I woke up about 2 AM really thinking I couldn't breathe so I woke Shari up too. Neither one of us knew if my problems were all from my cold or whether they were due to altitude sickness. Shari suggested I take a Diamox (altitude sickness medicine) and then she got out her trekking book and read more about AMS and HAPE. I really didn't have the symptoms for either sickness. I'm eating alot, peeing regularly and don't feel nauseous. I can also walk okay. One test is to try to walk a striaght line (heel to toe) because one sypmtom of both illensses is walking like a drunk. In any case I finally got some sleep after 3 or 4 AM and I felt better when I got up. It's easier to breathe when I stand up. I did notice a tingling in my lips and hands from the Diamox. No big deal, it is just one of the side effects of the medicine.
We had a nice trek up to Machhermo with about a 1,000 foot elevation gain. There were lots of fairly flat pasrts along the way and we could see Cho Oyu (the world's 6th highest mountain at 26,906 feet) on and off in front of us, and Kangtaiga and Thamserku on and off behind us. Also across the vally was the trail that trekkers use to get to Everest Base Camp.
We met Lydia, who we had met on the plane to Lukla, on her way down from Machhermo and she told us there was a doctor there who would give a consult for US$25. He works for the International Porters Protection Group which is an organization that provides free medical care to porters and charges a nominal fee to trekkers.
As soon as I got to Machhermo (about noon) I went to see the doctor. He checked my blood oxygen level (like I had done in Manong) and it is at 89 (it was only 85 in Manong). He had me walk a straight line (I did fine) and then he listened to my lungs. They were fine - no crackles which is a sign of pulmonary problems. So all is okay - I just have a terrible cold. He gave me some Vicks cough drops and told me not to take a nap, so hopefully I will sleep better tonight. I will have to take 125 mg of Diamox every 12 hours for the next couple of days, because once you start it you should take it until you are going down to a lower altitude.
We are staying at the Namgyal tea house at 14,468 feet and it is very nice. Great big dining room with lots of windows and much better toilet facilities. Nar's brother-in-law works here as a cook but he left last Friday to go visit his father. A few different people told us the food is good here and the french fries at lunch were delicious.
After lunch, the doctor came into the dining room and talked with Shari and me about his background and the clinic. He isn't a doctor, just a volunteer trained medical worker and he is spending few months volunteering at this clinic. He also leads treks when not volunterring and he and his wife have a tea shop in Kathmandu. He said that Lydia was not well and he would have sent her down yesterday but it was too late in the afternoon for her to start down. Her blood oxygen level was 72 and she had crackles in her lungs. She is young (probably mid-20s) quite fit (she is carrying her own big pack) but she made the mistake of coming up too fast (Phortse to Machhermo) in one day. He said they have treated 11 people this season with altitude sickness and 5 would probably have died without the clinic here. Two were taken out by helicopter and 3 were carried down in baskets.
There are three friends from Denmark (Lotte, Martin and Brie) who are also staying here and we had a nice conversation about traveling. Two of them have been traveling for 9 months and they are on their way home in mid-June. They started their Gokyo trek 20 days ago in Jiri and walked all the way up rather than flying in to Lukla. Martin told me he thinks the best part of the their trek was Jiri to Lukla - very beautiful and not many tourists. They asked Raj (the medical worker) if he was the person that played the guitar (they had heard of him when they were in Gokyo) and he said yes. He plays in various clubs in Kathmandu but he has his guitar with him here and he will play for us after dinner tonight.
This afternoon was pretty much the same as yesterday except no nap for me. I wrote notes, read, figured out my money and Shari, Nar, Singa and Porter 2 played cards. We ate dinner about 6:15 and Raj started playing music during dinner. He sang and played the guitar for about an hour and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him. He played Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon and Garfunkle, John Denver, plus some others. I went to bed about 7:45 and had a much better sleep than the previous night, thanks to the cough drops from Raj.
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