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| Looking down on the lake and Gokyo from the top of Gokyo Ri |
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| Made it to the top of Gokyo Ri - pretty much the same altitude as Everest Base Camp! |
Super tough morning today. Early start to climb to Gokyo Ri, the first of our peaks as high as base camp. I didn't sleep well and kept waking with a stuffed runny nose and sore throat, and was too scared to take anything in case my headache was due to altitude sickness, and wasn't sure if I should or not. Woke up properly sick, but still determined to continue.
We said goodbye to those heading down. It was pretty tough as mum and dad were in that group, and Mum was really not very well and unsure of how she would go. I was really hoping we'd see them in 3 days time in Lobuche.
I found going up Gokyo Ri quite enjoyable, even though it was a couple hours zigzagging up a very steep mountain side. From the top we should have had amazing views of all the peaks including Everest but it was too cloudy. We had to make do with the view back down to the lake which was pretty stunning anyway!
I struggled big time coming down. Was feeling pretty sick and had really sore hip flexors and it took me ages! I was not in a good mood when we got back to Gokyo, and it was one of my lowest points of the trip. At certain points I was seriously thinking maybe I should have gone back down with the others. Luckily I perked up with a bit of a rest and some food in Gokyo (and Codral Night and Day which I finally decided to take surely helped too).
After a rest back in Gokyo we continued on to the next stop - a small village which isn't even on many of the maps called Thangnak. Or Tagnak. Or Dragnag. Apparently it was called any of those, depending on who you spoke to or which map you looked at. The hike was over the glacier was pretty surreal. It was cloudy and very bleak, and felt almost like being on the moon. I have no idea how our guides knew where to go, and in one place we even backtracked a little as we went the wrong way. It was totally different to anywhere I have been before. Less snow than I imagined for a glacier and very uneven with lots of steep hills and crater like holes between with frozen lakes at the bottom.
The tea hut at Thangnak was tiny! We crowed in around a little stove for the afternoon and tried to relax while anticipating the Chola Pass tomorrow and hoping for the weather to be ok!
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| Looking down on to the lake and Gokyo |
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| A well deserved break and the snack of choice - Snickers |
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| Crossing the glacier |
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| Up and up and up to the top of Gokyo Ri |
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| Looking down on the lake with the glacier behind |
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| Everest is somewhere in behind those clouds |
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| Prayer flags at the top of Gokyo Ri |
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| Somewhere on the glacier |
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| One of the lakes down in the glacier |
Day 7 Hiking: Gokyo 4,790m up to Gokyo Ri 5,360m then back to Gokyo and over the glacier to Thangnak 4,700
Day 7 Accommodation: Tashidela lodge, tiny but cosy
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