Location: Dingboche
Altitude: 4400m
Time: 12 pm Saturday 1st May
Conditions: much warmer here than BC. This morning we sat out in the sun wearing t-shirts!

Hi it's Pat here. This is our second full rest day in Dingboche. Lakpa, Sumit & I left EBC mid-morning on Thursday and after lunch in Lobuche we arrived in Dingboche mid-afternoon - the walk down was a bit miserable, as we were walking in cloud and snow most of the way, each of us wrapped up in our own thoughts.

Not surprisingly the air is much thicker here and the temperature warmer. We are afterall almost 3000m lower than where Jangbu and I slept five nights ago. We're staying in the same lodge that we did on the way up, and underneath my open sleeping bag and a thick doona I have been having delicously deep sleeps.

Kerry arrived yesterday afternoon and it's been great to see her - the last time I saw her was the day we summited Mera Peak last year (also a big thanks to Chris for getting the message to Kerry re. memory cards - she got it at 8pm whilst sitting in café illy, 12 hours before flying to Lukla!). Kerry will go up to BC for a few days to acclimatise before climbing Lobuche East, a 6200m peak above the small outpost of Lobuche. Angalgen has also arrived this morning, and he will be attempting to summit Everest with us; thus our summit party is likely to number six.

After another rest day tomorrow, Sumit and I will head back up to BC on Monday.

Today Ankaji and Jangbu planned to complete a carry of oxygen and tents to the South Col (7950m) and after a second carry they should be back in BC on Monday or Tuesday. Lakpa and Mingma should be back from Thame a few days after that.

When we are all back in BC we'll catch up on all the rumours and all the facts, and get a better idea of when we might move up to C2 in preparation for our summit push.

Before we left BC one of our neighbours dropped by - his name is Pushkar, and he is the bicycle man. In 1999, he left his small village in Nepal with his bike and 100 rupees (about AUD $2), and 11 years later in 2009 he returned, having cycled through 150 countries in the name of world peace. He received donations to fund his journey. He visited the east coast of Australia in 2000, after which he visited New Zealand where his bike was stolen. Hearing about his misfortune, Sir Ed Hillary bought him a new bike, and it is this bike on which he left Kathmandu for Everest BC some weeks ago, accompanied by 149 other riders. If he summits Mount Everest, he intends to plant 150 flags of the countries he visited on the summit. He has a website and would be very pleased if you can visit it:
www.pushkarshah.com

Messages

Darryl & Sue - hi again guys - I hope I can continue to amaze you - the summit would be nice, and then I get to come home!

Nat - hi button, I hope you bought a new pair of ugg boots and a flanno at the Kurnell Fair. Freddy is so lazy but I'm looking forward to picking up and carrying around the world's biggest cat when I am next in Sydney. I hope the Wallaby Walkers got a kick out of their special mention! xxxx

Dianne - glad you and Tricia, Linda and Robyn are enjoying, and that now you know a little more about sleeping in a small tent on the ice!

Shaz & Al - Kerry says to say hello, and reminds Shaz to do some training in addition to the copious volume of charity work! We are sitting in Dingboche underneath Ama Dablam as I write!

Pen the hen - I had a good chuckle about poor Jacko's misfortune. Did they bottle the eggs as a keepsake? You could wear them as oversized earrings.

Alex - glad the team appreciated the flag photo, let's see if we can go one better with a photo from the top. Thanks for the support.

Mum - yep the next push will be the big one. Hope you had a nice ride.