Reaching Gokyo Ri for me was one of the highlights of the entire trek. During these days I was feeling very strong and healthy and was skipping up the tracks to the beat of some crazy ipod tunes sharon had put on my ipod. Tip for anyone trekking - take music! You'll find yourself walking to the beat and forgetting about how many hills you have to climb up. Unfortunately, Stef was not so great. She still had diarhea pretty bad, and by about the seventh day we were both extrememly worried as she was not keeping anything down and was walking constantly during the days.
The guides were helpful, but I don't think they realised just how seriously ill she was as she didn't always speak out when she wasn't doing so well. We reached Gokyo Ri by afternoon on about the seventh day and it was georgeous! There are five main lakes, and the village we stayed at was on the biggest lake. It was stunning!
Our guides were preparing us for the next morning, in which we walk up to the Gokyo Ri Peak - 5300m. It was a big climb and difficult. They told us to wake up and ready to go at 4 am so to see the sunrise. I was definately keen to go, but we were still unsure about Stef. Both the guides were saying she should go and she will get to the top, but we were not so sure. Unfortunately that night, Stef got even worse - throwing up everything she'd had the day before, and just a few hrs before we could go. It was clear she would be unable to go.
So at 4 am i headed off with just one of the guides, JB, while the other guide/porter stayed behind to look after Stef. It was a really hard climb! The whole way was steep and the higher we got the harder it was. I felt incredibly weak and was amazed at how it only took a few steps for me to feel out of breath. It was dark, and cold but I soon heated up (as I always do when walking uphill), but the views were spectacular! When I reached the top I could see 360 degree views of five of the ten highest mountains in the world - including everest! It was stunning!
I asked the guide, JB how long it had taken for me to get to the top. He said about 3.5 hrs. I was very embarassed about this as the day before he had estimated it would take Stef and me about 3 hrs to get up - and that was with Stef being sick! I thought on my own it would be a lot quicker. THe way down was much easier and I was soon back at the lodge. When I looked at the time I realised my guide was hopeless at estimating time. We had left at 5am and I was back by 8.30 am - so getting up and down I was apparently a lot quicker than most. And thats with a half hour break at the top! So whoever says I"m lazy - think again ha ha!
