Trek Day 09 - Gokyo to Maralung via Renjo La "pass" (5,340m)

An early start, cheers to Sonal and thankfully not suffering from any of
the rum enjoyed the night before! Weather poor though which was going to
make the journey much harder. Low cloud and falling snow, luckily a
group of Nepali teachers marking the trail.But steep sections were
treacherous and I took two tumbles down the hill- luckily no harm done
to my arm but scary moments. Crampons would have been very useful! I
wonder how Major Hume is doing, especially over the Cho La.
After 3 hours reached the top and thankfully all in one piece. Glimpses
of Gokyo and the lakes on the other side through the mist. The other
side consists of the most amazing steps of stonework down into the
valley below. Great if not covered in snow but a little scary when
covered and form this big slide all the way down. So even more calories
burnt up concentrating on the way down.
My intentions were to stay at Pemba Sherpa's lodge in Arya and to make
this my base for the foray up the Nangpa La (pass on the border with
Tibet) but as I approached it it seemed awfully quiet! I whistled down
but got no reaction and then realised that I would have to go even
further down to the village below - many grumbles! This was not good
news as it meant the "base" would be further down the valley meaning
another night camping out - this was not in my food/supplies budget.
In the end I ended walking down to Maralung and luckily found a young
Sherpa, Sanche, who took me to his mothers lodge - it was still snowing
so I was cold and still grumpy about Arya
Slept from 3:00pm to 6:00pm and then dinner of vegetable soup and meat
momo's until 8:00pm - then slept another 11 hours