My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Goechala trek conclusion (Kokchurong – Bakhim – Yuksom)

It is day 7 of the trek, May 13, 2014. I am extra motivated to get down to lower altitude as my face is swollen, most likely as a result of the high altitude. We are still high in Kokchurong at approximately 3,725m (12,200ft). Today, we will retrace our steps - omitting Dzongri - and heading directly for Phedang (3,650m, 12,000ft), then Tsokha (2,900m, 9,500ft), then Bakhim (2,750m, 9,022ft) for the night.

Toward Phedang

The descent is much easier but it requires concentration as it is not always down. There are still stretches of steep climbs up. The weather is misty and cool as we reach Phedang. I recall how I was here just a couple days ago, so tired, with Dzongri still ahead. This time, the hut is packed with trekkers passing through. Now I see where the path forks - one path to Dzongri, the other path to Kokchurong. I am relieved that I am not the one headed for Dzongri. We take a short lunch break, and have some tea. It is cloudy, but my sunglasses stay on. I don’t want to scare anyone with my puffy eyes.

Leaving Phedang, right away we meet with a steep decline. And a steep incline for those coming up. They are climbing with effort, and taking frequent breaks. I know what's going through their minds. Ahh, I, on the other hand, am going down. As we get closer to Tsokha, the clouds get thicker, and it starts raining. I stop to take my jacket out. Now, the climb down becomes muddy and slippery. I wouldn’t want to be climbing up in the rain. We are approaching the fresh green trees of the lower altitude. We pass through Tsokha. Some people have set up their tents. We are only passing through. It continues to rain on and off.

Tsokha

We reach Bakhim in the early afternoon. It is cloudy, rainy, and damp. This time we will not be camping outside. We leave our things inside the hut, but the hut is no hotel, where you can unwind, take a shower, and fall asleep on a comfortable bed underneath a warm blanket. I look forward to washing myself properly from head to toe. Just one more day.

Resting at Bakhim

We go down a little bit to a “restaurant.” It is a village house with a kitchen, and an outdoor table with the most incredible view. The clouds are so close. We could almost touch them. We rest there and occasionally warm our hands by the outdoor fire or in the kitchen. Time passes slowly when you’re not trekking. It is dusk now and our yaks and porters have arrived. Our cook will be making dinner on a portable gas stove inside the hut. I try to warm my face with a bowl of hot soup. It feels good, and my facial swelling seems to have almost disappeared. I feel relieved.

I make a toilet stop before going to bed. It is muddy from the rains, and dark now. I am happy that I don’t have to go too far for privacy. As I pull my pants up, I feel something gummy and slick on my lower back. What is it. I feel it again. Is it some bump? What is happening. First, the facial swelling, and now? I am semi-amused. I get back up to our room, and take a wet wipe to get a hold of whatever it is. And it is a little leach. You little sucker. I laugh to myself, happy that I found the guy on me in the first place.

Beds at Bakhim hut

The beds are hard, but I fall asleep without a problem. I am up with the sunrise. I grab my mirror to check out my face. The swelling and puffiness are back. Grr. Sunglasses go back on. I pack up. We eat breakfast. I am ready. It is a beautiful, fresh and sunny morning. I am feeling slightly nostalgic. This is it, the last day, the last stretch. We will be back at Yuksom around noon. The view here is fantastic.

Ravi at Bakhim looking toward Yuksom

We pass over the four familiar bridges, and I notice that the rains have changed the landscape. It must have been raining here very hard. I see mud slides and rock slides along the river bed. We pass a few fellow trekkers. They are busy doing something on the side of the path. Ravi finds out that they had buried some of their belongings here in plastic bags because they were too heavy of a load. They recovered their bundles without a problem. Good idea. I wish I had done that.

Rock slide over Prek Chu River near Yuksom

At last, I know we are getting closer to the end. The evergreen trees seem farther away, and I feel civilization looming nearby. It is not as silent and still as it was higher up. As we approach the welcome sign to the Khangchendzonga National Park, two porters with heavy blue barrels pass us by. The porters are amazingly strong. Each barrel probably weighs a good 25kg (55lb), maybe more, while I was “dying” under the weight of my, at most, 10kg (20lb) pack. And they are headed up.

