An early start to today's trek from Phortse to Dingbuche. Our guides woke us around 6am with the usual "washie washie" announcement and placed a metal bowl filled with hot water outside my room. Time to get up! Well, I was already awake for the past half hour or so and was just waiting for the call. I had a good night's rest like most of us, although cold temperatures would not necessarily guarantee that. I got up, the freezing cold air in the room was quite a contrast to my warm down sleeping bag.... Doing the "washie washie" thing also meant to strip down even further and rid myself of more clothes. Now it was really fresh, but it also meant that I was really awake....

Quickly packing our stuff became a daily routine already during this trip. I am now a specialist in squeezing all my stuff into three little waterproof Containers I bought in Namche -what a buy that was! All in the bags, my day pack sorted and ready for breakfast - man, am I hungry today! Eventually all of us are sitting around the tables in the dining area. It is an interesting place, as to the seating is arranged around the windows, around a fire place in the middle of the room. Although a little chillie, no fire! Maybe an invitation to purchase more hot beverages from the kitchen!? We all placed out orders and after a while the food arrived. "Zees omelet" Ramesh (one of our guides) announces. We always look at each other with a big smile when he does that. He has such a special way of pronouncing 'cheese'....we all have an instant smile on our faces! Slowly all the orders arrive and we finish breakfast on time to stay within our planned departure time, 07h30! Yes, even in the mountains we still work against se sort of schedule...:)
Before we were leaving, Devan, our head guide provided is with a final briefing of the day. This became some sort of routine for everyone to be on the same page in terms of route planned, time of trekking, very importantly the altitude we are going to cover for the day, which was supposed to give us comfort in terms of the number of climbs and the time spent to cover the climb. Well, it is still a regular talking point throughout the day...and questions like "are we there yet?" Is continuously asked, mainly by our youngsters though. I have a deep personal respect for our boys, who kept on going! Especially when it was really hard - they are really a very cool bunch of young men!
Devan also informed us that Linette will remain on camp for a couple more days and will not join us for Base Camp. She still suffered from a chest infection, which really caused her se discomfort with breathing (I mean who needs a chest infection at nearly 4000m, when we are battling to breathe being healthy!?) We left Ramesh back at the lodge to look after her and make sure that she will get better soon. Part of the plan is also to meet up with all of us again when we are on our way back from Base Camp in around 5 days or so. I just wonder who will dish out our 'Zees omelette' from now on, with the accompanying collective smile?

"Zoom zoom" the signal to go! We all put our day packs over our shoulders and are ready to go. Some 8 hours are planned for today (yes, conservatively, but still) it is going to be a long day! We will have to cover some decent distance, as well as some 500m in altitude.
Well, just outside the lodge, we take a left and up we go... Through a field, straight up a hill behind the village. Devan mentioned yesterday evening that we may not see a lot of men, but rather plenty of children and women. Phortse is a Sherpa village and many of the men, young and old, are working on Everest during the climbing season. Hence, no men. Our host also, was the wife and mother of two 'climbing Sherpas'. the father was a multiple Everest summit achiever and so was his son. It is a tradition, which is passed from father to son over generations and provides the Sherpa families and their communities a stable income for the year.

Heavy breathing so early in the morning! We pushed hard and were rewarded with se spectacular views of Ama Dablam (6700m) and only one of the 240 over 6000m peaks in Nepal. This spectacular mountain is one of the most difficult and technically challenging peaks on Nepal. Often climbers who summited Everest would not attempt to challenge Ama Dablam! This peak will guide us today during our trek and we will be able to gain different views, from different angles throughout the day.
The trail continues up and down all the way and I now not sure, of we are indeed gaining altitude of in fact descending more. Surely we must ascent!? Ah here is the question I was thinking being asked by one of our boys: "Devan, how far do we still have to climb?" With a smile on his face and with the patience a yak shows while grazing on the mountain slops, he answers "there is just one more slight little incline and then we will reach a plateau. From there it is going to be a constant up and down all the way to lunch." That of course invited the counter question: "oh, when will we be there?" "In about 1 1/2 hours or so" was the answer. Seemingly satisfied for now, the boy trotted off....until the next one engaged Devan in the same conversation. After a while, I saw him overtaking me with his earphones on, presumably listening music. I guess even he needs a break every now and then...

