EVEREST TREK : DAY 9

Day 9. Day in Namche

Monday 18 March

I woke early but Moira wanted a long lie, I read for an hour before getting up. Still leaving Moira in bed I took the washing and hung it out on the line again. It was a glorious morning clear blue skies and the sun beginning to warm the place up and melting the snow on the roof. Namche was surrounded by snow capped peaks and I had to dash upstairs to get the camera and the record this outstanding panorama.

Morning view from the Nest in Namche

Moira didn't get much of a long lie, we were down for breakfast at our normal time and had our usual things. We thought today being an acclimatisation day meant a rest day but Brin had other ideas. At 9 am we set out to climb the hill above Namche. It was an up straight from the start through the busy town streets to a track at the top. It zig zagged up the hill to a long string of prayer flags that we could see from the lodge. Looking back the scenery was unbelievable, the white topped mountains seemed close enough to touch and the conditions were crystal clear not like when we arrived yesterday in heavy snow and mist.

The prayer flags on the way to the view point

After the prayer flags Brin indicated a restaurant on top, our destination. The track levelled out somewhat through an area that was similar to the Alpine desert region on Kilimanjaro. When we reached the restaurant the path ran round the outside, suddenly when we turned the final corner of the building we were confronted with the most awesome view of the highest mountains in the Himalayas, and the World. central and to the rear was Everest and in the front Nuptse, and Lhotse which looked bigger but shrouded by cloud. The most outstanding was Ama Dablam, an enormous white pinnacle of snow covered rock.

The Everest Range, Nupse, Everest poking its head up in the centre and Lhotse to the right in cloud

Ama Dablam

There was a track that continued over the top, fairly flat that led to the Everest View Hotel. We followed the route with me busy snapping the views on the camera. At the hotel we went to the balcony restaurant at the rear, to what must be the most magnificent panorama in the World. Unfortunately there was a 220 rupees charge for a cup of tea, so we left. On the way back the wind had picked up and it was cold but the scenery was still stunning. As we descended and became sheltered from the wind the sun was very warm and complete difference from yesterday. 

When back in town we gave Brin the rest of the day off and walked around the shops. They were much the same as the ones in Kathmandu, selling trekking gear, paintings, souvenirs, and Internet connections at extortionate rates. We stopped at a restaurant with a sun deck and shared a chicken curry between us. The meat didn't taste much like chicken and I didn't recognise any of the bones as coming from any chicken I had eaten before, other wise it was very tasty.We went back to the lodge, the Nest, and the washing was all dried with the lovely weather this morning. I put the iPad on to charge for an hour at a cost of 150 rupees, then we went into town to change travellers cheques. It was a bit of a hassle but we eventually got $500 worth of rupees. 

On the way back to the lodge we bought a load of Mars and Bounty bars to give us energy for the climb up to EBC. We also met Peter and Katrine from Denmark who had rest day at Junbesi, they were also staying at the Nest. When we got back we had a pot of tea and a Bounty bar. We were going to go out later to a bar that was advertising free WiFi but it was too cold and we sat in the dining room reading until dinner time. There was a large group of Japanese here tonight and they had a whole central row of tables reserved for them. There was a bit of a delay until they were all served before we got to eat. We started with a veggie noodle soup for me and Moira had a Sherpa stew which she said was like Scotch broth. We then had a pizza and we were both full up.

Once the Japanese departed to their rooms we booked half an hour on the lodge WiFi but we had run out of credit on Skype so we sent emails to Suzy and Margaret. Suzy phoned us back on her Skype, she is keeping fine and there is 5 weeks to go until the birth of our second grandchild. Margaret emailed and Ewan is full of life and now regularly at nursery.

We went to bed after that and read until 9 pm. During the night about 3am we got wakened by a terrible thump from the room above, it sounded like somebody had fallen out of bed.

OTHER SCENES FROM THE EVEREST VIEW POINT AT NAMCHE.