We had a nice sleep in till 7 this morning, so a very leisurely approach to breakfast.
While we’re on the topic of food, lets explore the culinary delights of the Nepalese high country.
Not much grows up here except potatoes, cabbage, peas, and a few assorted veggies, and everything else has to be carried in. The main others being rice, oats, noodles, pasta and eggs.

What we have here is a diet high in carbs and starch, low in fresh veg and protein, and dominated by the humble spud!
If you so choose you can have fried spuds for breakfast, spud & veg for lunch, and “finger chips” for tea.
Alternatively, how about potato with eggs, mixed fried noodles and fried momo’s?
Fried macaroni with cheese, anyone? Mixed fried rice? Veg spring roll, or veg cheese pizza?

Tibetan bread (you guessed it, fried) and jam…delicious!
For dessert lets give the arteries a solid workout with a snickers or mars roll. That would be a ‘deep fried’ roll! Haven’t tried these yet, may risk it on the way down.
I think you get the picture….a calorific smorgasbord!
Don’t worry about high altitude getting you, more likely a stroke!
Actually this morning, and most mornings, we have porridge and ginger tea.
The tea is pretty good, the coffee not so much except in Namche where there are a couple of excellent coffee shops, which will definitely get return custom in a couple of weeks.
Oh, nearly forgot! We actually had to walk today.

We followed Yak tracks which hugged the mountainside, drifting up and down (mainly up) for about three hours, the last in low cloud and drizzle, to the town of Machhermo (4410mt), where we will spend the rest of the day….with an acclimatising climb in the arvo, of course!

To finish the day we visited the Machhermo Rescue post, which provides medical services for trekkers who come into difficulty with altitude sickness, and other ailments.
The post is manned by volunteer Doctors during the trekking season and is fully funded by donations, as well as providing much needed services for the porters, with clothing & footware, also by donation.
The two Scottish doctors gave a small talk about the post and its services as well as altitude sickness in all its forms, how to identify symptoms and possible remedies, as well as ways to minimise risk.
We finished by testing our blood oxygen levels and heart rate, which we all passed…..food intake withstanding!

Oh, yeah…the highlight of the day was having a shower for only the second time this trek.

More on hygiene in a future post.