Lumde to Namche Bazaar

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Lumde is in the bottom of a valley and so gets the sunlight later in the morning. No sunshine through the windows or fire during breakfast made it a very chilly start despite the fact it was warmer than it has been higher up.
We started off around 8am and I was relieved when we finally reached the sunshine. The next couple of villages we reached are traditional Sherpa villages. They had large, walled fields and stone houses. They were large and only had one or two teahouses. It was good to see somewhere that wasn’t relying on tourism for its income.

We reached Thame around 1030am. It’s a pretty village sitting on a plateau surrounded by mountains - the situation is lovely. Unfortunately it was badly affected by the earthquake and most of the buildings are new, including the reconstructed monastery. We got lemon tea and Tibetan bread as a snack before carrying on - we decided 1030am was a little early to stop for the day! I was pleased to see it though, as this is one of the places my parents had talked about after their trip to Nepal.
As we left Thame I was delighted to see a huge bird of prey above us which I think was a golden eagle. Walking out of the village, looking back at the mountains, was pretty special.
So special, in fact, that we initially started out on the wrong side of the river having got distracted. We had to work out how to cross back across the river without going back on ourselves. This involved clambering down through a derelict village then down to the river and over a small bridge.
Once back on the correct route the villages we passed continued to be traditional and interesting - especially those on the far side of the river or a little off the path.

The walk back into Namche felt much longer than the first stretch. It was more undulating and therefore tiring. We soon reached rhododendron and pine forest which whilst a pretty change, made it hard to see how far away things were. The cloud then descended meaning that we didn’t see Namche until we could see the first roofs about 100yrds in front of us!

Walking through the mist we managed to find rooms in the same teahouse as we had stayed in before. We arrived about 230pm and were very grateful for some yummy food.
The afternoon was spent charging our devices and letting the world know we are still alive.

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