10. Zonglha to Thagnak via Chola Pass

This morning hurt, as Grace only had three hours sleep for some reason (James was snoring too loudly). We dragged ourselves downstairs for breakfast at 530 and had some porridge.
We set off at 615 to tackle Chola pass.
We had to pack our micro spikes for the first time, which was super exciting. This pass was no where near as long or difficult as Kongma La. It took us about 3 hours to hit the top at 5440mtrs, crossing a glacier in the snow, wearing our micro spikes which was exciting.
Gombu (the actual name of our Sherpa, we were told he was called Phure Sherpa by the tour operator, Gombu was to polite to correct us for the whole of last week) was telling us about all the people who have died on the passes this year, including one only a week ago as we were walking up which filled us with loads of confidence 😬.
At the top, we had a quick snack before heading down, which was much more difficult than going up as it was very icy, snowy and steep. Luckily there was a wire rope to hold onto, but Grace still managed to fall on her arse twice.
It took about 90 mins to reach the bottom of Chola pass, then another three hours to reach Thagnak.
We spent the afternoon recovering from the previous very full on days. We are really happy that we have now completed Everest base camp, Kongma La and Chola pass with only Renjo La pass to go. Our guide Gombu says he only does the three passes trek once or twice a season which is making us more determined to get the full trek done. One more to go!!Read more