by Phill Michael

Looking East from Tengboche

A crack of noon (well 10am) start from Tengboche this morn. I was online for the first couple of hours...as well as digesting my typical half dozen eggs. I wasn't feeling entirely right after breakfast. Hmmmmmm.

Dawa and I made our way down the familiar path and were planning on hooking up with Chris in Namche Bazar later in the day.  Hour by hour, my stomach was feeling worse and worse and consequently, I was focusing on that...rather than taking my usual million pictures. The trail was greeeeen...green...green...and the flowers were in bloom.

Wild Roses of Nepal

The usual walking tables and meat wagons with two legs were sharing the trail with us, but we saw very few other Westerners.

More Walking Tables

I was moving suuuper slow...and thinking that it was time to try and alleviate the gaseous feeling in my tummy with some soda. We stopped at a little village and had some colas. My parents were setting up schools for an NGO in Nigeria when I was 4 years old and I attended grade 1 there. Nigerian nurses used to give the kids a glass of cola if they were complaining of gut aches. Today, It didn't work for this kid. %^}

Rambally, Gelu and the Dzo passed by...with their usual smiles (from the guys) and grunts (from the Dzo).

We also met up with a Greek couple who we crossed paths with in Pangboche. When we saw them in Pangboche, they were talking about going to Everest Base Camp. Today, they were looking forward to getting to Namche. The male of the two contracted altitude sickness in Pangboche...just after we saw them...and had to turn back.

'Very complicated.', said Dawa.

Man...I felt bad too...but it was something in my stomach.

I had my head down quite often and did manage to see a few interesting things on the ground. There were some insects that we just don't see at home.

A Colourful Bug

The clouds were kind of low, but we were afforded some decent views of where we were going. We had a long way to go.

'Nepali Flat'

After hours of grueling walking (for me), we found ourselves above Namche Bazar. Joy.

My stomach was baaaaaaad. I couldn't wait to sit down. We met up with a bearded Chris...who looked like he was ready to get out of Namche. He'd spent a week there...recovering, exploring and running up a fabulous tab at the tea house. Stuff was so expensive at these places on the Everest circuit. Not just expensive...outrageous! A bottle of water costs $3USD!

It was great to see Chris, but I needed to lay down. Rather than continue on to Phakding, we decided to stay in Namche. I was getting worse and worse. It felt like my stomach was full...to bursting...and I thought about those morning eggs. %^/

Everybody trundled off to bed by 8:30pm...but I was still groaning in the corner. Dawa cared for me like a regular Florence Nightingale...as did the little (4ft 6inches) Sherpa girl who ran the tea house. I said I needed Tums...or chalk...or a stomach pump. Heh. %^{

Dawa decided that baking powder and water were the next best thing. Brilliant! I drank two full cups of the stuff then immediately proceeded to empty the entire contents of my stomach into a large stainless steel bowl. Over a gallon of foul stuff came out. I  had vomited 'Exorcist style'...and felt much, much better. Wow. Simple remedies. I'll have to file that cure under 'G' (i.e. Good).

Dawa and the little Sherpa girl went from looking very concerned to relieved...and I was ready to head to my room for a very long, hot shower and then bed. I hadn't had a shower for about 10 days and the hot water was via some very nice 'Euro styley' instant heat units than ran on propane. Have you ever taken a 45 minute shower. I have. %^)

After toweling off, I collapsed into bed...and crawled underneath four massive comforters.

The moral of that story is if you are going to eat eggs that have not been refrigerated (which is very, very common in Third World countries)...carry baking powder...or something like that?!

Note to self...%^)