Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - Pheriche

Pheriche (pictured) is, as much as I could see in the mist which hung over the settlement for most of the day, a very small hamlet in a glacial outflow valley bottom. Just up the valley is a yak farm where the yaks which are used for the major Everest expeditions are kept. They roam across the valley floor in a never ending stoop for elusive edible grasses which do their best to hide in the nooks and crevices between the rocks. Looking up I could - very occasionally during the day - get a glimpse of the mountains which the others assured me were towering above us. I could not see a thing - it could have been Snowdonia except my breathing - or difficulty doing it - along with the headache - kept reminding me that this was a little higher up than Snowdon!

As I lay in bed - in my sleeping bag for the first time having had a look at the sheets and made a hasty grab for the down of my Russian made bag! - I listened to the rats scurrying about their business in the walls. I must admit I felt a huge sense of achievement that I had made it this far without suffering too much. Altitude sickness could have kicked in at any time and I fully expected it to do so within minutes of me landing at Lukla. This was a great feeling and the next day was to be a push to the highest I had ever been (as was this) and a place where there is only 50% of the oxygen that is available to the average Brit on the Clapham Omnibus in London! After a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, a walk to Namche Bazzar and only one rest day before we ascended to here I was astonished that I wasn't crawling back down the mountain with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness)... it was only a matter of time.