Altitude: 3440m.
We just came back from dinner. I had a lovely pork chop with red wine sauce and fries, freshly cooked for me. Very yummy! :) Not exactly what I dreamed about a few days ago - food dreams have become a daily sleep ritual for me since starting the trek. A few nights ago, I dreamed a butcher was sharing a slice of beautifully roasted pork in a smoky apple sauce, accompanied with a roasted apple and potato wedges, with me and my friends... My real meal did however hit the spot along with the hot chocolate, mocha and blueberry cheesecake we had. Cafe de 8848 certainly is a godsend to comfort our trekking woes. A box of chocolate digestives might make you feel better initially until you find out they cost USD6 up here. Still, I savoured each biscuit. :) And it's much better than buying a packet of Pringles, only to find that the seal's broken and that Pringles can indeed taste bad, stale and with no refund. Or caving in to your need for pastry and buying a chocolate croissant only to find it's mouldy and has probably been sitting in the display cupboard for some silly person like you to buy it and get no refund.
It turns out the weather we've had with the rain and snow, is all an anomaly for October. According to the locals (AND the guide books!), the metres of snow we experienced over the last few days NEVER happens in October and usually only happens in the dead of winter in January.
At dinner, I reflected on my thoughts and feelings about this trip before coming to Nepal. I had a gut feeling, I was going to be severely challenged on this trip (so I brought instant noodles as preparation - completely unnecessary!) and looking back, I was not wrong. It certainly did throw a lot at me without me consciously wishing for it. But I do think our trek has been one that is extraordinary because we've had extraordinary conditions to make it that way. It could've been different and possibly easier, if things were how they normally are according to our Everest Book. But maybe with the challenges we had, we've been given a special, a unique experience of the Himalayas. For this, I am grateful for the journey, even though we never made it to our planned final destination.
