To Dingboche!

After two extra days in Pangboche due to the head-cold I caught we returned to the trail today for a short, 2 1/2 hour hike up to Dingboche. With each day, Everest and Lhotse get closer and the terrain gets more awe-inspiring!

We are now firmly into the Alpine zone - there are no more trees, but believe it or not, a lot of the scrub that's covering the ground is actually incense! In spring when it is blooming apparently the whole area smells of it, can you imagine? There are also large numbers of white rhododendron, not blooming now of course but what a combination, white rhododendron blossoms and incense. I really must come back in spring!

I am still recovering from the cold - it has definitely sapped my energy; it was tough getting up here but it felt really good at the same time. Tomorrow we go to Lobuche - ever higher!

Where are all the videos?

You may be wondering why you are seeing only still images and not videos - this is simply a factor of the reality that the WiFi available generally doesn’t give sufficient bandwidth for me to upload videos without it taking hours to do, and the second issue is that the processing of the videos pre-upload runs the battery of my trusty MacBook Air down quite quickly, especially given the cold temperatures and recharging up here takes hours longer in general than it does to run the batteries down! But don’t worry, once I get back to Kathmandu I’ll catch you all up; trust me when I tell you that my rudimentary video shooting skills are more than made up for by the outrageous beauty of the landscape.  It will be worth the wait :)