Ok, no time to be flippant today, very serious business is at hand…starting with a 3.30 wake up call. Today is the longest and most difficult of our trek, and requires a very early start, i.e. 4.30am! When we were at Machhermo a group of Aussies had just arrived after being up to Gokyo and heading down before making their way to base camp. We asked why they where backtracking to EBC, and the answer was so as to avoid the ChoLa pass…the very same ChoLa pass we are ascending this morning. The reason for the early start? To get to the top of the pass before the sun hits it and melts the ice covered path, which is solid and stable(ish) as the ice sets the loose gravel and stone rubble like cement, and then unstable and prone to slippage when the sun does its magic. I must confess I didn’t realise this when I was convincing Rachael and Liz that this was the way to go to base camp. Oops! Oh, and did …