Without a doubt, today has been the most challenging day of the trek. Frustrating physically, but most importantly mentally. We had only a short distance to cover to Lobuche, but I might as well have been walking backwards. More exhausted than I had realized from yesterday's effort, I woke with a tinge of a headache. Walking from our lodge in Dzonglha, within moments my breath came in ragged gulps, my steps careless and tired. There was nothing deliberate about my motion, and the incessant pound in my temples dropped my mood still further.
For the first time of the trek, I feel that I am seriously slowing down Em. Bishnu and she seem to always be receding in the distance, then waiting for me to catch up, before once again pushing out of my ability to stay with them. I was frustrated at first with my slowness, but then, frustrated, and a little bit angry that we were moving quickly in the first pace. Aren't we here, in the Himalayas? Walking a piece of earth we are seeing with wondering eyes? We are in this current moment, in this hauntingly beautiful pace, and yet we seem most interested in counting down the minutes until we are at our next lodge. Most certainly, my headache and general discomfort had much to do with my spiraling attitude. I have already learned on the Camino, that pain changes everything. For whatever reason, I let it get to me today, and it wasn't until I sat in still silence in our lodge this afternoon, that the pain in my head finally receded.
About an hour prior to reaching Lobuche, our trail joined with the EBC trail from Lukla, and there is a noticeable increase in trail traffic. Even this village is more developed, with stores and shops to compliment the lodges and yak pastures.
Lethargy has really begun to set in at this altitude, and I forwent a short 30 minutes walk that Em and Bishnu went on after lunch. Instead, I laid in our sunny room, and then lounged around talking with Em until dinner. It is all feeling a little bit like groundhog's day. The long hours that we spend in the lodges each afternoon and evening, just reading or people watching, could be tinged with boredom if it weren't for each other and Bishnu. It seems now most people are traveling in groups, and a little bit tired. Maybe the communal energy will pick up tomorrow when we are in Gorak Shep, the village by EBC.
Joining the trail of EBC trekkers to Lobuche.
Sitting in the warmth of the dining room, the outlines of trekkers, guides and porters huddled around the yak dung stove. I cannot believe that we are poised like this, just one day from our intended destination. I am excited, relieved, tired. I feel a little like I am an observer in this little drama, and I must focus deeply on what I am doing in this moment to feel like I am actually here.
Tonight we will shiver, and tomorrow we will trek to stand at the foot of the top of the world.
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