Goechala trek porters on their way up

We rest one more time, have some water, and biscuits. This is it. We have finished. I did it, and I can’t wait to take a proper shower. Later on in the day, as we roam around Yuksom, we run into a group of young men, who were on their way up to Goechala at Bakhim. They couldn’t have made it all the way to Goechala and back in such a short period of time. It turns out that they decided to turn around. I am so happy that I got to do the full trek. I wonder if I will ever be back.

If you would like to trek with Ravi, you can get in touch with him at ravi4urajmishra@gmail.com - or on his Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/ravi4urajmishra or https://www.facebook.com/pages/RockRope-Adventures/845301602199466

Me at Yuksom
Until next time friends!

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: What has happened to my face?! (Kokchurong)

We are spending the night at the Kokchurong hut. We sleep in our sleeping bags on the wooden floor. I wake in the middle of the night, and feel fluid on my cheek. Is my eye watering? I wipe off the fluid. I don’t feel any pain. It will have to wait until morning. It is too dark to see anything.

Yaks arriving at Kokchurong

The sun is rising, and I feel my cheek. Something isn’t right. It feels puffy, swollen. First, I grab my contacts so I can see. It is a chore getting them in. My eyes are swollen nearly shut. The right side is worse than the left. Somehow I manage to get my contacts in, and look for my mirror. I haven’t seen my face in days. I am too afraid to look.

Rhododendron at Kokchurong

I look. Oh dear God! Has something bit me? Maybe a spider. I had a spider bite once on the leg, but I don’t see any bite marks, and there is no itching. Once a bee bit me in the face when I was little, and my face swelled up, but it also hurt. My eyes are swollen beyond belief. I have never experienced this type of swelling. I have had a swollen ankle, but this puffiness is to the n-th degree. I look like a blowfish. It must be an allergy, but I am not allergic to anything really. Maybe it’s the trees.

Trees at Kokchurong

Everyone is still asleep. I’m having a mini panic attack. Ravi stirs awake, and looks my face over. He says very calmly, it’s a cold allergy. What? But, I’m not allergic to the cold, I think to myself. I live in Chicago. I’ve felt arctic winds on my face before, and I have never experienced anything like this. Whatever it is, I try to look through my medicine for anything that might be of use. All my aspirin is nearly gone. I find antihistamine. It's good for allergies. I take it.

Prek Chu River, Kokchurong

I say to Ravi, but I look awful. He says put your sunglasses on. Right. I will be wearing them morning to night. I should have taken a photo at this moment for documentary purposes. The swelling will take two days to go down, and we will have finished the trek.

Ravi at Kokchurong

On a side note, after the trek, I did some research, and I arrived at the conclusion that I suffered from facial edema. See a case study here, which seems to match the conditions I experienced almost exactly: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1708-8305.2008.00192.x/full

I suffered from facial swelling due to too rapid ascent in altitude for my body. Swelling may occur in arms, legs, and face. In retrospect, upon examining some of my photos, I believe the swelling began at Dzongri, which is at the altitude of 3,950m or 13,000ft. This is the same altitude as the lady from the case study who developed her facial edema while ascending Mt Kilimanjaro.

Prek Chu River, Kokchurong

I am super motivated to get down to lower altitude since I suspect it could be related to my facial swelling. Vanity. It can also motivate. Goodbye Kokchurong!

Next: Phedang – Tsokha – Bakhim.

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Goecha La – Lamuney – Kokchurong

We continue on from Samiti Lake. We haven’t gained that much in altitude. We are at 4,300m (14,100ft) and the steepest climb is yet to come. We will make it to 5,000m (16,400ft).

The closer we get, the harder it gets. I try not to think how long it will take. I will get there. It becomes more difficult to breathe and I have to take frequent breaks. Everyone is moving in slow motion. It is as if we are on the moon. I develop a headache and stop to take an aspirin. Everyone is spread far apart, but I can see people in front of me - up above - and behind me - below. We keep at it, step by step.

The sun is rising. I walk in segments and rest. And walk and rest. One last tough incline, and I am there. Ravi has reached it. Others from our group are already there, celebrating and taking photos. I made it. Amazing. My face is numb and my nose is runny. I am so numb from the cold, I can’t feel my nose dripping.

Me - Pankaj Hotchandani - Ravi Raj Mishra
in front of Mt Khangchendzonga
(Photo by Varoon Desai)

I made it. Even our fellow trekkers’ - Pankaj and Varoon's - dog who has followed them all along the trek has made it to the top. The dog doesn’t belong to anyone. He follows the trekkers and lives off the food shared with him. I bet he’s done this many times and could be a guide by now.

