes dropping off the end of the crazy runway, then I sent my brother a birthday text message for tomorrow and we congregated at the police station while one of the sherpas filled in the required paperwork. Beyond the police station were our first prayer wheels, which we duly spun, then we passed through the arch that marked the edge of Lukla and set off up the trail.

The route actually went downhill for most of the morning, dropping from Lukla down to the Dudh Kosi river. The valley is very steep-sided, so not much was visible beyond. Occasionally we were able to see a snow-capped summit, but there’s generally been a layer of cloud hovering along the ridge on either side of the valley, limiting the views. By contrast, the centre of the valley was clear, and we had sun throughout the morning.

Having left Lukla at 2,800m, we had dropped down to 2,560m by the time we reached Phakding three hours later for lunch in the sun, then we spent the afternoon climbing slowly back up to 2,800m. The yaks carrying our bags passed us during lunch, and for some reason we never overtook them again, so our progress was limited to the speed of a heavily laden yak. Although it was probably a good idea to start the acclimatisation slowly, the leisurely pace got a bit frustrating at times, as the effects of altitude are almost imperceptible so far.

We’re now settled into our home for the night in Monjo. It’s pretty basic but has light, indoor (albeit squatting) toilets and running water, so will do the job.