It is so cold up here in Pheriche. I guess I noticed the chill coming on back in Phortse, but I was in denial about it. But now I’m in my poly-pro undies full-time. Perhaps just that the weather has been a little overcast we haven’t had all the benefit of the warm sun to heat things up. But starting in the late afternoon the air is positively frigid. I have to be careful about leaving the tip of my nose outside of the sleeping bag at night or it might crack off. Even as I write the LCD screen on this laptop is freezing and making big, nasty black splotches. In the morning as the first light spills across the mountain crags to the West, we see the dusting of frost on our tents. The landscape is even more surreal. I’m sure I mentioned that before, but it’s really striking, especially as the full moon lifts above the horizon and the silverly light reflects off of the jagged, snow-covered mountains surround us. The sunset is out of this world, although we can’t directly see the sun setting. There’s also the rushing waters in the river a couple hundred meters from our camp. It finally has hit me that this is an amazing journey (even if tens of thousands of other tourists have already experienced it). Although I’m sad to break camp and leave the comfort and familiarity of each stunning location, I’ve realized that the next destination will be another wonder. Pheriche is a plain looking village, but the landscape it unforgettable. We’re leaving this morning, and our next camp will be at Thokla for just one night.

I didn’t even have to volunteer for the headache study – I’ve already gotten myself on Diamox. Last night I came down with some good altitude symptoms: splitting headache, rapid and shallow breathing, and very little sleep. I waited until morning and got some ibuprofin from Gaye, but she suggested I start taking the Diamox as a precaution against a worse condition developing. Today (the 15th) I was feeling very tired, and after I took the Diamox I was feeling a little woozy. Once the jagged stake had receded from my skull I went out for a mini-hike on the hill above Pheriche. The rest of the group set out earlier and they were aiming for a much higher elevation. I got a great view of the washed out river valley here. Apparently this area has seen some high run-off waters in the past. We’re also above the tree line, so the landscape is starting to get a bit more barren. There’s just some very short grass and bushes. Interestingly, the lodge where we’re camping (ironic, we’re sleeping in tents outside of the lodge) uses sections of the dried out sod as a floor covering along the hallway. This short grass makes thick roots, so it makes something nicer to walk on than jagged rocks or mud. Another interesting aspect about our Saturday here is that the stereo in the lodge was playing an “ohm mani padme hung” song on continuous loop. I guess that’s a way of getting your quota of prayers in for the day, but it started to drive me crazy after a couple of hours, even from outside while I was in my tent. It’s hard to get it out of my mind.

This morning, the 14th, we’re moving on again. Pema has given us a little advance notice that we’ll have a long hike and that we’re gaining a bit more elevation than usual. We have about 3 hours hiking up a little to Pangboche (13,300), where we would stop for lunch. While we’re there we will make the acquaintance of a Lama who is good friends with Pema and we will get to ask him some questions about life and wisdom. After that Pema says it would be another 3 hours and a little elevation gain to get to Pheriche. Our hike starts our nicely, but the trail is narrow and the sheer drop off of the side is a little worrisome. Fortunately most of the path is relatively level and we didn’t play much of the up-down-up-down game. In Pangboche we stopped in a lodge that happens to be the residence of Lama Gyeshi. He’s a happy old man with a scruffy tuft of grey beard under his chin. He was a young boy in Tibet and became a monk at the time the Dalai Lama was exiled. Gyeshi left Tibet around that time and sought out further education. He became a Lama, though not a reincarantion Lama (Rinboche), and he started a family. It turns out a Lama can have a family, but a monk cannot. While we were there visiting the Lama was giving a blessing to a woman who had strained her knee while washing laundry. The Lama discerned that the god of the mountain where the water was running down must have been agry, so he afflicted her. The Lama rapidly recited a long mantra, splashed holy water and rice, and pressed a brass sceptre on the womans back and joints. He placed some water (tu) in a bowl with some flour and had her spit into it to expell the impurities from her body. She would then later was that down a mountain stream to send it away from her.

Today, the 13th, is a rest day for us in Phortse. We are allowed to start a little late and we can enjoy the warm, sunny and clear morning. Of course we want to get in a hike during the day and our objective is 14,000 feet, which will be the approximate elevation of our next stop, Pheriche. Our hike begins from Pema’s really outstanding lodge along the upper edge of Phortse. He doesn’t have a name for it and it’s still a couple of projects away from completion, but it really does distinguish itself already. We made good progress up to the first set of prayer flags, but way up the hill we could see a challenging outpost. As we climbed the side of the hill got much steeper and we lost the trail; actually there was no more trail. We were wild yak climbers reaching with all fours to latch on the steep slope. We did reach the higher prayer flags at just over 14,000 feet and took a moment to enjoy the inspiring view over Phortse and to the Dudh Kosi river valley to the south, leading out of the Himalayas. Going back down was much more strenuous on my legs since there was no discernable trail and I went straight down. It seemed to last hours before I got back to the lodge.