Good dog!
(Photo by Pankaj or Varoon)

I take out my thermos and we share the hot tea. The hot liquid feels good. I feel good, and I am so grateful that high altitude sickness has not affected me. I try to let this moment sink in. I try to memorize the view. I am in the presence of majestic Mount Khangchendzonga. She is a sacred mountain to the local people, and is the 3rd highest mountain in the world, with an elevation of 8,586m (28,169ft).

The descent is so much easier but very steep, requiring focus. There is some snow on the ground but not deep. We go back the same way we came. We reach Lake Samiti again. I must say, she is my favorite attraction on this trek. This time she is in hues of blue ranging from lightest blue to azure to emerald green. The sun is out and it feels so nice to warm up. I feel radiant inside. I don’t want this feeling to pass.

Lake Samiti

As we approach Lamuney, we come across sections of what looks like piles of rocks to me. But they are sacred tablets with ancient writing – prayers etched into them. I am fascinated by these ancient stones. I wonder who brought them and why. They look heavy. It wouldn’t have been an easy task.

Sacred stones near Lamuney

We reach Lamuney camp by 9:00 a.m. I am relaxed and relieved. Fellow trekkers come out to congratulate us. It hits me just now that I accomplished something special. We rest outside in the sun. I even fall asleep a bit. We have been up since 3:00 a.m.

We pack it up and return to Thansing. It is an easy hike. We gather up all the things we have left overnight at the hut and head back for Kokchurong. We are back to the rocky path of ancient boulders. It is much easier on the way down. We reach Kokchurong in the afternoon. It is cool and damp here. The Prek Chu river flows next to us.

I rest in the hut, and keep scrolling through the pictures I have taken so far. I try to figure out when was the last time that I communicated with the outside world. It has been 5 days. We go to sleep. From Kokchurong, we will bypass Dzongri and go straight to Phedang to Tsokha to Bakhim, all in one day.

Next: What has happened to my face?! (Kokchurong – Phedang – Tsokha – Bakhim)

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Thansing – Lamuney – Lake Samiti

Today is Sunday, May 11, 2014. We have spent the night at Thansing, inside the hut. First thing in the morning, Ravi takes me for a closer view of the great Kangchendzonga. We hike for a bit, and there she is, lighted up by the morning sun. A grand beauty. So breathtaking.

Ravi and Mt Kangchendzonga

The weather is nicer today with the sun out. We relax. The hike from Thansing to Lamuney is short and easy compared to all the other stretches. This is also because we leave most of our gear at the hut in Thansing. The groundskeeper keeps the room for us under lock and key.

Lamuney is a wide open field with a small hut. We have brought two of our tents with us. Evening approaches and it is chilly. There is the six of us, and there are also two other groups of trekkers – a team of two and another team of six to eight, all young men.

The cooks begin to make dinner and I try to keep warm. It’s not easy to stay warm if you’re not moving. We hang out on a wooden ledge in the hut, which is used by the cooks and porters as a sleeping area. A few of them are taking a nap right now.

After sunset, temperatures drop, and it begins to snow. We are scheduled to leave at 3:30 a.m. to make our final ascent. I wonder to myself if the snow will stop, and whether we will go at all. What if we get snowed in, I wonder. We stay inside the hut, all huddled up on the ledge - our bed. We fall asleep.

We have taken the cooks’ and porters’ sleeping area. They are the nicest and kindest people I have ever met. Humble and patient - they make these treks possible. They sleep on the ground below us. It is a cold and windy night. I am in and out of sleep. It is silent except for the howling wind. Everyone is wrapped up like a mummy. Forget about using the toilet right now.

Me - ready for Goecha La

I wake when the cooks stir to make tea and breakfast for us. It is almost 3:00 a.m. Ravi goes outside to check out the snow. It has stopped snowing. There is little accumulation, and we can proceed. Our cook pours some tea into my thermos. I will take it with me.

I have all possible layers of clothing on me, and I still feel the chill. I take my cross-body bag with my camera, aspirin, and thermos inside. I am ready to go, mostly because it is so cold and I want to get moving. The moon is out, and I feel giddy with nervous anticipation.

Samiti Lake

We walk across the open Lamuney field and start climbing - cautiously. We will ascend from 4,300m (14,100ft) to 5,000m (16,400ft) within 3.5 hours. It is 4:00 a.m. It is dark, cold, and the path is narrow and rocky. It is hard work, reminding me of the tough climb to Dzongri.

