October 19th – 20th, 2016 – Couple of Boots

Days 204 & 205: Nepal Trek Days 2 & 3 – Namche Bazaar

When Lindsay was a kid, her dad used to take her camping every summer. Tony was not one to enjoy air mattresses, so over the years he designed and built a queen-sized platform bed, which he outfitted with a foam mattress and fitted sheets. That bed…was so *comfortable*. Even though he got a lot of flak for the bed (his nickname was “the Trailer Guy” – because people said he may as well be in an RV), I think all our fellow camper were jealous.

My point is, foam mattresses are *delightful* and Igor and Lindsay slept incredibly well our first night on the Everest trail. Feeling recharged, we met Phurba in the dining room for breakfast and headed out on the trail toward Namche Bazaar by 8AM. While yesterday was a lot of downhill, today was a proper uphill hike most of the day. Even so, we fared pretty well – the itinerary estimated a 5-6hr trek, and we arrived at 1:30PM.

Crossing the river and slowly starting our ascent, passing lots of waterfalls where we fill up our water bottles along the way

It’s the high season, so the trail is always busy with fellow trekkers and porters transporting supplies

Many of the stone cottages we see passing through the villages still show damage from the 2015 earthquake

Freshly painted mani stones along the trail

We stop for a few minutes at the official park entrance to show our permits and tickets – there are constant warnings for how to spot the symptoms of acute altitude sickness, which will become more and more frequent the further we hike

Ticket in hand, we are on our way!

Criss-crossing the Kosi River via swing bridges

Around noon, the sun starts to breaks through the clouds, lighting up the valley

The Everest trail is much cleaner than we had expected, due to the efforts of the local Sherpa community to pick up trash and install sturdy trash bins along the way – totally appreciate their efforts as we can actually enjoy nature!

Hard-core porters along the trail – we see *a lot* of young kids (girls & boys, some who look as young as 7) carrying huge loads up and down the trail, as well as many porters wearing flip-flops and sandals. It’s still sunny and snow-free at this attitude, so hopefully they just prefer lighter footwear – but we’ve read horror stories of porters who don’t have cold-weather shoes and jackets

The final two-hour stretch before we reach Namche is a steep uphill climb – at the halfway point there is a rest area with a small view of Everest (when there are no clouds) – the first chance to see the mighty mountain on the trail! Sadly, the weather is not on our side today so we only get a peek of the peak

This is Namche! A “backpacker’s Disneyland” perched at 3,420m – just about everything you need, from toiletries & gear to an ATM & money exchange, can be found here and at a much better price than later on the trail

After skipping our early lunch, Igor was starving by the time we reached Namche! As we walked around town, we detected the aroma of freshly baked pastries! We followed our noses into a well-stocked, sweet-smelling bakery – we shopped with our stomachs and immediately ordered a brownie and a chocolate Danish for lunch, thumbing our noses at “real food”…at least until the table next to us was served their order of cheeseburgers! Huge, wobbling monoliths of meat and toppings, with a freshly baked bun! AND THE FRIES. Those burgers would haunt our dreams…

Acting like true adults, we order chocolate desserts for lunch at the Everest Bakery in Namche

So even though we purposely organized a tour that did *not* have food included (supposedly giving us more control over the quality of our meals), Igor discovered from Phurba that it is customary to eat ALL YOUR MEALS at the teahouse in which you are staying – apparently it’s part of the room rate. So even though Namche was bursting with dining options, we decided to have our dinner at the Zambala. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t that the food was *bad* – it’s just that this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and we resented the restrictions that were being put on us. Especially since that burger looked sooooo gooooood…

The teahouse cat zeroed in on Igor’s lap as the ideal nap spot while we were waiting for our dinner – Igor tried to be aloof, but kitty wasn’t fooled

It’s *highly recommended* that trekkers spend an extra day at Namche in order to acclimatize safely, so we decided to do a day-hike on our second day in town. Phurba told us the most popular activity was to climb up to the Everest viewpoint, about 400m above Namche, and then heading back down for an easy afternoon. That’s great for everyone else, but as I said before, we already had a head-start on our acclimatization from our Tibet trip, and were up for a far more strenuous hike. We consulted the Lonely Planet and convinced Phurba to lead us on a 6hr loop from the viewpoint though two of the mountain villages before calling it quits for the day.

