Everest Region Hike Day 3

We left Monju and enter the Sagarmathu National Park, which includes Everest. We had an easy hike along the Milk River for about an hour. At a fork in the river, we ascended to a high suspension bridge and thus began a tough 2-hour trek up a set of steep switchbacks through scenery so magnificent that an undisciplined person could easily drain a camera battery.

The trail is rougher here. In many places it is just a dusty track barely wide enough for the up and down trekkers to pass each other. Half way up, we get our first view of Everest's snowy peak rising above all her sisters. (The Sherpas believe Everest is a goddess named Chomolungma.)

Everest is on the left. 

The half day hike took us up to 3440 meters and I feel every one of those 600 new meters in my legs. I was fine when we were under 3000 meters, but I feel the thinner air more now.

We arrive at Namche Bazaar, the biggest town in the region. It is a cluster of stone buildings on steep and narrow streets.

View of Namche. Buddhist shrine on my left. 

Typical Namche street.

The town is a study in contrasts. Villagers wash their laundry in a mountain stream and chat on cell phones. Despite the fact that everything is either carried in or flown in to a nearby airstrip, prices are reasonable. A 500 ml beer is 500 rupees, about $6. A meal is between 200 and 600 rupees. A room in a decent lodge costs 200 rupees a night, 500 with a toilet. There are 85 rupees to a Canadian dollar. So the room or a meal are just a few bucks. Yet, Internet access costs 350 rupees for an hour. We stayed at the best lodge of the trek. A 2-day stay with 6 meals amounted to $54.

My trek mate and I paid an extra 300 rupees each to get rooms with toilets. For about $3.50, it was worth it.

View from my hotel room

Namche Bazaar marks the zone between relatively easy trekking and the hard stuff. In chats with others on the way back from treks, it is cold and hard on the trail to Everest base camp and other destinations nearby. The dust and cold can cause a cough, called the Khumba cough after the Everest glacier, so hard it can crack ribs. Sprained ankles and altitude sickness prevent many from making it. Occasionally people drop dead. I picked the right trek for me.