Everest Base Camp Trek Day 12 - Lobuche to Debuche

We arose to a beautifully sunny day shining on a thick layer of white snow on the 15^th of October.

Fairytale morning

Ready to play in the snow

We got treated to an amazing walking day and could not have asked for more beautiful scenery. In good spirit and aided by the stunning temperature, we covered a lot of ground rapidly. Despite the snow, it was very warm so we quickly took our coats off: we were trekking in snow wearing only t-shirts! How pleasant would Canadian winters be if you could do that?

I often preferred hopping in the untouched snow rather than using the trail which tended to be slippery. It was a lot of fun although tiring.

Snow and t-shirt? Awesome!

Chris looks like he's ready for the beach!

So beautiful! 

Another helicopter rescue

We made sure to stop for lunch in Dingboche, probably the only place where we bonded with the owners’ friendliness and warmth and truly enjoyed the guesthouse. We devoured a pizza and sipped a warm seabuckthorn juice for old time’s sake. As we descended in altitude, the snow started melting and quickly the trail turned muddy and slushy which again made us thankful to have proper waterproof boots to navigate the terrain.

Leaving Dingboche

Wet trail

Melting snow

With a long walking day came the familiar back pain which started again at the same spot it had a few days earlier. To top it off, my right boot rubbed in a spot above my ankle, creating a painful bruise which gave me a limp. I guess my hopping technique to go down-hill wasn’t the best!  As the afternoon passed, I got more and more tired but the thought of stopping at the bakery in Pangboche which we had overlooked before helped me hold on. A thick slice of chocolate a coffee cake did give me the sugar I needed, but it didn’t live up to my expectations for 450 rupees. While going downhill, I relied heavily on my poles to spare my aching legs, and one of them broke! I was grateful to the baker who graciously fixed it, granted in a rudimental way, but better than I would have on my own. 

The weather is changing drastically

Another bridge crossing

After our afternoon break at the bakery, we continued our descent as the scenery changed considerably. It really started to look like Canadian autumn with beautiful tall evergreen trees, dried leaves on the ground and fresh moss smell. It was amazing to go from winter to fall in a few hours. Finally, with a sigh of relief after 7 hours and 20 minutes walking, we caught sight of Debuche.

Debuche

We settled for a fancy looking guesthouse with crisp white sheets and hot showers. 8 days after my last shower (yuck, I know!) it felt amazing to feel clean again although the water was boiling and I could hardly stay under! My hair fell in handful lumps which was a bit scary, but after putting my pajamas on I felt like I had gone to heaven as I cozied up by the stove.

As we recovered, ate and rested, one apparent problem arose and underlined a big mistake on my part: my lips had sunburnt ! I never failed to put sunscreen on my face throughout the trek but apparently my natural lip balm didn’t do the trick against the strong Himalayan sun reflected on the snow… Some random parts under my neck also got hit, but the sting on my lips was quite intense! Rookie mistake – I now had swollen duck lips. I guess it coldn’t be worse than our poor friend Edgar, who actually got sun blindness from overexposure to sunrays. Silly boy hadn’t brought sunglasses and going to Everest Base Camp in such high altitude in a snow storm topped with hours of walking in bright snow did a number on his eyes… They were bright red and his vision was about 50%. We had been worried about our friend coping with high altitude in previous days and his struggles weren’t over yet!