At the sherpas' insistence, we are eating breakfast inside the school house, while the children who can't fit into the remaining classroom wait outside. Hardly helping to encourage local education.

We head steeply upwards once more, following a well made but green and greasy path along the steep valley side. There are many staircases and chhotaara, and the trail is relatively busy with traiders headed to and from Simigoan with food and beer.

On expeditions, cards get a lot of use Photo (c) Tom Padgham 1998

After a long climb we arrive unexpectedly at a small shop, the first building we've seen all day. We carry on and are soon rewarded with superb views of Gaurishankar which rises up from the Rolwaling valley right into Tibet. We can also see the landslide that has wiped out Chechet, and below us lies the sprawling metropolis of Simigoan.

We wander through the town, an presently come to an excellent bhatti and camping site near the temple. The Dutch party are already installed, and are taking tea with lime served in bone china. Such luxury! We take the afternoon off, and do some laundry and shopping.

We have taken only half of the agency's recommended 140 litres of kerosene, and it is starting to get low. About four litres are used every day, and we will have to cook for the porters when we reach the Tesi Labsta. The fuel is sold from an anonymous looking house. The owner carefully measures it out using a plastic cup, inside his house, liberally soaking the floor with the stuff. It costs us a staggering 150 rps per litre, rather than the 8 rps we paid in Kathmandu.

We are invited inside the bhatti-owner's house for dinner, which is the first time we have been in a sherpa house. They have a very particular layout which hardly varies from valley to valley.