Everest Base Camp Trek Day 6 - Pangboche to Dingboche

When I woke up, I had a filling breakfast of Tibetan bread with peanut butter. It tasted amazing and gave me the carbs I needed for the morning trek. We walked in direction of Dingboche in an easy dirt trail surrounded by fields and mountains. The only issue I had was the extreme pain from my back which consumed my every thought. I suppose carrying my bag every day was starting to take its toll.

Carrying my load

Showing off

Memorial

In only two and a half hours, we had reached Dingboche which sits at 4410 meters in altitude! Since we had climbed the daily recommended 500 meters already, that was it for the day. We had the afternoon to ourselves, met fellow trekkers in our lodge, caught up on laundry and reading. At this height, many are starting to feel the altitude and experience various discomforts. Doctors based in Dingboche were doing survey on AMS (altitude mountain sickness) and the possible effects of acetaminophen versus ibuprofen to relieve the symptoms. They were looking for trekkers to take the pills in a randomized controlled trial and test their symptoms before and after trekking in higher altitude. We chose not to participate but enjoyed getting our heart rate tested (mine was 110 bpm) and levels of oxygen in our blood aka blood oxygen saturation (mine was 85% - lower than 80% isn’t great).

In the lodge - taking notes for my blog! 

We had a good time in the lodge which was held by a lovely family. The elderly couple was friendly and chatty, the younger ones efficient in the kitchen. We especially enjoyed the spring rolls made with veggies from their garden and the tuna and yak cheese pizza. We also discovered a local specialty called seabuckthorn juice. It is a local bush which is planted to prevent erosion and the berry was found to be high in vitamin C, full of nutrients and bioactive ingredients. It is prepared like a tea and served warm and sweet, very delicious and great to get some vitamins so high in altitude where fruits are hard to find.