It has been a pretty normal day in the Khumbu; beautiful and clear in the morning, cloudy and snowy in the afternoon. This is one of the reasons a summit bid on Everest starts about 8:00 at night. The hope is to be on the summit at daybreak and down to relative safety of high camp before the afternoon storms blow in.

I actually got a hot shower. In the past they heated water on the stove and poured it in a small drum on the second floor that fed the first floor shower. Crude but surprisingly efficient. Today they had one of those inline electric heaters – 300 rupees (or about $4) for 15 minutes. Those things are 220 volts and scare me more than the old style but there were no obvious scorch signs on the walls so I took my chances.

It is amazing how much progress has occurred in the last few years. When I came here with Terri the first time in 2006 there was no power or water or cell. Now every village has had some rudimentary power until we got to Pheriche. In Phak Ding they had a small turbine that is driven by water coming down from the mountain above. The crazy thing is the primary cable carrying the power is just laying on top of the ground along the trail – all 440 volts of it. There may be a goat shortage in the Khumbu in a few years. At first I though it was a water line but those tend to come from up the mountain down individually to the homes. Of course the water lines freeze when it gets cold. My wife and I were discussing it has taken some of the quaintness but I wouldn’t want to deny these gentle people anything that would make their lives better. That of course is the opposite approach of the Goreite liberals who want us to reduce our carbon footprint while they track up the world in their Birkenstocks. If they really want to not use petroleum come on over. Bring a tent. Yak dung is the ultimate renewable.

Of course the biggest change is the near total cell phone coverage we have never had before. I bought a throw away cell phone from Ncell a local carrier in KTM and I can call home for 2 cents a minute. To put that in perspective it is almost $2 per minute on the sat phone. I also bought a 3G air card for my computer but so far that has been sporadic and disappointing. Still if I ever get a signal I paid for 5 Gigs for $25. I told the guys these calls are so cheap if we get board at base camp we can make prank calls. I might even call Papa Johns (one of my tenants) and order a pizza. That would really mess with their minds.

Cell phones have become ubiquitous in just three years. It is really disconcerting to see a porter carrying a humongous load by a strap across his forehead in a pair of flip flops on a dusty trail chatting on his cell phone. I fully expect there to be a rash of porters walking of cliffs while chatting up their friends or updating their Facebook status. Next thing you know there will be a new rule requiring hands free hiking.