Day 22 -- October 19 => Dughla recovery day

Campsite in Dughla (4630m/15,190')

After a long good night's sleep, I felt much better in the morning. I had a small pot of lemon tea and toast for breakfast. Lal and I talked about the quality of goods purchased in Nepal. Lal said that while clothes that came from China were very cheap, they usually started to break down and/or itch after just one or two washings. While Western goods were much more expensive, they were of excellent quality and highly durable.

Another reason why I chose to descend to Dughla yesterday instead of remaining in Lobuche is that Dughla was tonight's scheduled camp site. So, I was able to really take it easy today. Some of the tents arrived around noon but not my kit bag. The bill at the Yak Hotel was 200 rp for the room and 650 rp for food. If you do not buy food from a lodge where you stay, the room price goes up.

North face of Ama Dablam (6856m/22,493')

As I waited for my kit bag to arrive, I went up a litte hill behind the lodges and took some pictures.

Views from Dughla

The rest of our group from Gorakshep arrived around 2:30pm. Chris went down to Pheriche to check on the condition of Sarah and Mark. He went to Pheriche (4243m/13,920') and back up to Dughla in 3½ hours.

After dinner, Chris collected tips for the staff from each of us. The standard is 200 rp / day, which came to 5600 rp ($116 CAD) for me. Our group would be splitting up tomorrow, with the Island Peak climbers going back to Dingboche and then up to Chhukung, while the others would begin their descent to Lukla via Pheriche.

One of the most memorable sights that day in Dughla was in the evening before turning in for the night. The light from the full moon was reflecting off Taboche (6542m/21,463') and Cholatse (6440/21,129') immediately behind our camp.

Day 21 - Lobuche to Kala Pattar Day 23 - Dughla to Chhukung

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Created: December 23, 2002. Revised: December 26, 2002.