The beautiful Village of Dzongla gave the feeling of the last village of the world. This is the last stopover before the Cho La Pass from the East to West.
The view from here: a panorama of the incredibly beautiful Mt. Ama Dablam and the surrounding mountain ranges resembled the logo of Paramount Pictures. Behind the village lies the high walls of the Cho La pass, Cho La Tse and the Cho La Glacier ahead of that.
The Paramount Pictures view from Dzongla
As planned we bunked at a cozy lodge in Dzongla. It snowed overnight but we managed to sleep through it thanks to our -20˚ sleeping bags that we rented from Kathmandu.
At 6 am we were chilled to the bone and Left the lodge marking our climb to the Cho La Pass. The Trek took us though some of the most scenic trekking trails until then.
The trail from Dzongla to Cho La Pass
The first part of the trek to the pass was gradual. After which we were negotiating and climbing up boulders, some the size of two-storey buildings. Huge boulders stacked on top of each other with ice and sleet made it difficult and slowed us down. We took our time to catch our breath and the much-needed O2.
After the steep section came the Cho La Glacier. We got our crampons on to cross the river of hard ice in almost zero visibility. At the end of the glacier beyond a frozen lake we had to climb the last bit of a steep wall to reach the lowest point to the next valley, the Cho La Pass summit.
The Cho La Glacier
We celebrated our victorious attempt over a meal of boiled eggs and Tibetan bread, we then scrambled our way down to the other side. The snow and rain left the path slippery and dangerous. Each step was taken with extreme caution.
After what seemed to be ages and ages of descending and tramping up and down smaller hills, we reached the village of Dragnak or Thagnak.
Totally exhausted, we decided to stop there for the night.
Dzongla
Altitude: 4830m/15846ft
Dragnak/Thagnak
Altitude: 4733m/15528ft
To view mobile photos of the trek, please visit the album RoadToEverest on Facebook.
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