There and Back Again (Everest - Part 13)

Back under 14k feet my body is reviving itself. The first good sleep I've had in two weeks, my HRV was actually normal, and my resting heart rate dropped by 10 beats in one day.

Elevation is a phantom monster - you feel the physiological stress but don't understand why you feel so bad. Descending is euphoria as your brain gorges on the extra oxygen. You remember what it's like to feel like yourself again.

From Lungden it's a meander through villages and forest. It's already cloudy at 7am, which isn't a good sign. It must be snowing again up above, and I'm very glad not be part of it.

We follow the river for the most part. The trail becomes more structured, more animal poo to circumvent. The buddhist temples and prayer wheels reappear.

But most importantly - the trees are back. Evergreens and Rhohoderdions blooming. Birds chirping.

It rains on and off the entire day, prompting a change in and out of my burqa (rain poncho) - another one of those clothing items that makes body temperature regulation difficult.

The fog makes the trail spooky - visibility is poor, so it looks Iike we are walking off into whiteness. And on and on we go, until suddenly Namche comes out of the fog.

Not going to lie, I feel a bit superior to all the trekkers who are just heading out.

I know things now. I am forever changed.

Today the entire city doesn't have power - too many clouds so the solar panels get a day off. And I am so very glad that soon I can take things like electricity and indoor plumbing for granted again.

The final leg back to Lukla is a joyous descent into forest and rivers in full sunshine.

My tranquility is disturbed when I board the miniature box on wheels that's masquearding as an airplane. I quickly send off a text home as a final will of sorts. Then the box runs off the side of the mountain on the shortest runway in the world.

After the initial shock that we didn't plunge to our death, I feel the nostalgia settling in. What would it be like to do this trail counter-clockwise? Or summit Mera Peak?

Bye for now, but not forever.