Day 5: Dingboche

15 April2007
Dingboche, 4,350 metres, 16.15pm

It's snowing, but only lightly. Clouds have covered the surrounding peaks and it's bitterly cold without the sun.

I made acceptable time again. Tengboche-Pangboche was 1 hour 50 minutes while Pangboche to Dingboche was 2 hours 50 minutes.

I'm finding it easier to negotiate the steep uphills and, to some extent, even the stone steps.

I met Pasang and his family (in the photo) at Pangboche and delivered a copy of Himalayan Dreams. They watched it while I ate lunch and had a laugh. Pasang's son recognised me as soon as he saw me and they woke up their new baby daughter so that I could take a photo to show Muha.

Pasang has a lodge in Dzongla, on the route to the Cho La Pass. He said I can hire a porter there. I'm seriously considering doing the pass, but everything will depend on how I feel and do further up, and snow conditions on the pass.

In Dingboche, I have the lodge all to myself, a welcome change after having had a to squeeze myself into a tiny kitchen in Tengboche last night with noisy trekkers.

So far I seem to be doing well, but the altitude here is well above 4,000 metres. It was here that I got symptoms of altitude sickness back in 1994. Last time, because we stayed two nights in Pangboche before coming here I didn't really feel any symptoms of altitude sickness.