Sunday April 3rd, 8 pm on the trail to Dingboche
(EST is 9 hours 45 mins behind Nepal)

Help others, share the wealth and live simply.

Our group is sitting by a small yak dung fire, laughing and sharing stories. We have eaten dinner and the night is drawing in around us. We had another gruelling day but we all made it through and spirits are high. Our muscles are sore from climbing so much, but our months of training have helped ease the pain. Some of us are starting to experience our first symptoms of altitude sickness with headaches and dizziness. The air is light and it’s sometimes difficult to breathe and do things at your normal speed.

The trails were very tough today with treacherous drops and narrow paths as the route took us higher in to the Himalayas and closer to our destination, Base Camp at Mount Everest. Yesterday we struggled through a sand storm; today we battled against a snow storm that hit us suddenly and made visibility very bad for a while. But it lifted and we continued trekking through scenery that grows more breathtaking and magnificent with every passing day.

After breakfast this morning we watched the sun rise over Everest which provided an unbelievable start to the day. We visited the monastery in Thyangboche and had a short blessing ceremony.

In Pangboche we met with the lama, the spiritual head of the region. He is 73 years old and is a very funny and likeable man. He blessed us all in a simple ceremony and then gave us a message for all Canadians – Help others, share the wealth and live simply.

Everyone was so tired at lunchtime that we all lay down for a nap. Luckily the sherpas stayed awake and prodded us on to our destination, after a short break.

There are lots of yaks on the trail here and they are all well cared for and well groomed.

More later.

Terry