I had slept well despite the cold; it took a while for my sleeping bag to reach a comfortable temperature, but once it had I was out like a light. I woke around 0400hours feeling dehydrated and my thumping headache had returned. I drank from my water bottle that was icy cold and fell back to sleep. It hadn’t improved by breakfast, so I drank a further litre of water, warmed up with some black tea and forced down a bowl of porridge.
Luckily this seemed to do the trick as I was feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. As we stepped out of the teahouse, the striking views of the mountains stunned us. There was a cloudless, deep blue sky and the temperature was perfect for walking; we set off at a slow pace.
Now that we are above 4000m the lack of large plants and trees are noticeable. The air now too thin to support large vegetation. The landscape is dominated by the low growing heather. With the high walls of the mountains surrounding us, it emphasized the remoteness of this part part of the world.
The huge titan that is Cho Oyu, standing at 8,188m, sitting at the head of the Ngozumba Valley was our constant companion for the day. Around mid morning we all stopped for a rest, spreading ourselves out basking in the sunlight.
At the call of Djam Djam, we continued our slow pace onwards. We passed abandoned dry stone buildings, shrines with their prayer flags flapping in the wind. It is so peaceful and quiet, it felt alien. We reached another shrine surrounded by the snowcapped mountains overlooking our stop for the night Machherma (4470M).
We reached our lodgings that thankfully had power and I settled in for the evening. Unlike the previous nights, the clouds hadn’t moved in, leaving the sky clear showing us the stars overhead. There is no light pollution here and I’ve never seen so many stars nor them so bright before. Despite the freezing temperatures I stood outside admiring the heavens before it was time for bed.
Stu's Camino 