Pangboche - Phortse - Dole (17 Oct 2006)

We took off at 8 something in the morning, trekked towards upper Pangboche, and followed the trail that contours high above the river. The trail was quite scary at some point. Narrow rock trail cuts across a vertical cliff face. 2.5 hours later, we saw the village of Phortse, perched on the edge of a deep valley. We went downhill, to the river and stopped for lunch. It was about 12pm when we reached Phortse Thyaga.

We continue the journey around 1.30pm. The trail uphill was very steep but the continually changing scenery drove us onwards. We were entering the beautiful forest of juniper, pine and rhododendron. The view is very spectacular in the autumn months when the leaves turn to yellow and red color. The scenery is totally different from the previous days.

I reached Dole (4048m) at 4.00pm. We checked in Namaste Lodge. “Namaste” is Nepali greetings. Along the trail, regardless of the nationality, trekkers always greet each other with “Namaste”. We got news of Kok Yuen; our guide told us that he was at Dole 2 days ago. We hope we could meet him on the way up tomorrow.

The tea-house is modest. We met a trekker from England. She was traveled alone without hiring porter and guide. There were also 3 Japanese in the restaurant. Contrary to that England trekker, they hired 3 guides and 4 porters. They reached quite late. There was no room for 3 of them. So, 2 of them have to sleep in the restaurant. After dinner, we played cards, chess and chit-chat as usual. Via their guide, they asked us to lower down our voice or go back to our room as they would like to rest. Some of us were not happy as it’s still too early for sleep. So, we moved to a corner and continue the activities.

It’s very cold at night, around 2-3 degree Celsius. I hold the bottle that filled with hot water and fall asleep.