Everest Trek, Day 2 - Pankding to Namche Bazaar

What an amazing day! We were up and packed by 7:30 (although most of us were awake by 5:30 anyway, having gone to bed around 9:00 the night before), had our breakfast (porridge with cinnamon and apples for me) and hit the trail. Tashi had warned us that this day was one of the hardest. I knew from my reading that the "long, slow climb up to Namche Bazaar" was going to be a real challenge.We started the day at 8,000 feet and were headed up to 11,319.

The morning was beautifully sunny and bright as we hiked along the river, then occasionally crossed long suspension bridges, as we started to climb. The peaks rose up around us and we went in and out of groves of pine trees. The scenery looked very much like Colorado - it was only the people and the small villages that reminded us how far we were away from home. It was absolutely stunning to have 360 degrees views of towering mountain peaks while we stood on rocks next to a racing river.

We are walking at a very slow pace, so slow it's difficult for me at times but Tashi and Lhakpa (assistant guide) want us to pace ourselves so we don't get sick. Most of the day I was up front because it was easier for me to pace myself behind Lhakpa rather than strung out along in the group. So due to this conservative pace, what should have been a 6 hour trek plus a lunch break turned into an 8 hour day.

After stopping for lunch (Dal Bhat, the traditional Nepalese food with lentils and vegetables) we set off for 3 difficult hours up to Namche. It was a serious challenge - there were many more rock steps than I expected and the grade of the hill was very steep at times, perhaps 30% or more. About 90 minutes south of Namche it got very cold and some light snow started to fall. Just 3 hours earlier I was hiking in a t-shirt! If the weather had been clearer we would have had our first view of Everest, but as it was we could still see Ltotse, the 4th highest peak in the world.

We pulled into Namche around 5:00, ordered hot drinks at the guesthouse (lemon tea is quickly becoming a group favorite although the tea with milk, mint tea, and coke are also popular), and found out we could order hot showers for about $2.50. I took advantage of this to rinse off the grime and even decided to have a little laundry done since this is the last place where our clothes even have a chance of drying.

Dinner was very good. A number of the group have opted for Tibetan Momos or pasta and cheese and spaghetti. I like the Momos and have tried Tibetan soup, bread, and several other dishes that are delicious, hot, and hardy. This guest house if very large and popular. In the common room where we eat and hang out, there were three other groups of trekkers including one heading up to try to climb Everest itself. Mostly people chat and play cards and sit around the stove.

We stay in Namche two nights to acclimitize, so tomorrow we have a trek up to 12,700 feet in the morning and then return to our guest house for lunch and then have some time to shop for gear/snacks we may need as we hike higher. Today was a tough day physically and we're just getting started.