A brilliant sunrise and the very first sighting of Lhotse, Amadablam, & Island Peak, as well as the surrounding mountain range brought with it, the first ray of hope that the cloudy damp weather that had been following us from Phakding, would finally abate. The excitement was palpable, not just among our group but all the other teams that had traveled have way across the world to get a glimpse of the mighty Himalayas. But, unfortunately, we witnessed how the weather can change in a blink of an eye, and sure enough, by 8:00 am by the time we were set to leave for our acclimatization walk, the clouds came down and the sky was overcast. We climbed up the ridge above Dingbouche to slowly and steadily rise to a height of 4800 mtrs which was our endeavor. In order to facilitate our acclimatization, we spent some time at this height and decided to have a good old fashioned picnic, with juice and snacks, including a packet of Haldiram’s ‘Punjabi Tadka’ that instantly transported us back home. What constantly amazes me is that the 2-3hrs spent climbing up hill is covered in a short period of 30 min in the decent. The walk uphill left us famished and after having a heavy lunch, we were left with the challenge of trying to figure out some way of keeping ourselves preoccupied for the rest of the evening. A stroll through the town accounted for only about 20 minutes, but the discovery of an internet café and a bakery helped us kill some more time. ‘Time’, which back home is invariably a rare commodity seems to surround us in abundance. To have so much time on our hands is an anomaly that everyone seems to be struggling with. I do know that once we go back home and our fast paced lives overtake us again, we will look back on this time with fond memory and I’m sure, with some ounce of regret.
Lhotse View
