Back in base camp I awake to the Dawn Chorus again. Loubouche had been really quiet with only few tents up there (acclimatising on it is quite common) but here at base camp the Dawn Chorus does not consist of the the tuneful little birdies tweeting the arrival of a new day. Nope, it is the cacophony of people hawking phlegm and spitting from the accumulation of crap during the night at altitude. It’s really gross but you get used to it.
We have a lovely lie in until breakfast at 9am. It has been the coldest night yet here. The weather is supposed to get warmer with May being quite nice. Except obvs up higher it will be freezing.
I have a nice bucket wash and wash my hair. I only have a little bit of shampoo which I have to use sparingly and no conditioner. We give in laundry and for the first time in two and half weeks I change my pants. The porters won’t wash undercrackers so after I have washed my body and shampooed my hair with a tiny amount, I put my pants in the bucket and wash them. Then I pour the whole bucket over my head to rinse my hair. It’s hardly the life of luxury out here lol but it feels good to be clean again. When I was on Loubouche I couldn’t find my tooth brush so I couldn’t clean my teeth for three days. With 3 people in one tent we could hardly find anything. This morning I found my toothbrush in a toiletry bag along with 12 batteries and a battery casing. I’m very proud to say that they all summited Loubouche.
Now I have cleanish hair, washed although rather hairy body, talced feet again and new pants on. (Thanks Mel, I have my fab supernatural comfy boxers on now). My old pants are drying on top of my tent lol. There is no room for pride up here. Also the period has finished. I like one dayers lol.
Then it takes me the rest of the morning to fix up my little home again and put all my stuff back where it was before, just how I like it.
The Canadians leave and me and Bob decide it would be bad form to cheer.
We hear the Puja ceremony will be tomorrow at 8am. This is exciting news as it means after that we start to climb. The only people who have been on the mountain are the icefall doctors. The Nepalese are very superstitious and no one can set foot on the mountain, not even the Sherpas until we ask the gods for safe passage. I am very keen to get to the puja ceremony because we can drink beer at it.