Namche Bazaar

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Today I saw my first view of Everest - fantastic!

We are stopping in Namche Bazaar for a second night tonight as today was an acclimatisation day after the big rise in altitude. I have realised that I forget to mention any heights in my previous entry, so here goes: We flew from Kathmandu to Lukla which was at 2880 metres above sea level. On the first day we actually lost height as our first night's stay was at Phakding which is at 2640m. Yesterday we then climbed to Namche Bazaar which is at 3450m.

This morning we were woken 5:15 by Tanka, our sirdar, with a cup of tea. This was an encouragement to get up and dressed ready for a short walk at 05:30. We were getting up this early in order to climb to the top of a small hill just above Namche from where Everest can be seen. The reason for going so early was to get there before the sun lit up any the peaks around us. At 05:50 I got my first view of Everest. We stayed at the view point for half an hour or so, taking in the stupendous mountain views, and of course taking photographs, as the sun gradually lit up each peak. At this time of day Everest was probably at its clearest, with Lhotse immediately to its right and Ama Dablam very obvious by its unusual shape a bit further to the right. After a while we walked back down to our lodge in Namche for breakfast.

This short stroll was just an extra. The main acclimatisation walk for today started after breakfast at 08:30. Our destination was the Everest View Hotel which is at 3880m and took us a couple of hours to reach involving a steady steep uphill climb most of the way. After resting there ad taking in more views of the surrounding peaks we walked back down for a hot shower and lunch. The hot water in the showers is provided by solar-heated tanks on the roof so they are most likely to be hot in the early afternoon if the morning has been sunny! Luckily today was so we were able to enjoy a hot shower which we hadn't when we arrived yesterday. After lunch the rest of the day was free so most of use just wandered around Namche Bazaar which although now quite touristy is fascinating in the way the whole village (or maybe town?) is built into a 40-50 degree slope.

Tomorrow we leave Namche for our next stop - Thame.

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Photos

Bridges
the first of many steel bridges we crossed on the trek

Solar Power
we saw quite a few of these sun-powered water heaters

Namche Hill
the bridge that marks the start of the steep climb to Namche Bazar

Namche Bazar
entering the town at the end of the climb up from the gorge below

Comments

[Sue Reed]

Great heights !
Hi Mike I feel dizzy just thinking of walking so high. At least you haven't had to walk up from sea level. It sounds fascinating and what wonderful views. My friend's daughter did a similar trip a couple of years ago. Hope it all goes well and your new jackets are keeping you warm. I wonder what the overnight temperatures are? Will you be camping at all on the trip? Have a great time Sue