Our time in Dingboche was mainly to acclimatise so we had an extra day here relax and find some extra red blood cells to keep us oxgenated up higher! There wasn’t a whole lot to do in Dingboche so we spent most of our time reading, washing clothes or playing UNO. The morning after we first arrived however we had to go on an acclimatisation hike, which was definitely a highlight of they stay.
We left about 8am and pretty much walked out the front door of the lodge and up the huge hill that stood outside. It took about an hour to reach the view point and we climbed up to about 4,700m in altitude. It wasn’t a super hard hike, just hard to breathe from the thin air. Every couple of steps required a break and gasping for air was becoming the norm. But slowly and steadily we made it up. The view point was definitely worth the walk! As it was still quite early in the morning, the sky was clear and the mountain range around us stood magnificently in front of us. Lhotse and Nuptse were the show-offs yet again, their dramatic peaks stood boldly against the blue sky. Everest sat behind in their shadow, leaving us wanting more. I guessed she thought we had to work harder for a proper view, not just hike up a hill. We still had two days until Base Camp so perhaps she was holding out until then.
Behind us stood Ama Dablam, Taweche, Cholatste and Island Peak were just some of the peaks that stood around us. With 360 degrees of mountains around us, it wasn’t hard to believe that some of these peaks haven’t been named yet – there were just so many! We stayed at the view point for about two hours, taking in the thin air and letting our bodies adjust to the higher altitude. It was already starting to affect some of the others in the group who reported lethargy, headaches and dizziness. Thankfully I wasn’t feeling too bad, but I felt for the others who were feeling sick. 4,700m high and in the middle of nowhere wasn’t the ideal place to not be feeling 100%.
We hiked down around 10:30am and had lunch not long after. I even treated myself to a hot shower for $6AUD because it had been six days without one. While it wasn’t the greatest shower, it felt incredible to have clean hair! Especially after using talcum powder for six days to dry out the greasiness! Ahhhh the hikers life! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and basically waiting for tomorrow to come. We only had 18km until Base Camp and anticipation was starting to building!
Tomorrow we leave for Lobuche and climb about 600m higher! Joy!
J. X
A Blonde and Her Passport 