We started today at 7 am. The dining room is again packed with trekkers from other groups. We realize again how big this guest house is, it comprises two buildings of several stories with bedrooms, kitchen, shops, several dining rooms.
Today, my choice is porridge with apple, raisins and cinnamon. At the outside I see the porters, young guys, getting ready with the bags. I don’t know what words to offer them although they always have a smile ready on their faces.
Afterwards we set up, as always, Jotta on the front, but soon we find the crossroads where we part ways.
Jetta, David and Mónica go downwards towards Tengbuche while Sonam, Tundu, L., T., X. and me start to ascend. The path is narrower, a trail now, and it goes higher and higher leading us to what is for me of the more beautiful sights on earth.
The valley below takes on several kind of greens depending on the trees that populate the sides of the hills. On our front, where I expected to see the sky, I see the biggest mountains, valley and what is from this distance, a line, the river. The pictures I take can’t capture this.
In my thoughts I compare this to the views of Rivendell from LOTR although now this is bigger and everywhere.
Several times we cross some other porters, and some people herding baby yaks so we must be careful and step aside.
At the top we have some masala team, although what I am trying to get into myself is this beautiful sight.
On the way below, Tundu tells me that he is going to a school to get a degree for medicine and english. He is going to start his second year after this month of trekking when he will earn some money. He wants to continue being a trekking guide after his studies.
The ascensions take again the breath out of me, however Sonam tells us that today we finish at 11:30 am so we have time to rest.
At the “Namaste Lodge”, I buy another 200MB card from the Everest Link company for 600 rupees (around 6€) and I take the chance to talk to people back home and send some pictures. To my surprise it only lasted 5 minutes.
The owner of the lodge presents me a book from 1979 about an expedition from Navarra where he participated. He is very friendly, the same as the rest of the family and later on, he gave me a notebook.
The brother of the owner is also in the lodge with his two daughters and one son. They seem to half-nepali, born in the USA and living in the Netherlands. There are also 3 climbers from the States, young men, two of them dedicated to it professionally and staying here for a couple of months.
The other one lives in Bolivia as an economist.
I take the chance to learn more nepali with Tundu and to speak about climbing techniques and crampons with L.
T. is reading a book and X. preferred again to sleep than to have dinner.
Wht a wonderful family time. I glance some times over the family and caught them laughing when someone says “one” and I raise my head and the father poking with the elbow to the daughter. Sonam tells me that she knows spanish and the father wanted her to practice.