Just before we reached Somare, our lunch place, we joined the lower trail to Everest Base Camp, the most frequented route from Namche Bazaar to Everest. Countless porters, guides, Sherpas, climbing parties and tourist groups frequent this route. It is the main route to provide the climbers with their goods and equipment for their attempts to summit Everest. We also picked up immediately an increase in people either walking towards the same direction we intended to go, or into the direction of lower ground.
As it seemed to always be the case, just before we are going to rest, we need to manage a big climb first, almost suggesting that we have to earn our lunch break. As I snailed my way up, I overtook one of our youngsters and, in passing asked how things were going. He mentioned that he was starving and was really looking forward to his lunch. Since we were only about some 500m below the little village, I pointed to above town and said: "just keep your eyes on the ball, food is waiting right there." With this remark the boy found a second or third wind and just left me standing where I was! Funny how these things work isn't it?

Lunch was well deserved and evenly well received. We relaxed for a short time, sitting in the sun and sipping lemon and masallah tea.

Needless to say, the club to lunch was only half way up the hill and the second half still had to be navigated. After lunch, a real challenge...

As soon as the path leveled out again, we picked up speed and were able to pass quote a few other travelers, who seemingly did not go through the same acclimatization routine as we did - it really helped us! I asked Devan during one of the many short breaks if this was the route Sir Edmond Hillary and Tensing Norgey would have taken to Everest and when he nodded his head, I thought that this was the perfect headline for this day: in the footsteps of Hillary and Norgey, what a story! We were treading on the grounds where so many dreams began and some of them never became reality.... There is so much history here. We passed a memorial build in memory of some Korean climbers, who perished during their summit attempt of the Pumori peak in 2006, when their group was surprised by an averlange, killing four climbers. There are many more to come tomorrow, when we make our way to Labuche. Just some two weeks ago, a Czech climbing party returned from the summit of Lhotse, Devan shared, and he met up with group in a bar in Katmandu during their celebrations. It was a little subdued by the fact that they had to leave one of their friends behind, just 50m below the summit. Some dreams end up in nightmares.

Fact remains that we were walking on historic grounds and this was a very precious realization for me. Lots has changed since the late 1950's in terms of landscape, the amount of people traveling this road and many other things.

When we had to pass the last big club for the day, it was a relief to know that on the other side of this hill, just beyond that ridge we could make out from below, we were able to see our final destination for the day, Dingbuche.

The town of Dingbuche is a bigger post on the way to Everest and many of the climbing groups rest and prepare their ascent to Base Camp from here. There are also many shops trying to sell their goods and when entering the Dingbuche supermarket, I found myself in a small little spaza kind of shop like we have back home in South Africa. The lady across the counter smiles and answers all my questions with appropriate enthusiasm in the hope of making a sale. Scanning through the shop, she offers anything, from postcards to imported cornflakes and headlamps. I left again, but spotted a coffee shop across the path, where I saw a menu items o could consider worth tasting: from carrot cake, chocolate and walnut, everything available, together with a nice cup of coffee.... Yes, that's what it is going to be after I got to room, unpacked and got ready for the evening!

A quick brief followed about some minor logistics and were free to do what we wanted to. My chance to visit Mama's coffee shop! With a couple of others, we ambled down the rocky pathway we came up just an hour earlier to get to the coffee shop. Inside, the shop, we found a display of cakes, cookies and other items on sale. It looked pretty interesting. Opposite us were three Chinese ladies sitting, chatting away, eventually recommending the carrot cake. Well, it was too late for us, we ordered and paid upfront (should have been a hint I guess?!) The food and coffee arrived and yea, it was a little stale, with the coffee, we washed everything down anyway. In the meantime the place filled up to capacity with an Italian group and some other guys from I don't where. We chatted away and the dynamics changed every time someone was ordering with looks going around each table, accompanied with smiles and giggles of what they may order (and what that would taste like)!

We finished our food and made our way back to the lodge, where we placed our order for dinner (needed to be in by 17h00 that we can all have supper together at 18h30! In a place like this some things must be planned well in advance...:)

As the day closes, we sat around the table enjoying our dinner and a laugh or two from experience during the day. It was good fun and everyone was pretty exhausted. Most of the boys went to sleep already around 19h30. I am now also heading for bed, lala land is calling... Good night!

Armin Philipps