EBC Day 9, Pheriche to Phortse
10/17/2012
Every morning Dorji gives us an overview of our day, even now on descent when our schedule is more relaxed we go over details on how the next stage of our trek should unfold. Today our objective is Phortse, remote village sitting on a platform in 12,467 ft. Dorji uses term “Nepalese Flat” several times which means we are in for some climbing. He also mentions it will take us approximately four hours to get there which in reality means at lest five.
When Nepalese says flat it often means lots of up and downs
We are right in both counts. Even during the trek back we face many decent uphills. We were at the same altitude just few days ago and while then the air felt thinner, now the very same air flows to our lunch rich in oxygen, helping us maintain reasonable speed. Still, the trail to Phortse seems never-ending.
Rugged Himalayan terrain
The tea house here is not busy. Apart of us it hosts only 2 other groups, three friends from Slovakia, and a group of 10 mountaineers heading to climb Ama Dablam. One of them as we learn later is Dr. Monica Chavarri from Everest Beyod the Limits TV show.