Date: 2005-10-12 07:49:37
Geo Coord: 27.80527N 86.70878E
Altitude: 10840

Phakding to Namche Bazaar:  It was pooring rain and dark the night before, so we had no idea what view we would wake up to.  All we could hear was loud raging river somewhere below us.  We had now real idea on where we were so it was a very pleasant surprise when we woke up and opened up the tent door.  When we unzipped the tent we were greeted by crystal blue skies with towering snow caped peaks surrounding us.  There was a chain bridge just down the trail that crossed the rushing aqua blue river.  It was a fantastic way to wake up and to make it even better Zambo our Sherpa started the daily ritual of passing two steaming cups of tea to us in our tent. The hot tea started off a perfect morning and kept us warm on the crisp winter morning. We all slowly got up out of our tent and brushed our teeth.  We went up to the lodge to have breakfast, it was nice having the lodge on the first morning, it let us slowly transition to the more and more rustic tent living that lay ahead.  The breakfast was an excellent with eggs, cheese toast and lots of tea. After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and then the porters moved in to strap the large duffel bags onto themselves to make the morning hike up the mountain.  We then started our way up to the Namche Bazaar where we would spend two days acclimatizing. I once again made the mistake of carrying all my own camera gear in my heavy pack, which made the hike even more painful than it needed to be. The hike out of Phakding was amazing and was some of the best scenery we had ever seen. The towering snowcapped mountains towered above the trail as we followed the river north.  The trek north to Namche took us 7 long strenuous hours to navigate.  The climb went up several thousand feet in elevation over a challenging rocky trail that seemed like it would never end.  The trail spiraled up for crossing multiple cable bridges spanning across the chasm hundreds of feet below.  The bridge consists of narrow planking suspended hundreds of feed from the river below by two steel cables that swayed back and forth when we cross them.  You also had to be alert for a running Yak trains coming off the steep trails that had no regard for you on the narrow suspension.

The guide once again recommended I not carry my heavy pack with all my camera gear, however I told him that I will hike with full weight for another day until we get to the very high altitude. I was thinking that the extra weight would condition me for the high altitude.  After struggling up the steep, almost endless incline I decided that I will need to shed much of the weight, otherwise my trip will be no fun at all.  I plan to reduce my load to one camera and one lens, my jacket, and my Thuraya phone.  My wife also packed her bag much more heavy than the lead Sherpa recommended.  After 7 long hours or winding up the mountains, we arrived in Namche, it is an amazing city perched on top of a mountain ridge. The vendors sold a copy of any outdoor gear you could ever want in the bazaar.  We were very relived to arrive because our group was thoroughly exhausted.  We hoped our camp was very close, however we had to climb to a small ridge overlooking Namche before we could stop.  The several hundred stairs up to the campsite were all our group could take.  But after a few minutes of catching our breath, we realized the view we had from our camp made the extra hike worth it.  We were able to use the Zamling Guest House for our dining area. The lodge was amazing, it had the look of a Swiss lodge made from a wood that gave it a warm golden glow. The staff was friendly even though we were not staying in the rooms.  We were camped on a rocky plateau above the guest house which they rented out to trekking groups. We planned to go back down into the city, but we ended up being to warn out to do so today.  In the evening large clouds moved in and engulfed the city dropping the temperature below freezing. We moved from the warm lodge to our freezing tents perched on a small ledge overlooking the valley. It is a tremendous site, however our exhaustion soon took over as our sleeping bags warmed up.