Side note: while the majority of fellow travelers are Westerners, we discovered that a little bit of China followed us across the border. As we were ascending the hill above Namche, a Chinese tourist started doing what the Chinese tourist does best: yelling at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason. Of course, this being Nepal, not China, no one returned his first call (which, incidentally, startled many of the other trekkers – Igor and Lindsay of course were accustomed to this foolery). However, when he yelled a second time, Igor couldn’t contain himself and asked very loudly, “Are you OK? Do you need a helicopter rescue?” which made the entire trail of trekker burst out laughing. Not sure if the Chinese guy understood Igor’s question or why everyone was laughing, but he finally stopped yelling. J

Leaving Namche far below as we start our 6hr day hike

See that tiny patch of blue sky? That’s where the Lukla Airport is!

The rest of the trail is only accessible by helicopter – we see at least three emergency choppers speed through the valley, as well as a cargo drop in the Syangboche Airport, servicing Namche. The huge deposit of Coca-Cola products, Mars candy, propane tanks and other supplies shows us how prices are kept relatively low in Namche – everywhere else on the trail, these goods will have to be brought in on foot

As we continue to climb into the mountains, we spot a huge eagle circling above us

We walk past an emergency helipad just in time to see the chopper take off – it looks like it’s doing a nose-dive into the valley!

Though it was slow-going, Lindsay finally makes it to the Hotel Everest View!

Passing through the lobby of this ritzy lodge to the outside viewing patio

As one can deduce from its name, the hotel is known for its stunning views of Everest – though the mountain is covered when we arrive, a promising break in the clouds looked like it would reward patience, so we join about a hundred other tourists in buying an obligatory pot of tea and camp out for about an hour

Igor grins as the peaks start to appear

Three peaks! Taboche, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Unfortunately, Everest is still hidden behind the cloud in the middle 🙁

After we leave the hotel and continue our loop, we come across another fabulous viewpoint

Artsy photos of Lhotse and Ama Dablam

While many of the day-trippers return to Namche after the Everest viewpoint, we took the long way back, passing through the village of Khumjung – where apparently the homeowners association declared that everyone must have a green roof…

Such a pretty town! A maze of stone walls creates manicured lanes and pastures for livestock, and homes are decorated by flower gardens

As we walk through town, we see a family digging up potatoes with an ox-drawn plow, with Mount Ama Dablam in the distance

Since we’re here, we decide to buy tickets to the Khumjung Monastery

We had seen various flyers advertising the “Yeti Scull” on display at the Khumjung Monastery – we were suckered in and paid USD $2.50pp for a view of…a hair-covered helmet in a box? Feeling a bit daft, we left wondering which was truly the Yeti skull – the thing on display or the thing on Igor’s shoulders?

The Khumjung Monastery was badly damaged during the 2015 earthquake, and is currently undergoing a massive renovation – all funded with the Yeti money. So, at least we were swindled for a good cause.

We bypass another return route to Namche and keeping walking until we reach the neighboring village of Khunde

Nestled into the mountain face above the village is the Khunde Monastery

FINALLY! A Buddhist Monastery with a picture of the Dalai Lama!

Though small, the Assembly Hall in the Khude Monastery has a colorful collection of instruments used during their daily chants (the drum hangs front and center) as well as vibrant paintings of protectors, Buddhas and mandelas covering the walls

A thick fog starts to roll in as we pass by a badly damaged stupa on our way back down to Namche

During our walk down to town, Igor and Lindsay started to fantasize about dinner that night. The burgers & fries we had seen the neighboring table order at the Everest Bakery kept dancing though our heads, so we asked Phurba if there was a polite way to skip dinner at the teahouse and go to the bakery instead? Perhaps, promise to buy two hot showers or leave a USD $10 tip? That’s how much we would have spent on dinner anyways, so the teahouse would be making the same income. Phurba thought it over, and told us honestly that the owners of the teahouse would be offended, no matter what reason we gave for wanting to eat somewhere else.

“I think it would be better if you order something small – like soup – and tell them you have a headache and don’t want to eat more,” he advised.

Hey – we appreciate the honesty! We tried not to appear too chipper as we walked back into the teahouse, and dutifully ordered two bowls of vegetable soup and a pot of ginger tea for “dinner.” After gulping down everything as quickly as possible, we snuck out of the dining room and headed straight for the Everest Bakery. Since we already had an “appetizer,” we split one of their ginormous veggie burgers and ordered another chocolate brownie, ala mode. Now THAT’S a good dinner!