Journey to Everest Base Camp Day 5-7: Dingboche-Loboche

This is part of a series of posts about traveling to Kathmandu and trekking to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar in the summer of 2014.

Day 5-6: Dingboche
The trek to Dingboche was, again, in the clouds.  Every time I sweat, I felt it wick away from my body as soon as the drop reached the surface of my skin.  At least the elevation gain was mild (4400m, 1312 ft).

The good news is, we were now high enough in elevation to start seeing yaks.  Along the way, we went through a little valley that had many yaks grazing, both young and old.  I had a yak charge at me for getting too close (!) but luckily I got away fast enough and lived to tell the story.

Yaks!

Wondering what I ate every day?  You're in luck, it's pretty easy.

• Breakfast: Vegetable omelette and tea
• Lunch: Veg friend rice or veg fried potatoes
• Dinner: Nepali Set Dinner - lentil soup and rice ("Daal Bhaat"), vegetable curry and a crispy chip.

"Nepali Set Dinner" means the same thing everywhere

A quick note about the weather - it started to get cold in the evening, probably down to freezing (or close to it) in the night.  Luckily because it was the off-season, we were able to ask for two blankets instead of one!  Also I'm not sure if it was the altitude or the cold weather or both, but I started having some wacky dreams about my family, my friends, and my home.

The next day, Ben and I enjoyed our second rest day of the trek.  We went for a short hike, but spent most of the day sitting in the sun and enjoying the glorious views of Ama Dablam.  Ah yes, I must also note that I took a shower.  Glorious.

Day 7: Loboche
The terrain to Loboche was very different than anything we had seen before - Ben called it a "moon-scape."  True to the name, the hills around us had sweeping fields of little bushes evenly spaced with a brown grass covering in between.  We also started to see many glacier-carved rocks and boulders as we reached Loboche.  Another fun fact: I fell on a stone bridge (luckily onto the bridge and not into the water).  I was fine, but my leg had some pretty large and colorful bruises because of it.

In Loboche, I experienced my first real wave of fatigue due to the altitude.  I had been hyper-sensitive throughout the whole trek, trying to detect any signs of AMS early on, but so far both Ben and I were healthy.  At this point, I was drinking 4-5 L water per day!  When we arrived, I feel so tired, like the flu had knocked all the energy out of me.  More water and an afternoon nap helped, but this was a good reminder to me to be extra careful in the high altitudes.

I <3 prayer flags.  You wouldn't believe how many pictures I have with prayer flags

Our Tea House in Loboche

An example of our "glacier" landscape

Another yak

Onward!