“For the first time in days, my heart rate and oxygen levels began to shift, a clear indication of how important today was to get my body ready for higher altitudes.”
Today was all about allowing our bodies to adjust to lower levels of oxygen in the atmosphere. Today was a critical day to “Climb High and Sleep Low”. Things start getting more serious and challenging from this point onwards. You will notice a change at this point, a sudden shift in your breathing rate and a drop in your body oxygen. For the first time in days, my heart rate and oxygen levels began to shift, a clear indication of how important today was to get my body ready for higher altitudes. The “Climb High and Sleep Low” strategy is said to improve your heart rate and blood oxygen to prepare the body better before proceeding to higher elevations. To really make it count, it’s advised to at least ascend a minimum height of 1000ft, coming back to the same elevation that you started for sleeping the night. This is the most important thing to do for a successful high altitude hike.
As we started the day, misty clouds shrouded the mountain peaks. On the left hidden beneath this veil was Lhotse. A gaping hole in the midst of this shroud allowed some sunlight to poke through and light up Island peak (Imja Tse) in the far distance.
“The peak was named Island Peak in 1953 by members of the British Mount Everest expedition because it appears as an island in a sea of ice when viewed from Dingboche. The peak was later renamed in 1983 to Imja Tse but Island Peak remains the popular choice.”
Source: Wikipedia – Imja Tse
We climbed up Nangkartshang peak on a cloudy day and were literally walking in the clouds. The mountains (Thamserku, AmaDablam, Island peak) played peekaboo with us as the clouds moved in and out to cloak them before revealing them for a few interval seconds.
A popular rock feature is the Crocodile rock where every visitor pauses to take a solo shoot standing on top of the rock profile shaped like a croc’s mouth open wide. I decided to feature my photo shoot with my head straight into the crocodile’s mouth.
We got back down around lunchtime and spent the afternoon at the cafe at Countryside hotel in Dingboche, eating a variety of cakes, enjoying some good latte made from an Lavazza espresso machine (which is a real treasure to find in the mountain villages) and playing cards.
Wanderlust On Foot 
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