Well we slept like babies without the aid of alcohol, which is not banned but ill advised for people gaining altitude (trust me we will make up for that on the way back down in 2 weeks!). Not sure I mentioned Jacek and Tomek are Polish so in my mind I am calling them north and south (figure it out yourself).
We got up about 7am and started sorting bags out before heading down to breakfast. The lodge was very busy – in fact everywhere is busy – it’s like being at a theme park at times..After piling on some calories and stocking up with water we headed off on our day expecting about 9 hours with rests and some 3000 feet of ascent. The morning took us through some small villages following the line of the river and crossing on several occasions using these wonderful metal bridges which bounce under your feet and sway side to side. They are not suspension bridges but are fixed to banks by tensioned cables. The skies were clear and at times we started to get views of snow covered peaks over 6000m high.
It was warm work and we stopped for a tea break having initially gained height then lost it again. After that we seemed to keep going downhill and by lunchtime we were at the same height we started yesterday in Lukla, now realising that all our climbing was going to happen this afternoon. So more carbs and protein for lunch and more ginger tea with honey and lemon, but now the meat ban is imposed! As a big meat eater one of my biggest concerns coming here was knowing that the meat quality is not good in the mountains and it’s not a good idea to eat it. So from now it’s eggs, cheese, vegetables – sounds like fun….not.
We set off after lunch without Santos whose lunch was late for done reason. He promised to catch us up later. Almost immediately we started to gain height gradually but at a slow pace to limit our exertions. After a short drop we crossed the final bridge of the day. The longest, highest and windiest so far. After that the steep climb began up some switchback paths and we gained around 500 feet in a very short distance. I paced myself with a group of donkeys carrying bags and supplies. Going past the donkeys and yaks can be dangerous, particularly if you are on the open side of the path with no protection from a steep drop. We came to a test station and took time for a breather, during which Santos did actually catch us up. After that rest there was another steep climb with a further 500 feet gained in about half a mile.
The path then climbed more gradually before contouring round the hillside and into the impressive sight of Namche Bazar, the largest settlement between Lukla and Everest. We will spend 2 nights here as part of the acclimatisation process, with mini hike tomorrow and maybe a first view of Everest itself. Dinner was good, and tonight I have a room to myself – internet slightly better but no joy uploading videos to FB and photos to this blog.
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