We pass Samiti Lake. A little treasure sleeping nestled among some hills. It is a shade of cool blue before the sunrise. I stop to admire the view.

Next: Goecha La – Lamuney – Kokchurong.

Unhappy with being unhappy, and what this had to do with my Himalayan trekking adventure

And the time came when I would have to become a bit of a philosopher in my life. I never liked the subject in college. I didn’t understand any of it. And it made me unhappy. But, seriously, I wanted to know, how to be happy.

I asked myself, what makes me happy? Nothing. Really, I’ve got nothing. Let me look up the definition. Happy, according to Google, is when you feel pleasure or contentment. Hmm. Physical type of pleasure, as in a happy ending? Oh dear. So then happiness must be temporary.

Contentment, that does not sound like happiness to me. Smiling, that’s a sign of happiness. What makes me smile? A raise. Winning the lottery. A new car. Oh boy, this happiness is just plain sad.

Let’s go back to the definition and see what the synonyms reveal: cheerful, merry, joyful. Ok, yes, I feel happiness there.

Let’s keep going: carefree, untroubled. Yes, I think that’s more like it. And more: in good spirits, lighthearted, buoyant, radiant, sunny! Wow, I want happiness. Now!

And we have more: thrilled, elated, exhilarated. And even more: in seventh heaven, on cloud nine, on top of the world! Yes, that’s happy! How do I get it?!

The human being loves signs and symbols. A concept immediately understood. No explanation necessary. On top of the world. Me – on top of the world. Happiness. I must go . . . trekking in the Himalaya.

So, I went. You know how they say, money doesn’t bring you happiness. I had an inkling by now that this must be true. Happiness isn’t outside of me at all. It isn’t more money. Then where is it?

It is a care-free, un-troubled, light-hearted state of mind. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have troubles, like a rusty car, a leaky faucet, a broken tooth, or a broken heart. So long as I attempt to reach that point where everything is “whole” again, happiness will continue to elude me.

Everything is in constant flux. We know about atoms. Constant movement. Earth revolves. Seasons change. I change. I cannot keep things unchanged. In fact, keeping things the same, means life cannot continue. It stops.

Goecha La: On top of the world

So, when I try to control things, that’s when I cause my own unhappiness. I cut myself off from the natural flow of things. I constrain. I block. I stop growing. In order to be happy, there must be change, revolution and evolution in my life. Movement, flexibility, flow.

Although I did pursue happiness symbolically by trekking the Himalaya, I know I don’t need to be physically present there to be happy. But then again, maybe happiness is a physical experience too, like a breath of fresh air. A constant renewal.

Yes, happiness is a state of mind . . . body and spirit.

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Dzongri – Kokchurong – Thansing

It is Saturday, May 10, 2014 - the fourth day of our trek. I am not in tune with the days as prescribed by the calendar though. That it’s the weekend, has no meaning to me. I have no deadlines. I am up with the sunrise, and what matters is that we make it to our destination before sunset. I like this break from stiff work hours.

We have breakfast, and the usual accompanying beverage of chai - hot milk and tea. We pack up and tidy up trying not to leave any trash behind. I wrap my knee for extra support, and I am ready to go. Ah, and don’t forget the backpack. It’s back on. Today, we are headed for Thansing via Kokchurong. It will be a 4 to 6 hour trek at approximately the same altitude. 

I start my day off by tripping over some ropes which tie together a couple of mules. My pack pulls me forward as I fall, but I am okay. Get up and keep going. The ascent here is minimal compared to the other two days. We are trekking through an open hillside. I realize at some point that Ravi and another member of our group have separated from the rest of us, and I have separated from the remainder. I know I can’t catch up with Ravi. I look back, no one is there. I look around and I wonder if I’m on the right path.

It is different here. I am in the middle of an open field, and there is more than one path. I keep going, I hear the familiar jingling of bells, and I see a herd of yaks coming my way. I figure I’m going in the right direction, but I am not certain. I don’t want to keep going by myself. Just to be sure, I stop and wait for the rest of my group to catch up. I rest next to a big boulder and have some water, hoping I will see them soon. I tell myself, they will be here soon.

Kokchurong

A few minutes and a few yaks later, thank goodness, I see them. I am relieved. Trekking is as much an individual challenge as it is a team effort. You can only trek as fast as the slowest person. We pick up again and move on. It is a long and steep climb down to Prek Chu River requiring focus. We descend over big rocks and windy corridors. I have learned that where there is a descent, there will soon be an ascent. We reach Kokchurong. 

