Trip Highlights Everest Home Home

DAY TWELVE Monjo, 9,200 ft. to Lukla, 9,300 ft.
Another easy day . . . I'm almost beside myself . . . two easy days in a row . . . I hardly know what to do. But then I guess it's only fitting and proper that the easy days come at the end rather than the beginning.

I arrive at the lunch spot ahead of everyone else. This is a first! Since the beginning of the trek I've always been one of the last to arrive for lunch or back to camp.

Chicken is on the menu for dinner tonight. At last! Some protein!

There is a concern, of course, about the freshness of any meat dish being served. For example, in the high camps one could almost be assured that any meat had been trekked in and was probably a couple of weeks old.

During this same trip last year the staff, in order to validate the freshness of the meat to the trekkers, produced two live chickens which they slaughtered and prepared. The sight of the live chicken apparently caused several people to lose their appetites, so this year the chickens are prepared for a delicious final meal without benefit of the live display.

The evening concludes by inviting sherpas, porters, and kitchen staff to the dining area for dessert, singing, dancing and a well-deserved beer.

We retire later to our tents to the sound of barking and fighting dogs. Somewhat of a chilling sound when you consider that over 50% of the dogs in the region are rabid.

CONTACT DAVE

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