Another day, another bakery, this time at 12,600' in Tengboche. We all have our own measures of success, ours has become achieving the next piece of chocolate cake.
It was a beautiful hike along the river surrounded by Rhododendron trees. After my favorite lunch in a teahouse, fried rice and a hard boiled egg, we ascended 1,600' from the river to Tengboche. The famous Tengboche monastery burnt to the ground in 1989 soon after electricity was installed and was then rebuilt. Fortunately, most of the priceless old books and paintings were saved.
One of the biggest challenges for climbers is to stay healthy. As we started our hike this morning we watched a helicopter land. Then a trekker from another team was escorted to the helicopter while wearing an oxygen mask suffering from mountain sickness. His trek was over and descending was paramount. That is one reason we trek one day to a new altitude and then rest for a day. This allows our bodies to slowly acclimatize to the thinner air.
Now, we are resting comfortably in our teahouse in Deboche listening to each others’ climbing stories and everyone’s' past adventures.
Seven more days to Everest base camp!
Susan Ershler
International Speaker
Ershler International
425-889-2333
