We also saw the national bird called panphe. It is very pretty with nice iridescent colors. There were also mountain goats down below.
I am waiting for my dinner of fried rice and cheese. They don't have much to choose from for dinner. I hope I like it, else I will have to eat my peanut butter.
May 25, 2003
Last night was probably the best nights sleep that I have had in a long time. It felt good. I got up once to use the privy that was downstairs and outside. After Namche we have not found flushed toilets, just privys. There aren't any sinks to wash either. It seems that the people don't have the easy access of water here like they did in Annapurna. They go down to the river to get water. They put it in large containers and tote it all the way back to the homes.
Laurie's cough sounds pretty bad. We talked about it this morning because we were thinking that with the lungs congested it would be bad to go up in altitude. We talked to Nar. She thought about staying and having me go ahead. If it was only a couple of days I would have thought about it. I didn't want to leave her there for a long time because it would be so boring for her.
We decided to go on. Dole, the next village, at 13,304, was going to be a short walk. We left about 8:30. The views were great this morning. Thankfully for good views in the morning because we don't get them for long.
We were able to see the mountains, Kangtaige, Thamserka, Machems, and ChoOyu. ChoOyu is the sixth highest peak around.
Again the walk was all the way down to the river and then up the other side. The walk was pleasant, through the rhododendrum forest.
I arrived at the teahouse about 10:30. Another short day. I am glad it was short because it was getting colder and looked like it might rain. I had a nice afternoon. I sewed some patches on my pack, I read, and then I played cards with Nar, Singa, and Porter #1. I finally won one of the games. It is fun playing with them. They don't take it seriously and we joke around and laugh.
It is 5:30 and I am sitting in the dining room writing. We have the wood stove going. They used yak dung as a fire starter. They just go out in the yard and pick it up off the ground.
Dinner is at 6:30 and I and am having macroni and cheese. It certainly won't be like Kraft's, but hopefully it will be good. My dinner last night wasn't so good. Luckily I have candy bars to fill me up.
May 26, 2003
Last night was not the best for sleeping. Laurie and I were coughing all night. Then about 2:00 am Laurie woke up and I felt like she couldn't breathe. I got my book out to read about AMS and HAPE. We have been worried about her lungs with her cough. She ended up taking a Diamux. It said it should help her breathing and any signs of AMS. She didn't really have any other symptoms.
In the morning we asked Nar if we could get up a little later than usual. We got up about 7:00, on the trail about 8:00.
It was a good walk, all exposed. Good views of some of the mountains. It is neat to see such large jagged mountains all around us. I walked slowly to make sure Laurie was doing OK.
We ran into a girl that we met on the plane to Lukla. She was on her way down. She was in Machermo and was having problems with altitude. She said there was a doctor there and he checked her lungs and oxygen level. He told her to go down because her oxygen level was low and he heard crackle in her lungs.
Laurie and I were both happy to hear that there was a doctor. He could tell her if she was okay to go on.
We found out that he really wasn't a doctor, but someone trained in first aid. He is a volunteer here and has been her 2 1/2 months. He checked out Laurie and said she just had a cold and her oxygen level and lungs were fine. That was a relief. We have only two more days to climb. We are at 14,468 right now in Machermo. Tomorrow we will hike to 15,584 and the next to 17,519. If we make it through that, we are on our way down.
We are staying at the Namgyal Lodge. It is nice and they have a nice dining room. Most of the dining rooms that we have been in this area have been nice. Nar's brother-in-law is the cook here but he left a couple of days ago to go visit his father. We got here about 1:30 and had another relaxing day. It will be bad when I really have to hike.
I forgot to mention something that happened. Shortly after the medical volunteer saw Laurie, a young man came in the dining room where the medical volunteer was. He was on his way to Gokyo and he got bit by a dog. His pants were chewed and the bite puntured the skin. This made Laurie and me nervous because the dogs here don't get shots for rabies and Laurie and I didn't get shots for them before we left. Hopefully we will not see the dog on our way up tomorrow.
Right now I am laying in the dining room on the benches. I ate dinner and I am listening to the volunteer play the guitar and sing. I didn't mention that he is from India, but he is part Nepalese. He is singing American songs. I don't know them but they sound familiar. It is very nice to listen to someone play music.
May 27, 2003
Today was the best day since I have been trekking. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. Mountains, surrounding us, such as Cholatse and Taboche Peak, both over 21,000 feet. We gained about 1100 feet in elevation, but it wasn't a real tough day. I took lots of pictures because it was so beautiful and the sky was mostly clear. It has been clouding up early in the morning so we were lucky today.
