If you missed out on Day 2, you can read it here: Day 2 - Phakding to Namche Bazaar
The sleep last night at Namche Bazaar was a blessing. Our room was considerably warm although Deepak told us it was really windy outside at night. I guess the heavy duty sleeping bag that was given to us by Nepal Hiking Team played it's role well. It's day 3 of our Everest Base Camp trek. We started our day slightly later than usual, waking up at 7am and took our breakfast at 7.30am. We didn't have to pack our stuff since we are going to stay another night at the same teahouse. Today is our first acclimatization day during the trek. What happens is that we will trek to higher grounds and then back to Namche Bazaar and stay for the night. The idea is to trek high and sleep low. This is done in order to prevent Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) which could be deadly and happens when you ascend too fast. Back in the days, there are many cases of AMS due to poor knowledge within the community but things have improved by leaps and bounds over the years. These days, there are very few cases of AMS happened and an even a smaller number of those are deadly. "Today, we will climb to Everest View Resort, about 3800m a.s.l, and then we will come back down," Deepak explained. "But first, breakfast!" [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Our guide, Deepak enjoying his morning while waiting for us to be done with breakfast[/caption]
At 8.30am, we set out towards Everest View Resort from Namche Bazaar. The path towards Everest View Hotel from Namche consists of really steep steps and we are advised to take as much rest as we can since the climb can be pretty strenuous. Our first stop before Everest View Hotel, The Sherpa Culture Museum, lies 40 minutes away from Namche.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
View from above - Namche Bazaar[/caption]
The Sherpa Culture Museum was an amazing building on an open ground which houses the history of the Sherpa's. One of my favourite thing in the museum was an actual picture of Sir Hillary Edmund and Tenzing Norgay during their Everest ascent! You will also be able to see the different peaks from here which include Everest, Ama Dablam, Nuptse and Kusum Kangaru among many others. Oh and there's a preserved Red Panda as well in the museum. If you are in Namche, don't miss this place. The effort that they put in to preserve history here is amazing.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Our guide explaining the different hiking trails that are available in Nepal[/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
An actual picture of Sir Hillary and Tenzing! What a piece of history for myself![/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
When he said Red Panda, seriously, this was not what I expected[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="899"]
The different peaks that can be seen from the Sherpa Culture Musuem. The one that has mist coming out from it is Everest[/caption]
The steep path towards Everest View Resort will take about 90 minutes. Before reaching the resort, we crossed Syangboche, a decommissioned airport which used to be the highest airport in the world, standing at 3748m above sea level. Due to the strong winds and the narrow mountains, the airport has then been decommissioned and Lukla became a more favourable spot. However, there are still supply helicopters frequently landing at Syangboche for their daily supply run.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Highest airport in the world - Syangboche[/caption]
After crossing the Syangboche Panorama Hotel, a teahouse built near the airport, we are looking down towards Everest View Resort. Standing at about 3850m a.s.l, we decided to turn back since we have reached the height for acclimatization and the price of drinks/food at Everest View Resort is not something that we are looking forward to. It took us about 90 minutes to get back down to Namche Bazaar, right in time for lunch.
The rest of the day is more towards free and easy in Namche. We decided to spend our time shopping around Namche since the number of shops will be lesser as the move up the trek. If you have the chance and the interest, try the Himalayan Coffee here in this town as well. You'll be surprised. :) Here's some photos from our day 3:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Another busy day for the tea house owners[/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Yeap, it actually works. The internet here is averagely fast.[/caption]
Next is day 4 of our trek! Here's the link: Day 4 [ Everest Base Camp ] - Namche Bazaar to Tengboche
The sleep last night at Namche Bazaar was a blessing. Our room was considerably warm although Deepak told us it was really windy outside at night. I guess the heavy duty sleeping bag that was given to us by Nepal Hiking Team played it's role well. It's day 3 of our Everest Base Camp trek. We started our day slightly later than usual, waking up at 7am and took our breakfast at 7.30am. We didn't have to pack our stuff since we are going to stay another night at the same teahouse. Today is our first acclimatization day during the trek. What happens is that we will trek to higher grounds and then back to Namche Bazaar and stay for the night. The idea is to trek high and sleep low. This is done in order to prevent Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) which could be deadly and happens when you ascend too fast. Back in the days, there are many cases of AMS due to poor knowledge within the community but things have improved by leaps and bounds over the years. These days, there are very few cases of AMS happened and an even a smaller number of those are deadly. "Today, we will climb to Everest View Resort, about 3800m a.s.l, and then we will come back down," Deepak explained. "But first, breakfast!" [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"]
Our guide, Deepak enjoying his morning while waiting for us to be done with breakfast[/caption]
At 8.30am, we set out towards Everest View Resort from Namche Bazaar. The path towards Everest View Hotel from Namche consists of really steep steps and we are advised to take as much rest as we can since the climb can be pretty strenuous. Our first stop before Everest View Hotel, The Sherpa Culture Museum, lies 40 minutes away from Namche.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] View from above - Namche Bazaar[/caption]
The Sherpa Culture Museum was an amazing building on an open ground which houses the history of the Sherpa's. One of my favourite thing in the museum was an actual picture of Sir Hillary Edmund and Tenzing Norgay during their Everest ascent! You will also be able to see the different peaks from here which include Everest, Ama Dablam, Nuptse and Kusum Kangaru among many others. Oh and there's a preserved Red Panda as well in the museum. If you are in Namche, don't miss this place. The effort that they put in to preserve history here is amazing.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] Our guide explaining the different hiking trails that are available in Nepal[/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] An actual picture of Sir Hillary and Tenzing! What a piece of history for myself![/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] When he said Red Panda, seriously, this was not what I expected[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="899"] The different peaks that can be seen from the Sherpa Culture Musuem. The one that has mist coming out from it is Everest[/caption]
The steep path towards Everest View Resort will take about 90 minutes. Before reaching the resort, we crossed Syangboche, a decommissioned airport which used to be the highest airport in the world, standing at 3748m above sea level. Due to the strong winds and the narrow mountains, the airport has then been decommissioned and Lukla became a more favourable spot. However, there are still supply helicopters frequently landing at Syangboche for their daily supply run.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] Highest airport in the world - Syangboche[/caption]
After crossing the Syangboche Panorama Hotel, a teahouse built near the airport, we are looking down towards Everest View Resort. Standing at about 3850m a.s.l, we decided to turn back since we have reached the height for acclimatization and the price of drinks/food at Everest View Resort is not something that we are looking forward to. It took us about 90 minutes to get back down to Namche Bazaar, right in time for lunch.
The rest of the day is more towards free and easy in Namche. We decided to spend our time shopping around Namche since the number of shops will be lesser as the move up the trek. If you have the chance and the interest, try the Himalayan Coffee here in this town as well. You'll be surprised. :) Here's some photos from our day 3:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] Another busy day for the tea house owners[/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="899"] Yeap, it actually works. The internet here is averagely fast.[/caption]
Next is day 4 of our trek! Here's the link: Day 4 [ Everest Base Camp ] - Namche Bazaar to Tengboche
1 comment
Ranjan Khadka
Hello Mike! It seems like you had fond memories of Everest Base Camp Trek.
Hello Mike! It seems like you had fond memories of Everest Base Camp Trek.