The Stalagmites of Dole

It's up and out.....

Because Dole is 4084m, and because we are rapidly moving into real altitude, so we will only be walking for three or four hours today.  Good old Peregrine ensures that we are as well prepared as can be to finish the trek and for that, we thank them. 

The sky is blue, the air is fresh and we are walking in glorious terrain.  Snow caps peaks rise up into the sky wherever you look. 

Awesome scenery

Today we do the hard yards by climbing steeply up and high above the valley.  All the big mountains are here and to see them first hand is incredible.  We see Kantega (6809m) Thamserku (6623m) and Ama Dablam (6856m) and after an hour’s walking we will see the huge monster of a mountain Cho-Oyo (8153m) right at the end of the valley.  Wow this is something else.

I think we are all feeling OK but I notice that the usually fiery, right and ready Mike is starting to get pretty quiet so he may well be playing the man and not admitting to his symptoms.  Not a wise move in my view.  But today the walk is slow and enjoyable as we stop regularly for drinks and photos. 

We pull into a charming little place.  We sit outside a small eatery and swill down gallons of tang.  I have drunk so much tang at this point it is a wonder I have not turned yellow. 

My G is starting to go yellow himself!

Here the world passes by.  Other trekkers are also resting and we are sure we see the Japanese man who was being carted down on the back of the Sherpa before we reached Namche Bazaar.  He is certainly not heeding to the ‘slow and steady wins the race’ motto that’s for sure! 


Watch out - Yaks and traders on the track

We watch the Tibetan traders selling their wares from huge bags bundled up on the backs. 

The locals haul huge loads

They would have walked from Tibet, a long way from here, but they have business to do and they do it seriously.  The Nepalese women have bracelets for sale but none of us feel like buying anything today. 

We use the settlement toilet, and wish we hadn’t, but when you have got to go, you have go to go!!! All is forgotten when you take in the view..

 
Bliss

Neema has received news that Ian is returning to Lukla and will fly back to Kathmandu.  His journey of trekking these mountains has come to a close, but at least he had managed to get as far as Namche Bazaar, the chosen destination of many climbers.

I have started to notice that Mr G’s hands are turning funny, well awful is the word I should have used!!!!  It is so cold and dry up here that our skin becomes parched and cracked.  Mr  G’s hands have turned into an artwork really.  They look like they have been tattooed with a dark brown criss cross pattern that truly looks repulsive.  I don’t know how he ended up with this horrible looking skin, but thankfully, we are told, it will return to normal when we leave the mountains. I hope so!!

I myself have a sore just above my thumb.  I was bitten by, what I considered to be a bed bug, back at Monjo and the thing is still an open wound and it is darn itchy.  It must be something about being in the open air that will not allow things to heal and I too have to return to Kathmandu before it will heal and I know I will proudly wear my bed bug scar for the rest of my life. 

We set off again and walk along the very beautiful southern end of Goyko Valley.   Here we need to cross frozen waterfall after frozen waterfall. 


A stripe of white..

These milky white stripes glisten in the sunlight and while it is frozen on the top, underneath you can hear the rushing water making its way down to the river.


Here I come.....

Each crossing is a bit of fun and I am sure our guides are less than impressed with our flippant attitudes!!!

 
It's up and up ......

Today is tough though.  I am really noticing the lack of oxygen and am breezing double time already.  I encourage Mr G to drink from my bottle of water to relieve my load but I think if I had nothing in my back pack, I would still be struggling along. 

Looking back the way we have come..

But at this point I am also feeling proud of myself.  I am learning that I can do something quite amazing.  I can agreeably put myself in a position far from help and rely totally on my own determination.  This really is something quite wonderful to learn in life.  To know that you are the one who can quite simply make a difference to your life is something else.

 
Posh Dole accommodation

We walk up over a rise and there in front of us is the small settlement of Dole.  It is sheltered and a number of accommodation buildings are scattered around.  At this time of the season though, ours is the only one open. 


Our accommodation - a home away from home

Our accommodation is not the two storey glamorous looking one on the ridge, ours is the small one storey house looking one in need of repair!

We make ourselves at home in the dining room before handed the keys to our bedroom.  Most of the bedrooms run along the back wall and we score one in the middle.  It is small and already feels icy but peering through the window, what a view. 

