Where to today: Dingboche (4,410m) --> Lobuche (4,900m)
Where are we sleeping: Lobuche (4,900m)
How do we get there: By foot
Today was an extremely eventful day, and not particularly good day. Although I now feel 100% better, Bobby was extremely sick and had been up all night vomiting and going to the toilet. He said that he hadn't been able to sleep at all. In addition as we were standing outside our lodge this morning video taping the scenery and each other, Bobby came out and started to vomit. An insensitive Ben got it all on video! Despite these symptoms Bobby decided he wanted to press on and make the journey to Lobuche. About 1 hour into the trek however we had to stop for Bobby to rest. At this point Dorchi pulled Ben aside to have a chat and asked whether our travel insurance policy covered helicopter rescue...
You would not believe what just happened. It's late afternoon, and I was writing this journal in the room I share with Ben, I heard loud banging, people running and ladies screaming. I looked out the window and thought that either a landslide was happening or the building was collapsing. Either thought was extremely feasible given that you can commonly see large cuts in the mountains from landslides, and given that all lodges here are made from plywood that creaks whenever you make the slightest move. You can honestly hear people coughing and even farting in neighbouring rooms.
I quickly ran to the boys' room opposite mine and asked what was going on! They quickly informed me that a fire in the kitchen in the building next to us had broken out. I looked out their window and could see smoke pouring from the kitchen. I quickly ran back into my room and woke up Ben who was taking a granny nap and told him to get up and run! I told him to take our essentials (passport, money and our shoes) and quickly get outside.
When we reached outside we heard and saw two women wailing and thrashing their arms about. At first I thought they had gotten burned from the fire and were in pain. But upon closer observation I realised that they were the owners, who were sadly watching their beloved kitchen and livelihood go up in flames (I later learned these two women were 2 out of the 5 wives the owner had!). Dozens of Nepalese men and a few foreigners were racing from down the hill up to the kitchen carrying large plastic tubs of water to douse out the flames. All the while the two women were still wailing and screaming, whilst being comforted by two foreign women. After about 20 minutes the smoke and flames subsided and we all slowly and cautiously made our way back into our rooms.
Because of the fire that broke out, the people that were originally going to sleep in the dining area next to the kitchen had to be shoved into any spare beds in our lodge's rooms. It now means that Josh, Matt, Ben and myself are all now sharing a 3 bedder lodge. Ben and I will awkwardly be sharing a single bed. I doubt I will get much sleep tonight.
Going back to my story of Bobby...after a lengthy discussion, he then made the hard decision to not continue the trek, but start heading down. He would be going back down to Pangboche with one of our porters, Punari. We said our farewells and watched Bobby walk off into the distance. It was quite a disheartening sight.
Bobby fading into the distance
About 30 minutes after we said goodbye to Bobby, Ben suddenly had to stop, and had to vomit. It was a sad realisation that altitude sickness had also gotten to Ben. From that point on Ben really struggled up the mountain. We took regular breaks and drink stops. I was very proud of him though, as he made it all the way to Lobuche. Once we went reached Lobuche, Ben went straight to bed and didn't eat lunch, and only had a few spoonfuls of rice and spam for dinner. He was also vomiting again in the room. Luckily a plastic bag was handy.
Right now I am sitting on the bed and Ben is lying down. He looks absolutely exhausted. I feel sad because I wanted to experience this journey to Kala Pathar/Everest Base Camp as a couple. If Ben doesn't feel better in the morning, Matt, Josh and I will need to take the trip to Kala Pathar in 1 day. From here, it is normally a 2 day trip. We will have to skip going to Everest Base Camp. Dorchi says the view at Kala Pathar is more spectacular anyway, because you can actually see Mt Everest. Dorchi has made this change in plan because Ben cannot climb any further and Dorchi does not want to leave Ben alone here in Lobuche for 1 night without supervision.
The hike to Kala Pathar takes 8 hours return and we leave at 5:30am. Help us Lord!
Ben and I walking to Lobuche
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