Trek Day 5: Camp to Dung Dung La Base - 12km (5 hours)

We woke at 6:00am again, and I sang Happy Birthday to Ian. We started the daily trek by having to walk down into the valley past Sumdo Chinmu (4300m). The guy running the campground that we were to stay at was in Sumdo rather than at the campsite, and we had to take a break from hiking while our guide fought the R10 bribe that he was insisting on. We had lunch in the valley at 3600m, and then had to climb the pass that was at 4100m...I was not feeling well at all! and found this climb extremely difficult. Ian took the short cut straight up the mountain, but then found out that he was allergic to the wildflowers (sneezing, stuffed up nose and was even having trouble breathing!). After the pass it was a very narrow trail to the camp with a steep drop off (I was getting dizzy). At the campsite (4100m / 13,500 ft), I cleaned up and then went to sleep around 3:00 (nausea, fever, etc). Our cook spent the afternoon baking Ian a birthday cake using hot stones, and even decorated the top with "H B to Ian" written in jam. I started antibiotics (finally) to try and get well enough for our final day of trekking the next day.