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Club Nam Ché

• Ben
• 1 Apr 07, 04:13 AM

We left Namche Bazaar two days ago, leaving behind us the team who will be conducting experiments in the lab there. By way of a send-off, they arranged an underground disco, complete with glitter ball, flashing lights and tunes.

It was called Club Nam Ché, and to be honest wasn’t the best preparation for a long walk and filming the next day. For me, the low point came when Dr Roger McMorrow, who had won the team photography competition earlier in the evening, began sharing his prize – a bottle of Everest whisky. Apparently it’s very nice, but it didn’t agree with me at the time.

We’re now in Pheriche, and it’s very different up here. The village is at about 4200m, and we’ve left the trees behind us. We’re in a glacial valley with boulders and scrub across the slopes. In some ways it’s bleak, but it’s strikingly beautiful, with huge mountains everywhere you look. Every afternoon a huge bank of cloud rolls up the valley, and by about 5 pm this tiny village has been completely smothered.

This morning, we went on another acclimatisation hike, and walked up to about 4850m, roughly the same height as Mt Blanc. On the way back we thought it would be a good idea to take a short cut across the river.

I got a bit stuck on a boulder and had to wade out, so now my boots are drying out, stuffed with toilet paper, and I’m wearing rather fetching sandals with bright blue walking socks. Stylish.