Saturday, November 23, 2013

Day 7: Gokyo Ri Summit Day


So I decided to take a shower at Namche Bazaar and it was the wrong choice. I had to go outside in freezing weather with nothing but my skivvies on and it led to a cold that lasted a couple of days. Moral of the story: showers are dangerous for your health.

We arrived to the town of Gokyo, which sits next to the beautiful Gokyo lake. 600 meters higher is the summet of Gokyo Ri. The summit is the hill cut off to the left.


View of Gokyo lake and Cho Oyu (8201m) in the background.


Gokyo lake and village at sunset.

I got out of my sleeping bag early (I'd say I woke up early if I actually slept, the reason is at the end of the article) ate some porridge and started climbing up.

Here's some red stones that pointed to the sky on our path to the top.

It took us about 2 hours to reach the top but the views were incredible.


Guyajungkhang (7922m)



Nupse (7861m) above my right shoulder and Everest (8848m) and Lohtse (8516m) above my left shoulder.


Pharilapche (6017m) and Kyajori (6184m)


Cholasche (6486m) above my right, left is Tabuche (6542m)


The far left is Pumori (7169m) Everest without me in the way. The peak to the right is Lohtse.




Everest above my head.



Gokyo lake.

So I've handled the altitude quite well so far with the exception of my intestines. The altitude has caused extreme gas. My guide Jami has estimated over 1000 farts he's heard on the trail. It's also caused a traffic jam in the stomach if you know what I mean. I asked the the locals what's the best remedy. One said to pour powder milk in a cup of cold water and chug it. Another said I should eat raw pancake mix. I figured both of those could lead to food poisoning, so I went with my trusted remedy: coffee. I drank a liter of it and it worked... Only problem was that I couldn't get to sleep.

Still without coffee, sleeping at altitude is quite weird. You'll find very vivid dreams that you remember because your sleep cycle is much shorter. You'll also find yourself sometimes gasping for air at the middle of the night. Your body doesn't have a rhythmic cycle, where people can go without a breath for close to 30 seconds. 

I have a difficult pass that I need to cross tomorrow, but after that, it's all downhill from there. 





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