January 15

8 hours of hiking including all stops. Others in group are starting to feel signs of altitude sickness, but I feel the best I have in days. Skies cleared and the views of the peaks above and the plains below are unbelievable. We’re being super pampered on this hike. We have a team of 35 (three guides, a cook and 31 porters)! I feel like we should be waging war on a small nation. We get tea in bed to start the day, take meals in a mess tent, have a toilet tent and are eating really good food. The porters each carry about 30 pounds on their heads, some are wearing loafers, and they still fly by us on route. “Jambo, Jambo” say the whiteys every time they pass. And yet they remain really friendly? Camp at 11,000.