Namche Bazaar

The next day, April 20th, we proceeded to Namche Bazaar, a 9km walk, taking us some six hours and going up to 3,446m. We entered Sagarmantha National Park -- this trail crosses the river on long, swaying suspension bridge that lead us along the river, following the Dudh Kosi. Shortly after crossing the last bridge, we got our first glimpse of M. Everest in the distance. It was a steady brutal climb to Namche Bazaar. It was the first climb during which Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) might have been a problem. We took it very slow and easy, one step at a time, avoiding the tendency to rush.



Namache Bazaar is the main trade and administrative centre for the entire Solu Khumbu region and has trek shops, restaurants, bakeries, pharmacies, hotels with hot showers (very important, as we climb higher, and higher), massage centre, post office, money changer, bank, ATM and even internet cafes. Namache Bazaar and the surrounding villages have an ample supply of hydroelectricity used for lighting and cooking. While there is electricity here, this does not mean that we had electricity all the time, as sometimes it was off, i.e., first thing in the morning, when we were trying to get ready for breakfast and pack our gear for the day.




During our hike up to Namache Bazaar we saw many yaks, prayer flags, stupas and mani stones (stones with carved mantras by the Buddhist monks). The scenery was spectacular, as was the hike consisting of steep slopes uphill and steep slopes downhill.


stupa along the trail.


We stayed for two nights in Namache Bazaar acclimatizing our bodies to the altitude. Our Guide was very knowledgeale in providing us with information regarding the preparation of our bodies to climb to Base Camp. His advice included the following: getting lots of sleep, when possible, drinking lots of water (ups to five litres per day (which we had to carry for the day), eating garlic soup (readily available on the mountain), eating no meat, no alcohol and eating lots of carbohydrates, i.e., Dal Boht (a Nepali dish consisting of rice, lentil 'sauce', and vegetables), fried noodles, spaghetti, rice, my favourite sherpa stew (consisting of noodles, potatoes and vegetables).



the trail leads on




almost there