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Our next destination was the famous Namche Bazar. This trek was amazing. The trail was increasing in gradient and the valley in full bloom with Cherry blossom and lush green pine trees with the roaring glacial river always by our side on the valley floor.
Every 30 minutes or so we would pass through these holy sites with massive carved painted boulders and prayer wheels. We always have to pass through these areas on the left and spin the prayer wheels in a clockwise direction for good luck (I’m still learning the particulars).
We stopped for lunch at a small guest house in one of the many villages along the trail and ate a nice warm meal before heading out for the final part of the trek, a fairly steep trail which climbed up the side of the valley, over a high suspension bridge covered in prayer flags to the other side.
This is where we saw the unexpected, our first glimpse of Mt Everest. It was an impressive sight high up in the distance disrupting the clouds which flanked it. Everybody was excited as the guides pointed out some of the features which we would hopefully get to know a little more intimately in time to come.
30 minutes later we took the final bend in the path and walked into Namche Bazar (3300m). A surprisingly dense village nestled into a protected valley which has served as an important trading post for hundreds of years.
We once again walked into an even more impressive lodge where we had hot showers, nice sized beds and Wi-Fi internet. I sit here now in my large sized bed in a room with a basic bathroom attached! I was not expecting anything like this and am still amazing at the facilities up in this remote places however I have been told to enjoy it while it lasts as this is the last decent sized village before Everest Base Camp.
This town has small market style clothing shops, bakeries, pubs and even a dentist!
We had an acclimatisation trek yesterday to a Japanese hotel called ‘Everest View’ however the clouds had come in and visibility was low hence no photos for this day. After a hot drink at the lookout we returned back down to Namche in falling snow. Rest day today in Namche and tomorrow we head off to our next destination.