Naturally we ask the whereabouts of the toilets. 

There is a hallway that runs along in from of the bedrooms and at the end is a door to the outside.  The kitchen is positioned at the left of the door the kitchen. 

The kitchen water waste outlet is on the left of the step.  Whilst this in itself doesn’t seem that bad, to the right 50 metres down the slope are the two toilets and the route to the toilet is on top of the kitchen water waste that has become a three foot wide strip of black ice. 

Now if you ask me, this would have to simply be the most stupid and ridiculous setup known to man.  So how do you get to the toilet without sliding there!

You step gingerly off the step and move four trembling paces forwards over the ice.  Once on safe ground you can walk reasonably easily to the toilet.  Once there, you again need to step slowly and carefully onto the ice and try to remain upright until you get through the door. 

You do not want to be in urgent need to go let me tell you. 

All thoughts of careful and balance might easily slip from your mind and there where would you be!!!!

These toilets are probably the nicest looking toilets on the outside, but inside is another matter.  When we all look inside, we are shocked.  They are positively disgusting. 

Frozen excrement stalagmites are rearing from the holes in each toilet. What weird people keep going to the toilet over a cone of excrement is all I could think!!!

We call Neema and protest.  We are not going in there.  The mountainside would be the preferred option at this stage.   

We all walk around to the back of the toilet and can see underneath.  This is where the stalagmite begins its journey and its column must have been 8 feet high before it disappears up through the hole and into the toilet cubicle.  

Why I did not take photo of this is still a mystery to me.  Neema has ordered our cooks to get an axe and chop them down and then clean the toilets.  I do not believe the cook understands completely was needs to be done as the toilets are still awful. 

The cone is still visible although I must admit, I would also be fearful of whacking an axe into a frozen stalagmite of excrement at close range.

It's getting dark and dangerous!!!!!

After a meal we roam around the ‘teahouse’ and walk up the nearby hills, yes, to acclimatise.  We know the ropes!!!  We are the only ones staying in Dole tonight plus a young couple who are heading back from Everest.  

This is where the yeti talks begin.  The big evidence is what happened over at Machhermo our next stop, but tonight the Sherpas tell us of Yeti sightings in the area so are already scared..... 

Now going to the toilet in the dead of night is not going to be a fun experience all around.  Not only do you have to contend with the black ice and the awful toilet, you have to avoid contact with the yeti!!

Night comes, and we retire to our rooms.  It is freezing.  I have to keep telling you this so you don’t forget!!!   We get into our sleeping bags and I put my down jacket over the top.  I wear gloves, socks and a beanie.  Then the wind blows up in like gale force proportions.  As it howls around the building, the roof sounds like it is about to be lifted off. 

Yes folks, I need to go to the toilet.  I rattle around and find my portable ablutions container and proceed to go.  Paper thin walls allow the sound to travel and I can hear our next door sleepers dragging on their things.  I secure the lid of my Tupperware container and snuggle back into bed and am ever so thankful I do not have to risk the perilous outdoors!  Not the slick of black ice for me.  Our next door neighbour leaves the door next to kitchen open and the wind spends the next 5 minutes trying to wrench it off its hinges. 

Mr G is not happy as he has tried to prevent night time ablutions and a yeti experience, but the sound of running water has done the trick.  Out the door he stumbles as I ever so politely tell him to make sure to lock the side door!  He is not amused. 

While he is gone I wonder if he might run into a yeti in the paddock, or slip in a patch of black ice or be blown off his feet with the wind.  He arrives safely back in the room with his only complaint that he is frozen.  For the next hour there is a constant banging of the side door as others in the group make their way out into the darkness.  I do feel a tad guilty!

We do a role call in the morning and it is good to see that everyone has safely made it through the night.  The wind has died down and the sky is blue yet again. 

We are so lucky with the weather.  Cold and clear up here, what more could you want.   

Today we are on the trail to Machhermo where there I can relay the real Yeti evidence to you.  I’ll will also tell you why we named the next teahouse the Taj Mahal.

We now wind our way up another 400 metres to more spectacular scenery and trekking experiences.
Click here for Day 8