Day 5

Continuing our journey north toward the main chain of the Himalaya we entered a rhododendron forest and crossed the Tamur River on a suspension bridge and walked up to the Bhotia settlement of Olangchung Gola (3200m).

We pitched our tents on a series of terraces on the edge of the village and enjoyed a pizza and birthday cake for one of our team.
Our guide, Gyelgen is a Sherpa from the Solu Khumbu region and has summited Everest 8 times for which the minimum wage is now 10,000 US dollars. We asked him about difficult clients and he told us that a Chinese customer, with lots of money and very little time, repeatedly insists on helicoptering in to about 4000m to climb 6000m peaks. After staggering around like a drunk man due to altitude, he then has to abort the mission. He then repeated the failed process on a 7000m peak the following year!
Distance 6km 3hrs

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