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Thursday, September 18th, 1997
Yangle Kharka, 11.610 ft. (Steffen Walton).
We sit in our tents in Yangle Kharka and listen to the rain drumming on the
flysheet. Normally a pleasant sound, but not right now, as our clothes are wet,
soaked by four days of constant rain. The rain is by now the only thing here in
Nepal we can rely on. We can trust it. It comes each and every day as a true
companion through rainforest and plains on our way to Base Camp, which we plan
to reach coming Sunday. Yangle Kharka is situated at about 11.500 ft, and we
plan to stay here until Saturday morning, to acclimatize and relax after eight
days of trekking, from the Tropics to the polar climate. The path up here went
along the Barun river, a sub-sub-tributary of the Ganges, walking several
quarter-miles on steep rocky banks threatened by rockfall, why we walked the
whole stage without a break, without being hit by as much as a grain of sand. So
to you sensation-seeking guys out there: No blood here in Nepal, only a little
headache because of the altitude.
