Blogs from Namche, Nepal, Asia - page 9

Namche! Namche! Namche! After a predictably cold night we left Pheriche at 8.30am bound for Namche Bazaar. Most of the going was down until we got to scene of awfulness (and interestingly the amorous French couple's grubby liaison) THE WORST LODGE IN THE WORLD, Paradise Lodge at Deboche. The climb from Deboche to Tengbocke is super steep and as breakfast was now hours ago, extrenely hard with no fuel powering you on. You get really sick and tired of fighting for breath on uphill stretches. You start to feel as if you never want to walk uphill again. All worth it thought as we emerged triumphant in Tengboche and rewarded ourselves with a Veg Burger in the bakery. Possibly the nicest thing I've eaten on trek. Tasted almost Western. Then we set out for Namche. ... read more

SURPRISE! I did not expect to find internet available up this far, but there are new surprises around every corner -- today's trek to Namche Bazar from Phakdinge was the hardest hike I have ever been on... we started out at about 7,500' elevation and gained about 4,000' with a lot of ups and downs -- will be staying here for 2 nites to acclimatise to the altitude -- can definitely notice the difference in breathing at altitude -- every thing is more difficult to do... Arriving here today was such a surprise -- so far from civilization, and such a hard trek here from Lukla that it is incredible this village is so large, about 1000 people live here, and in peak climbing season my guide says the guest houses and lodges can accomodate close ... read more

So we have just had our second acclimatisation day in Namche Bazaar. Pretty amazing day. It was bright, clear and sunny (as usual) when we woke up and Simon and I decided to walk up the hill to the top of Namche. There was the most incredible view of Everest so we walked on further to the Everest View Hotel (posh hotel for Japanese tourists) and had a cup of hot lemon (good drink out here) while gazing slack jawed at the aforementioned. It really is quite incredible when you see it to think of all the human stories of endeavour and failure, success and tragedy that it symbolizes. And that there are over 200 dead bodies on it. Later this afternoon we met the Phillipine's second most famous man (after the President), the first ... read more

My fellow friends, countryman, travellers and avid readers welcome to the next chapter in Nepal. Firstly thank you for your kind words regarding the Annapurna Circuit I'm glad you enjoyed reading about it as much as I did treking it. So lets get straight into the next little adventure which includes a real mixture of humour, adventure, hardship and unfortunately real tragedy. A reminder that no matter how beautiful the Himalayas are nature can turn to conspire against us and turn painfully for the worse with dire consequences. That's all in good time so lets begin the trip. Firstly Everest is known to the Nepalis as Sagarmatha "Goddess of the Sky " and to the Sherpas as Chomolungma "The Mother Godess" and Miyolangsangma, the Goddess, one of five long life sisters who reside on the peaks ... read more

I'm not at Namche Bazaar after a exhuasting climb of Namche Hill. The air up here is thinner and its amazing how easy you get out of breath. Today is the last opportunity I'll get to write here until I return on my way back. Tomorrow we head out on our path to Everest. This morning we got another sneak peak of our goal. Everest 's 'hat' which stuck out on the skyline, proud and wise. The winds up on the summit are around 200km per hour and the temperature is about -60c. When we get to Base camp we can expect -10 and to walk 10-15 paces before we have to stop to catch our breath. The trail up here was frequented by a Yak herds and 100's sherpa porters. These porters (man and women) ... read more