Nepal : Part 10 - EBC Trek (Day 5) - From Tengboche (3867m) to Dingboche (4260m)

Summary of Meal Expenses

	Breakfast		Lunch		Dinner
	Tengboche		Orsho		Dingboche
	Meal	Price	Meal	Price	Meal	Price
Mine	Tibetan Bread with Egg	400	Veg & Egg Fried Noodle	400	Spaghetti Tomato Sauce	580
	Hot Water	25	Ginger Tea	80	Ginger Tea	65
Sister	Porridge with Apple	400	Rara Noodle	250	Veg. Egg Spring Roll	560
	Hot Water	25	Lemon Honey	100	Hot Lemon 1liter Hot Water	75 100

Price of items that matter:

	Orsho	Dingboche
Battery Charge	300 per hour	Did not notice
WiFi	Did not notice	Did not notice
Mineral Water (do not remember size of bottle)	250	Not in the menu

The Story

19092013 - Day 6 in Nepal. Day 5 of our trek. It was less cloudy in the morning when we woke up. I attempt a panaromic shot from my phone. My sister saw a horse and she got very excited being her first time seeing a horse. Right in front of our lodge, I did a manicure. As I paint more and more of my fingernails, I get more and more excited that I am getting closer to my destination. Today, we are headed for Dingboche (4260m). It is supposed to take us 5.5 hours.

The walk to the next village is on a descending trail for 20 minutes. When we returned, the walk up took about 40 minutes. So when we are walking on a descending trail, it was such a breeze. When walking back up, it was like a route that never ends. 

The next village was Deboche. But the view is not as nice as in Tengboche. We could see Mount Everest from Tengboche but not from Deboche. During the peak season, the trekkers will have to stay in Deboche. So, if you are a trekker during the peak season, walk quicker to reach Tengboche. Or you can always tell your porter to go first and book a room for you in Tengboche. That is if you hire a porter. Our co-trekker from Philippines told us that a pride of a trekker is carrying his own backpack. Well, I guess, I don't qualified as a certified trekker then. 

Then, I passed the most gorgeous view of colourful trees. It reminded me of my trip to Yading in China that I went in 2012 - last year.

We passed a broken bridge. But have no fear. There is another bridge to connect to the other side. From the broken bridge, we could see Mount Ama Dablam.

We walked up more steps that brought us to the entrance of Pangboche Village. We walked through the entrance and was greeted by a landscape that uses rocks as the fence. Well, I did see it in Khumjung too, but this one is from an aerial view. So, it is a different view.

Along the route, we see yak dungs being dried and carried up to higher altitude to start the fire at night. My sister says it reminds her of chocolate chips. Unfortunately, my guide does not know how much it costs. Yak dung does not smell at all. 

Then, my guide showed us the Himalayan Thar. This must be the route to look out for Himalayan Thar. Some of the thars are so near that I could see it munching on a leaf. I don't even know if a Thar is a noun.

I saw a lodge with the chimney wrapped in plastic. Inquisitive me asked why. The guide said that it is to prevent the water during the rainy season from flowing inside. And the rainy season was just ending.

Soon, we approached a gorgeous scenic view of contrasting colours that made me smile! Red green and yellow. I love the combination of colours! We encounter our first yaks here. Dzo cannot survive at the altitude of above 4000m. So, yaks are being used. Our stop for lunch was close by. We reached Orsho at 11.45am. Sunrise Guest House is the only guesthouse in Orsho. My sister, being the Rara Noodle expert proclaims that the Rara Noodle in Orsho is the best!

We reached Dingboche at 2.30pm. It is quite a flat route towards Dingboche from Orsho. Good thing we reached early because it rained shortly after. Rain is good to clear the mist away. It means good view the next day!

 
Since we reached Dingboche so early, we went to a French bakery (told to us by a group of Vietnamese trekkers) which was just opposite our lodge! The French Bakery is in Snowlion Lodge. Unfortunately because the peak season has not started, there were not much bread and cookies for sale. The owner was going to start baking the next day only because a large group of trekkers are coming over. Both of us shared a cup of apple tea that costs Rs110. A very expensive cup of tea.

After our short visit to the French bakery, we headed back, and yay, we have fire burning in the dining room. During the non-winter season, the owners start the fire at 5pm, while during the winter season, the fire starts at 4pm. Yak dung was used and it smells lovely. Weird. 

Before dinner, we were given hot towels, really steaming hot but it was warm in our hands. The towels were soaked in mint water. My dinner of spaghetti with tomato sauce was a bit bland, but it was edible. 

Today was Mooncake Festival i.e. the Mid-Autumn Festival i.e. Full Moon. We brought 2 mooncakes and we planned to have them outside, but it drizzled again. We could not see the full moon from the window. Guess the mist is still there. Our co-trekker officiated the mooncake-cutting ceremony. We ate a slice each and shared the remaining with the lodge's owner and his family, our guide, co-trekker and some of the other locals in the dining room

That evening, we decided that we will not acclimatise in Dingboche tomorrow, as all of us were in good health. My friend advised me to acclimatise in Dingboche, and hence, I extended one day in our itinerary, which was not part of my initial schedule. So, that extra 1 day will be used for going back. 

And here is a YouTube video (Day 5 : From Tengboche to Dingboche) that my sister did. You can click on the link to go to the YouTube video just in case the video loads too slow in this post.