Namche a very special place
Today was plan to head to Namche Bazaar. We started early in the morning at 7:00. But then we were going to cross 3200m mark and some altitude sickness was to be expected. The trail climbed steeply, dropped down to the river level, and then some more steep climb to many bridges. After the bridge some more steep climbing. From this point we had the first glimpse the mighty Everest on a very clear blue sky. Impressive peaks consumed the horizon as wide as our peripheral vision. I stood quietly for a moment to take it all in. As I glanced over to nathan’s face, I saw my own. I saw my dreams, my experiences, my emotions. And I felt my memories come to the surface.
Beyond the rest stop, some more steep climb, but soon we were at the check point right outside Namche. The day's trek was mostly done. So far so good. It was difficult to get into the breathing pattern but once I was warmed up I had a great day high in the Himalayas. I’m enjoying it while I can but tomorrow we leave Namache and head even higher. Our tea house was all the way to other end of Namche which required more uphill, but we had an awesome view from there. We will stay here 2 nights. Namche Bazaar is literally a Bazaar with shops selling all sorts of gear and services (Once we arrived we ordered loads momos and beer. I loved momos!
The beautiful village of Namche is perched high on the steep side of a mountain. The village really has only three sides the fourth is open to the huge mountains. My accommodation sits about half way up the sides of this large bowl almost in the middle of the U. From my bed next to the window I can see the multi-coloured tin roofs in blue, green and rusty red. All the buildings are made of granite bricks hand cut and hand placed. The view is gorgeous as these enormous snow covered mountains crown the view. The colours, sights and sounds make Namche a very special place.
The next day we trekked over 3800m to the Everest View point hotel. I was not really feeling any effect of altitude yet, just some slow down
In the pace. Here was a view worth Himalayas. As not surprising Everest was half in clouds. But we had lot of time, so we just sat and waited for clouds to move. They did move here and there and we did see some good sights of Everest.
The next morning we all got up at 4:00 bright and early to take the flight to Lukla. The airport was kind of a chaos but the Tsering and Nima handled everything for us. Then we were taken to the tiny plane that was shadowed by the huge mountains. I was a bit apprehensive now. It was like a 9 seater, I sat in and stuffed my rucksack under the seat and triple checked my seatbelt. The flight was thankfully uneventful.