Today was a bitch. I know I said it a couple of days ago, but today really was one. The knee felt pretty good when I woke up -- whatever Dana did to it really did the trick. So this morning, we packed up our gear, ate breakfast and headed back up above Namche where we had been the day before. This time we followed the ridge on the trail that you can see in my video. It was stunning. There were beautiful mountain views, passed a couple of stupas, many prayer flags, and countless yaks. After an hour or so, we dropped back down the ridge to the river. After a lunch stop, we crossed the river and headed up the ridge -- another 2 hours up. This time it wasn't straight up. That would be too easy. This time it was so steep that there were switchbacks all the way to the top. At one point, Irene was about 1 minute ahead of me (yes, I timed it), yet she was a switchback up and thus about 30 feet above me. And, of course, the knee swelled up again. It just sucked. When you get to the top, there's a row of prayer wheels (and I spun everyone of them in thanks) and a beautiful arch welcoming you to Tengboche (12,690 ft.).
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| Tengboche Monestary Entrace |
Tengboche is an extremely small village with a beautiful monestary and amazing views of the mountains, especially Lhotse and Everest. As I walked to the right of the arch to our lodge, a train of real yaks and several monk walking by. After a "shower" (bucket of hot water), I went to the monestary, which was about 40 yards away. They had blown their conch shells and opened the doors for tourists and allowed us to watch a prayer session. Both the monestary and the prayers were stunning. The way in which they changed their mantras sounded like music. No flash or video allowed, so I couldn't take pictures of it.
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| View from Monestary toward our lodge |
The internet cafe was locked up, but I found Dana and Krista next door at the bakery. Who knew that chocolate rum cake could be so good? Seriously, it was some of the best stuff that I've ever had. But it gets better, while waiting for our dinner, Bogdan bundled up and walked over to get some bread for the morning. Krista asked for some sourdough, which she had seen on the menu earlier. Bogdan was gone for quite a while, but when he came back, he had 2 loaves of hot sourdough fresh out of the oven. Krista was really cold and the bread was in a plastic bag, so she put a loaf down the front of her coat to warm up. We all took turns with it, and eventually ate both loaves. With the yak butter that Kopil grabbed from the kitchen, we all feasted, including our porters. Sometimes the simplest things are the absolute best.
After dinner, Bogdan mentioned how beautiful the stars were that night. Even though I was cold inside with a fire, I decided to brave it and go outside for a look. He was right -- absolutely stunning. I've seen stars at sea, in the Sierras, and in the dessert, but I have never seen the Milky Way so vividly nor seen so many stars. And the mountains were outlined so nicely in the starlight. So wishing I had a tripod so that I could get a good picture. It was truly cold though. I didn't last long.
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