: 15,252 :

Yesterday was day six of our trek, and day two of an acclimatization day in Dingboche. We took a small hike up to 15,252 feet which provided up close and personal views of Ama Dablam.

The conditions in this village are harsh. Everyone we encountered seemed sick with some sort of cold, and the general vibe is somewhat discouraging. Some climber (?) came in with a guide or porter, sat down and ate an enormous meal with a huge scowl on his face. We could only imagine that he must have missed his Everest summit bid. It didn’t seem appropriate to ask.

In the evening hours, we sat in the dining room and the owners lit a fire in a stove with yak dung and kerosene and everyone sits around reading or playing cards, mostly just staying warm.

Then, we went to bed. And then, Wally awoke around midnight with an excruciating headache – like something he had never experienced before. This was the beginnings of HACE, or high altitude cerebral edema. We had no choice but to descend first thing in the morning.

(To put how long it can take to acclimatize into perspective, climbers of Everest spend two months acclimatizing to the altitude. A person may or may not be affected, and can have symptoms despite never having problems in the past. Even if you spend more time in altitude, this does not reduce your risk of AMS. It's really the luck of the draw.)

It took us 2 ½ hours to get to Pangboche (1600 feet lower), and we decided to spend the night and see if the symptoms subsided. At this point, and after a couple of hours, Wally was feeling much better and we spent the day sitting around, drinking milk coffee, eating Tibetan Bread and talking to Mingma and Cyala. Wally showed them his book, Dark Summit, which is about the 2006 climbing season on Everest, while I decided that this would be the day I showed them the baby yeti picture. They had a good laugh about it, but sadly, they thought it was a dog! What does a sherpa know about the yeti anyway?

Mingma told us that when he was little, his parents warned that if he came across a yeti, he was to immediately build a fire, and the yeti would go away. Otherwise, the yeti would carry him away to a yeti cave. While there is something mildly romantic about being captured by a yeti, I have made sure that Wally has a book of matches and can quickly build a fire.

Dinner was more lively than usual. Wally and I read while the room slowly filled with the sound of various dialects and foreign words. But looking around, that is the only thing that separates us, this language barrier. Aside from that, we are all sunburned and clad in dusty trekking clothes.

Tomorrow morning, we hope for the best.

Song of the day: Something is not right with me – Cold War Kids