Everest Base Camp Trek - Part 5

Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Next morning we started after another cold breakfast for Narkang. It’s an adjacent hill to Dingboche. The climb was steep. We started as a batch but someone kept calling quits so by the time we hit the top only five of us were remaining. The view from here was breathtaking. Dingboche and Periche (one of our stops upon returning) were clearly visible.

On way to Narkang peak

We were now at more than 17000ft. This was the approximate height of the base camp. We lied down for a while under chilling breeze and hot sun. By the time we reached back to Dingboche lunch time was over. We were anyway not interested in the bland hotel food. We found a bakery in Dingboche and settled there.

Dingboche from Narkang Peak

Food was not as awesome as in Namche but we enjoyed an evening of relaxation. We asked the bakery owner if we can go to the backside of the cafe to get closer to the river. He allowed. It started snowing. We enjoyed the view and snow. It was dark by the time we arrived back at our hotel.

View on way to Thukla

Next morning we started for Thukla which was our next stop. We had to cover a flowing river but mostly the terrain was flat. It was also short. We reached Thukla by lunch time. Our guide suggested we start for Lobuche to save a day. In hindsight, the trek stops were designed for the least athletic person and a stop at Thukla, however easy it looked, was critical.

Frozen @ way to Thukla

We agreed and started for Lobuche. It was a steep climb at a high altitude. I was extremely tired and was just pushing myself to reach our hotel in Lobuche before dark. We reached just before dark and settled at the hotel restaurant for soup and dinner. I was beyond fatigue and decided to take a short nap.

After dinner we settled in our room and I decided to go for sleep. My breath was deep and loud. One of my friends, Abhishek, pointed this out to others and they checked my oxygen. On a scale of 1-100, 70 is considered critical. Mine was 31. Immediately an oxygen cylinder was arranged.