3445 – 3900m 3 hours up to Panorama Lodge
It is 5am and the sun is just peeking over the Himalayan giants that surround Namche. Crows are cawing and I hear a rooster or two announcing the arrival of morning.
Today is an acclimatization day so we are heading up the hills behind us to Syangboche at 3900m. Here there is a gravel landing strip for small cargo aircraft and helicopters.
We meet for breakfast at 6:30am and are on the trail by 8am. We meander on the trails above our teahouse and before long we are looking far down to Namche. We reach the gravel air strip of Syangboche and see construction in progress – there seems to be some form of construction happening everywhere here!
Before long we are overlooking Khumjung and towards Khunde, home of a hospital built by Sir Edmund Hillary. There is also a school in Khumjung built by him and his ashes are buried high up the mountain above Khumjung – or so I have been told.
We carry on up to 3900m with a panoramic view of Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and countless other gigantic beauties. We rest for 20 minutes or so to aid with our acclimatization. We then head down to the Panorama hotel for a tea before descending to Namche.
We stop in at the Sherpa and Everest Museums before wandering through the Saturday market where you can buy anything from soup to nuts – literally.
Tired and hungry we head back for lunch and a hot shower! What a treat.
The afternoon was spent on the internet, browsing through the shops and the requisite visit to the German bakery for a latte. I chatted with a hiking / tour guide who has been to Nepal over 30 times!!! I thought I was doing well with 3 – ha ha. Hmmmm let’s see, I could still manage 30 couldn’t I?
We met in the dining room and as none of us were particularly hungry (the German bakery has something to do with this!) we just sat and chatted. Bikesh came in and thought we were hopeless as we hadn’t ordered yet – we had a good laugh. Charles commented that he probably thought we have been sitting here for an hour, whereas it had only been a few minutes. We all opted for Ra-Ra noodle soup with veg – basically Ichiban soup and called it a night. We are off to Tengboche tomorrow and a longer day.
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