Dingboche

Arrived in Dingboche at 3pm, elevation about 14,500 ft. This is where everyone starts to feel the effects of altitude. Several people in the group have already started taking the Diamox which helps with symptoms. Several people have pounding headaches and awful coughs. Only about half of us are sleeping. And when I say "sleeping", this means most of us are getting a very restless 2-3 hours a night of any type of sleep. I imagine I will get the green light for diamox in the next couple of days because of the wheezing that started last night. Other than that, I have no nausea or headache or vomiting, or bathroom problems like the others, just the wheezing which was pretty scary last night. Being up and around on the trail made it better today as did a few puffs of the inhaler( I think about 50% of my problem after the wheezing was anxiety as to what its going to lead to) but today has been another tough climb. The air is noticeably thinner and the trails are so dusty that it is necessary to always wear a buff or handkerchief covering your mouth and nose all day long. That is hard when you are already sucking wind. The air is bitterly cold to inhale and feels terrible coupled with a sore throat. My throat is a bit dry, but chewing gum along the way helped today. I'm consuming 4-5 liters of water every day in addition to the tea and Tang we get with meals. This is difficult for me because usually I do not drink much during the day at home. I like the taste of the Tang at lunch and I gulp several glasses at a time before we even eat just so I can hydrate. I don't mind the hot water in our water bottles, its pretty soothing. I know I'm showing signs of slowing down becaue I'm losing my appetite. Today's breakfast of porridge, egg, and pancakes was only half consumed. I tried to force a lot down at lunch but I'm not hungry for dinner (which is in an hour) tonight...but I will try to eat. My ipod is charging with my phone on a plastic picnic table outside of the lodge hooked up to a generator. A full charge for a Blackberry and ipod equals 600 rupees or about $8. Tomorrow we rest in Dingboche with only a few short hours of hiking, then on to Lobuche. Our beds tonight are a cot with a thin mattress and pillow. No bedding, only using the sleeping bags that we carry with us. Last night it was extremely cold and I was happy that my 0 rated bag kept me warm. Everest went out of view today and we will see it again in 3 days but we are at the foot of Nuptse's ridge (group photo). The weather during the day was sunny and warm and I hiked in only a shirt and long sleeved shirt over that. Tonight I will sleep in long underwear and fleece pants in my sleeping bag in an unheated room. Bathroom is again outside. Although the common room where we eat is heated in the evening by the stove with the yak dung fueling it, it is not heated at breakfast and we all must wear our heavy coats and fleece. When the sun rises high enough to peek in the 2nd floor windows in that room, it will heat up within 10 minutes so that we can sit around in a long sleeve shirt or light fleece. Our Sherpas are really nice and really attentive. Everyone treats them with respect and we have fun memorizing each other's names. Most of them only know a few words of English so it is amazing how much we can communicate using gestures, smiles, laughs, nods and a few words. Since there is nothing to do in the evening we play dice, read, listen to music or talk in the common room, but its either smoky or cold there and not well lit. Our rooms, if they have a light at all, are the equivalent of a Charlie Brown Christmas light bulb...only a few watts...10, maybe? If you are in your room reading at night, you are in full cold weather gear, in your sleeping bag, with a headlamp on and only your hands and face peeking out. So, needless to say, no one reads for very long and most people are in bed by 9pm. We usually get morning wake up tea at 630am and have to have our bags packed by 730am breakfast and are out on the trail by 815. Most likely this will be my last post for awhile because of the limited services available.