Oct 8th - Tengboche(3860m)

We set out early in the morning for Tengboche. It was instantly uphill - really like a few flights of stairs but add on the altitude, and I was struggling. We did some Pringles price checks (230npr) - the cheapest! Jerrold had bought some 'fake' Pringles at the airport for 350npr, i think...

We had quite a steep down to go after. You have to imagine that the trail is rocky and I was always watching each step I make. There were 2 times I didn't watch where i was going and it was a 'fatal' mistake. First time, I was looking at a pic of a Red Panda and i stepped in Yak dung - nice moist sticky yak poo... So anyway, rocky downhill - Was SOOO glad I had my new knee brace on! AND i was thankful that Andy gave me his moleskin... I'd bought some in Toronto BUT totally forgot to pack it! It was probably sitting beside my Vancouver 2010 Buff that Danielle sent me!

I couldn't quite keep up with Bibek on the way down - i'd rather go up(yes harder, but easier on my knees!). I had almost asked Andy to borrow his poles but our downhill finally evened out. We had lunch in _______. The washroom there was off the side of a cliff with ripped fabric for walls. I waited til I really had to go before venturing in. Was more scared the whole structure would fall off the cliff than someone peeking in thru the fabric! Lunch wasn't that great - mushy veg chow mein. Can't complain, though! The Nepalese eat Dal Bhat for lunch and dinner everyday. Can't wait to go back to Canada and eat KFC, McDonald's and even Taco Bell. I can never be a vegetarian...

The little 'village' consisted of 2 tealodges and few little structures that contained water prayer wheels. I was excited to check them out but none of them worked. I'll have to check my map to see what the place was called.

We started the steep ascent to Tengboche after lunch. Dawa(tour leader) had already warned us that it was all up. I had complained earlier to Bibek that I'm better at the ups than the downs and he said I will be very happy after lunch! Words couldn't describe this long stretch of neverending thigh burning torture. Bibek stopped at some point - everything was hazy and blurry as I tried to separate the pain in my butt and thighs, coupled with the difficult to catch my breath from the prescence --> GOSH, it was like going thru labour again! i took a few sips of water, saw Jerrold walk past us to continue... Andy also started going... jess... or was i first? i don't remember. All I knew was if i stopped too long, i'll cool off and won't be able to start again. I decided to keep trekking. By then, a light drizzle had started. I was a bit glad for the cooling effect...

There was no conversation, just heeing and hawing! I was breathing very loudly. I don't know how much time had passed and how far we've gone, but we started seeing other trekkers coming down from Tengboche. They encouraged us and told us we were really close to the the top. Even then, we had to stop for quick water break... Alas, we saw the sign "Welcome to Tengboche"... Jerrold was noone in sight... Andy, Jess & I took turns taking photos in front of the sign... It was still raining and we decided to look for shelter. We couldn't see much because it was so foggy.