Location: Dingboche
Altitude: 4350m
Time: 4pm, Monday 5th April
Conditions: Cool with some cloud around the peaks. The jetstream winds are hammering Everest and Lhotse at the moment

It's Em here - Tashi delak (hello in sherpa)! Today we walked from Debuche to Dingboche, about 5 hours gradually upwards, along the river valley. The terrain has changed from pine and rhododendron forest to tundra. The streams are getting icy and the wind is chill. The beautiful mountain of Ama Dablam (6850m) towered over us all day. Sumit has climbed this mountain 3 times, and Lakpa 17 times!

I can’t believe I left home just over a week ago. It seems like months! Its great to be out of my comfort zone, every sight, sound and smell is a new experience that needs to be processed. Not to mention, getting accustomed to the giants of mother earth that surround us on all sides.

I’m finding Nepal is a bit like an Indiana Jones movie. Think twin propeller planes with rusty fuselages from Raiders and suspension bridges from Temple of Doom. Spending hours walking every day gives your imagination time to roam and this landscape is perfect for it - there could be Shangri-La or a Yeti in the next valley.

The group is faring quite well. The trails resound with Sumit, Pat and Daves' low brow humour, and Nat is fully recovered from gastro and chattering about how much she misses her cat. But today's prize goes to Jan for being a trooper. She is experiencing the effects of altitude a bit more than the rest of us but is still disappointed when she makes a 2 1hour switchback ascent up 400m at 4000m altitude only ten minutes behind the rest of us. Not a bad effort I think!

Happy easter to my family. I love you and thank you for letting me come! Em