04:30 = Poon Hill O’clock…time to get on your walking boots, all your warmest clothes and head lamp.
Tonnes of people were walking in single file on really hard slippery ground, all to make it up to the top of Poon Hill for sunrise where we had been promised we would see the ultimate sunrise.
You needed to really watch your feet, use your walking poles and push through the pain to sweat your way up all the steps. It took about an hour to get to the top. I lost Lynda on the way (which is quite surprising considering how brightly we are all dressed)
At the top there was a viewing tower (more stairs right?!), so me and Sierra walked up to the top for the ultimate view. We saw Lynda make it to the top of the hill and we met a funny man from New York who works in a circus in Kathmandu training Nepalese children to do different acts. This guy was on his way down after completing ABC and he informed us the trek only gets harder.….but then the sun came up and distracted us from this terrible news.
It was as beautiful as they said it would be.
We tried to take lots of snaps, but this was definitely a challenge because of gloves and painfully cold hands. We saw a little coffee shop and got a hot drink whilst taking in the view. (We also discussed how the people working in this little shop have the WORST JOB EVER, having to climb those icy steps for an hour every morning).
Lynda started her way down Poon Hill a bit before us as she wanted to take it steady on the ice. Unfortunately it didn’t work out how she had planned 
We found poor Lynda on our way down having her second fall of the morning (get this poor lady a lifeline!).
Luckily for Lynda, Madan and the other porters were right there to help her up, they were super nice!…..less luckily for Lynda I gently patted her on the head to try and cheer her up, because I didn’t know what else to do. I think she appreciated it.
Breakfast time, and then a bloody long walk to Tadapani 2950m. Todays walk mainly involved going uphill through a wooded area, with lots of snow and ice, which Lou was not too impressed with after this mornings earlier events. I was out of breath a lot today, and walked through the snow in a T-shirt because I was so hot! When we made it out of the woods the sun was beating down on us, so I slapped on the factor 50+ and my baseball cap 😉
Then we started a wintery descent, I was walking in front of Barje and Lou, who had become an ice combatting duo, and I mostly walked behind the rest of the group, enjoying my own company humming christmas songs. This walk took a lot of thinking, you have to place your feet very carefully going downhill on ice, occasionally you would hear a little scuffle as one of the group would style-slide there way out of a tricky situation 🙂
At Tadapani we dumped our bags and ran for the bathrooms thinking this might be the last chance for vaguely warm water we washed our hair…which was fine, but our hands felt on fire because they had been so cold all day. OUCH.
The toilets were pretty weird here, there was a western style one but it benefitted from a hole in the wall (window?) which faced directly onto the approaching path to the lodge. The sink to use to brush your teeth was right near these toilets…..I have never gagged so much in my life….We are certainly experiencing life to it’s fullest here.
We all huddled in the main room for the evening, some people played cards. We showed one of the porters Ishwor (you sir/Joshua) some photos off of Sierras Go Pro, it was so funny chatting with him!
Artwork courtesy of Lynda Loo Rolls and Sierra Goat Woman
Night time means getting into my sleeping bag, probably in my blue smurf thermals, and because it is so freakin’ hot in mine I gradually strip off through the night…..so so grateful for my super warm bag.
Trekking is Trecherous! 🙂
Nicola and Nepal 