Namche Bazaar 3,440m

(Monday) Mingpu Sherpa, Tawa Sherpa and I left Lukla yesterday morning around 830am headed for Namchee Bazaar for what was to be an 8 hr hike. However from the outset of leaving, it rained the whole way, making the trail muddy, slippery and slow going. We took our time, every couple of hours stopping in at the tea houses dotted along the trail for a cup of tea. Mingpu was obviously a local and they all greeted him with offers of welcoming hospitality. We finally settled in at a village called Monju, at 2,860m arriving aorund 4pm. There we met up with a 15 member strong Indian team also climbing Everest. We departed Monju this morning after a leisurely breakfast and headed up the valley towards Namche. We gained our first glimpse of Everest some 50km further up the valley, towering over all surrounding peaks. It's hard to imagine that is where we are eventually heading - all the snow capped mountains around us look so cold and barren; Everest will be more so. We crossed over a number of suspension bridges high above the Dud Koshi river, and then did the 800m ascent up into Namche Bazaar, and arriving before lunch where a yak steak, fries and banana pancake filled the spot! Namche Bazaar is a "small" town which is the heart of this region providing the gateway to the high trading pass into China, to the Everest region, and to the lower valley of Lukla where we have just walked from. I met up with James also on our team who has been trekking up in this area for the past few weeks with his father. We will now stay here for a couple of days doing some day hikes to higher altitudes, and wait for the rest of our team to arrive, by which time we will be itching to keep going higher. We still have another 50km to walk. The outlook for us now is to be fully acclimitised and arriving at base camp around the 16th May. Bye for now...David

(Photo: Kathmandu with Serki, MingMa & Dewa Sherpa - Dewa is our lead sherpa)
(Photo : Lukla - typical village house along the trail)

(Photo: The take off at Lukla - no second chance)

(Photo: Nepalese boy with attitude)