Thagnak to Dzonglha (across the Cho La Pass): We woke up at 6am to get a quick bight to eat before we were to go across the pass. It was expected to take 3.5 hours to cross the pass then half an hour across a glacier field then 3 hours down to Dzonglha. I woke up not feeling well and ended up taking Dymox for the first time. The medication made my fingers and feet tingle from time to time.  I had some kind of stomach bug I picked up from the bad water or food or it could have been one I had from before I arrived in Nepal.  I imagined an angry parasite equally upset with the lack of oxygen and strenuous exercise as I was.  In my weakened state I figured the Dymox would help me process the oxygen at the higher altitude. Shawna still had her strong cough and chest cold. Everyone calls it the Khumbu cough because it is from the high altitude and dry cold weather aggravating your bronchial tubes instead of a true bronchial infection.

We headed up the mountain trail that I believed would never end. The pass was very challenging for me and my stomachache and cramps did not help the situation.  I had to make multiple stops behind rocks on the way up waiting for my Imodium to kick in.  We finally made it to the top after scrambling across large rocks and boulders to get to the top. The view was not as good as the Renju pass.  However for the next mile was a large glacier ice flow that we had to traverse. It was very slippery and we had move slowly across it.  If the weather is bad, the pass is uncrossable.  After a half hour of careful stepping we got to the long downhill into the valley. After 3 more hours of hiking we arrived tired in Dzonglha.  Dzonglha was very neat because it was closely surrounded by huge 6000 meter peaks. I was still not feeling well and had a light dinner followed by a chess match with Simon and Nicholas.  We stayed awake until 8:30 when the porters kicked us out of the room with the stove so they could go to bed. When I went outside to climb in our tent, a large snowstorm had moved in and had started to blanket the entire valley with snow.  Shawna had already fallen asleep missed the beginning of the storm however excitedly woke me up in the middle of the night when she saw all the snow.  The snow on the tent made a nice insulting shell made the tent a few degrees warmer.  Shawna kept her down jacket at hat on in here sleeping bag.   We had good sleeping bags, so I slept in my long underwear and a hat.  Simon and Nicolas had the sleeping bags provided by the trekking company, which were much thinner than ours.  They often complained about being very cold at night so I would recommend anyone coming to Nepal bring the best sleeping bag they can buy in the states (Being warm and being able to sleep is worth far more that the money for of the best sleeping bag).