in search of Sagarmatha - dead end

err.. ok so where did i leave off the last time?

oh ya - dingboche.

so anyway, the snowstorm eventually did clear, but only after 3 days of non-stop snow, and only after i was already prepared to throw in the towel and head back down.

the walk became progressively difficult at this point. firstly, trudging through calf-deep snow was not really easy, especially when the snow by now had completely covered the dirt track which i had been following thus far, so effectively i was as good as walking blind. secondly, it became more and more difficult to breathe due to the thinning of the air, and lastly, windchill became stronger.

luckily i had lukhpa, my nepali porter-guide to lead the way. at times the fog got so bad it was almost impossible to make out anything beyond a 10m radius, but yet we plodded on, with him stumbling at the front, and me following in his footsteps.

forging ahead

i guess it was really amazing then, that we finally made it to gorak shep, the village right at the khumbu icefall, at the foothills of Everest.

khumbu icefall. huge valley of blue ice.

- to be continued -