It turns out that we have missed Ravi. We rest, have some water and snacks, take a few photos, and get ready to move when Ravi shows up. He has gone to Thansing, left his pack, and has come back to meet us. We get going again. We cross the river over a bridge and begin the next section of our trek.

It will be a shorter hike, but it will be a little more challenging. We will be trekking through oversized ancient boulders, and a misty forest of trees tall like skyscrapers, or maybe they just seem that way. I feel like I am in a magical Himalayan forest. It is another world indeed.

It is a tiring trek up to Thansing over many rocks of various sizes. It is cool and damp here, but we stay warm from the effort. I get a headache and try to remember where I may have put my medicine. I have to take my pack off and search through all the pockets. Frustrating. Finally, found it. Strap the pack back on, and get going again.

The "mammoth" boulder

A boulder draped in brown moss welcomes us to Thansing. It looks like a mammoth to me. It is much taller than I am. We make our way to the wooden hut where we’ll be spending the night, and unload our things. The six of us will be sharing one room. There are other rooms in this hut, and other trekkers are staying here. There isn’t much to do except hang out. It is cloudy and chilly, and you have to keep moving to stay warm. We have a nice close up view of Mount Pandim from this location.

Mt Pandim from Thansing

Some of us are attracted to the kitchen which is in a nearby hut. The cooks have started a fire. We huddle around and warm up. The smoke permeates our clothing. It is nice to get the chill out. After dinner, we get ready for bed and get all wrapped up in our sleeping bags. The night is chilly. Tomorrow, we head for Lamuney, our last camp before we hike up to Goecha La – the highest point and the highlight of the trek.

Next: Lamuney – Goecha La – Thansing

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Dzongri – A day of rest

Today is Friday, May 9, 2014. It is the third day of our trek. We have reached Dzongri. Altitude: 3,950m or 13,000ft. The campground is wide open, set amid some hills. The soil is dry and grayish-brown. There is a trekker’s hut behind our tents where other trekkers are spending the night, but we are staying in our tents.

Today is a day of rest. My body is a little stiff, and I am so happy that we won't be trekking today. Ravi isn't. He wants to be on the go. I stay in the tent for most of the day. The day is cloudy with some sunshine. It is foggy at times. When the sun comes out, I take off my socks to warm my feet. I doze in and out for most of the day. Ravi peeks in and says, don’t sleep. No, no, I’m not sleeping. Just resting my eyes.

I come out of the tent and take a little hike for some privacy. I pass by some mules grazing lazily. The trees here are more stout than tall, and there is more shrubbery – a sign of high altitude. I walk along a bubbling stream and admire little Himalayan flowers, and shorter in stature magnolia trees. I notice some trash amid shrubbery, a sign of humans. There aren’t any trash cans (or dust bins, as they are called here) along the trek, so I am used to the idea of carrying my own trash now. I see unknown-to-me mountains in the distance.

I return to the tent and try to recall the events of the trek so far. So much has happened. I listen to bells jingling in the distance as mules walk back and forth. They make me sleepy. I notice a black sheep scoping out the grounds. A mule comes by our tent and snacks on some paper. The yaks return with the yakman and are resting now not too far from our tents. I too am resting.

Around 4:30 p.m., Ravi takes me for a little hike up Dzongri top. I am so lazy today, but I am here only once and I must go. We are going to try and view the sunset. We get to the top and we see our campground off in the distance. It looks so small from here. Winds are strong. Clouds roll in and out, bringing a little drizzle. We won’t be seeing the sunset.

Ravi on Dzongri Top

On every mountain top along the trek, there is a prayer shrine decorated with Tibetan prayer flags. I love the bright colored prayer flags and how they flutter in the wind. There is a shrine here too and Ravi makes his prayer. I ask him what he prayed for. He says, we’re not supposed to say, but I prayed for something good.

We are closer to heaven here. I feel so little in the presence of these tall, dignified mountains. Peace is solemn and overwhelming, more so than any church I have ever been to. The winds carry on. I feel grateful that I could be here at this moment. I send my own prayer off with the winds.

Tenzing Khang from Dzongri Top

We return to the campground, and I try to prepare myself mentally for tomorrow. I have a dull ache in my knee, and I decide that I will wrap it in the morning with some athletic tape. I ask Ravi if I could wash my hair. He looks at me as if to say, be serious. No, it’s too cold. My head wrap will stay on for the remainder of the trek.

Next: Dzongri – Kokchurong – Thansing

My Himalayan Trekking Adventure: Deorali Top – If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere

The weight of my pack is too much for me. Ravi has a full load himself. His pack probably weighs 3 times as much as my 10 kg pack. He takes half of my load. We continue on. I am grateful for some short stretches which are relatively flat although the ground itself is uneven and I have to stay alert.

We have just left Phedang. Next, we must climb over Deorali in order to get to Dzongri where we will camp for the night. Some elevations for comparison (from secondary and tertiary sources):

Chicago	176m (579ft)
Delhi	216m (709ft)
Bengaluru	920m (3,020ft)
Yuksom	1,780m (5,840ft)
Phedang	3,650m (12,000ft)
Deorali Top	4,100m (13,500ft)
Goecha La (1st viewpt)	4,600m (15,100ft)
Everest (N) Base Camp	5,150m (16,900ft)

Elevation of 1,500–3,500m (4,900–11,500ft) is considered high altitude. Every little increase in altitude makes it so much more difficult for the body to perform. This is my second day in high altitude. Everyone’s body is different and it may take days for it to adjust to functioning on less oxygen. This little hill will push my limits.

I feel like I am moving in slow motion. I am. Ravi is a few steps ahead of me most of the time. I consider if turning around is an option. No, I am too tired to keep going at all. Up or down. Might as well keep going up. I could die here. We are too far from civilization if I needed urgent care. I have to do this. No one else will do this for me. I am doing this. I am.

And thus the name of my blog: I say I am. Despite what others may say - including my own doubt and fear that I can't, that I won't, or that I'm not - I say I am. I move so slowly. I stop every 2 minutes to catch my breath. Everything is heavy. There is suffocating pressure on my chest. If only I could come out of my body. It's holding me back. 

I have to sit and rest every 20 minutes. Every 10 minutes. I don’t move very far in 10 minutes. When will this awful incline end. It is sandy, stony, grey. Shrubbery here and there. No more trees. I could be on the moon. Ravi is a few steps ahead of me. At my rate, he is a million miles away. He says, come on, let's go. I'm too wiped out to feel the irritation I usually feel when I hear him say, let's go.

I am sitting on a jagged stone. More like leaning against it so that it holds up the weight of my pack. Waiting for my breath to slow down. I look at Ravi. Yeah, I know, I see you. I will move when it's humanly possible for me. But my breath never quite recovers. 2 minutes. I can’t sit here more than 2 minutes. I know what the rush is. The sun is setting. It is dusk. Hard to see now. It will be completely dark before we reach Dzongri. We will have to maneuver our way through the dark. I know this, but I can't move any faster.

I sit on this stone thinking about that Bengali tiger a coworker joked about. I could be eaten alive right now. No, maybe a bear. Ravi says Phedang is known for Himalayan bears. Or maybe a vulture. I look at the sky to see if anything of the sort might have its eye on me. I have absolutely no extra strength at this moment. I can't run. I am barely sitting up. To die by suffocation. Helpless. I can't keep sitting. My breath will not recover quickly enough for this. It will be dark soon. I move.

I reach the top. We have to put our headlamps on. I make a note to myself to bring a more robust lamp next time. We walk silently. Complete darkness surrounds us. The path is level now. I see . . . light. Ravi sees it too. Someone is coming our way. Who is it? It is our cook. He meets us. He was worried about us and has come looking for us. Ravi asks the cook to take my pack from me. He takes it from me and puts it on one shoulder like it’s a feather. I am too drained to have any type of reaction to this.

I am walking. Or am I floating. I could be a ghost. We reach the camp at 6:30 p.m. I see our tents are up. I am so grateful. I climb into the tent, take my boots off, and lie down in a fetal position and rest my head on my pack. Ravi comes by in a few minutes and says you have to eat. What? I am resting now. The cook comes over with dinner. I prop myself up and eat, but I really don't have much of an appetite right now.

I have to take my sleeping bag out. Everything is a chore. Pee. I have to pee. I don’t know these grounds. It is so wide open here. I go straight ahead in the middle of an open field and turn off my headlamp. I return to the tent and fall asleep for a few hours. I have to pee again. I feel a little rested. I unzip the tent and I see a full moon. Wow. So still and silent. I almost don’t need the headlamp. I return to the tent and fall asleep again.

Next: Dzongri – A day of rest.