Namche Bazaar (3440 m) - Khumjung (3780 m)

Knowing that this was not going to be a long walk, we set off pretty late in the morning. It was 10:08 am when we left our lodge after a sumptuous breakfast. The best part of the morning is that you get a clear view of the peaks, the clouds are nowhere in picture and the bright sunlight just enhances the view. Khungdung peak now appeared so close that it tempted us to summit it right then. There is one fact - on the way to Everest, one gets to see about a dozen peaks that might not be as massive or as popular as Everest itself, but are quite majestic nevertheless. There are many expeditions organised to scale these peaks, ranging from 6000 metres till 8500 metres.

As Rawal bhai put it, the walk from Namche to Khumjung would take about a couple of hours. One hill to climb and then a simple trail to follow till we descended down over to Khumjung village - this was the picture he painted out. As we started ascending the Namche hill, we realised that this was no average climb. The gradient of the climb was varying between 50 to 60 degrees. It was not too tall a hill, and with steady walking, we conquered it without much ado. Rawal bhai announced that the remaining part was a cakewalk in comparison. And there lay visual feasts ahead.

After about 5 minutes of what seemed a stroll in comparison to the tough climb that we were through with, a signboard read "Hotel Shyangboche Panorama Point". And it immediately struck me what lay around the corner. I walked past the construction in stone, and the most stunning view lay ahead. The tallest peaks in the world stood right in front - a mammoth range of peaks, all of which were 6500 metres or taller. They also included two 8000+ metre peaks and it goes without saying that the pick of the lot was Everest. Peaks that were visible from the panorama point were: Toboche (6367m), Everest (8848m), Nuptse (7861m), Lhotse (8414m), Shartse II aka Peak 38 (7591m), Ama Dablam (6856m), Khangteka (6685m), Thamserku (6608m) – in that order from left to right from the point where I stood.

Of all those peaks, it was important to note that Everest was the farthest, situated right on the Nepal - Tibet border. Being much closer in horizontal distance, peaks like Nuptse and Lhotse albeit shorter, gave an illusion of being considerably taller than Everest. Moreover, Nuptse and Lhotse looked quite elegant in comparison to Everest. But Jon Krakauer has appropriately mentioned in his book 'Into Thin Air' - "What Everest lacks for elegance, it makes up by its sheer, overwhelming mass".

It was the second time we got to see Everest this clearly, the first time being enroute Namche. We spent about half an hour here, admiring the sheer beauty of the peaks. We took enough pictures here, of the entire range as well as close-ups of each of the peaks. Going ahead we would be getting better and closer view of just about each of these peaks, but that did not deter us from taking photographs of whatever views we got at every point. Thamserku peak appeared closest from this point, and looked fantastic in bright daylight.

After spending quite a bit of time clicking away to glory, we finally pushed off for Khumjung. Going a little ahead, we noticed an abandoned airstrip. Rawal bhai pitched in with the details. There was a difference of opinion amongst locals over which of the two airstrips (amongst the one at Lukla and this abandoned one) was to be chosen for commercial flights in the Everest region. The bidders at Lukla seemed to gain the stronghold and that’s the reason for the one at Namche being abandoned. It is used only for some private flights into the region. Apart from this, a helipad was also made in this region.

Walking past the helipad, a few minutes later, we were able to see Khumjung in the distance. From here it was a short downhill walk and we were soon walking along the potato fields in lower Khumjung. To our left, on a short hill was another serene village by the name Khunde.

Khumjung is a pleasant village situated on the southern slopes of Khumbila and dominated by the beautiful mountain of Ama Dablam (6856 m), which means ‘Mother’s Charm Box’ and is named after the little box that Sherpa women wear around their necks. The Everest Bakery is a tempting place where one can relax over a cappuccino and pizza! The temple or gompa contains many traditional murals and thankas, and some fierce looking masks of demons that stare down at you from the ceiling. The Sherpa people of the Khumbu are firm believers in the existence of the Yeti. If you are unaware of the term, then ‘Yeti’ means, “a large hairy humanoid creature said to live in the Himalayas”. There have been a number of reported sightings of this creature in the Khumbu area. The Khumjung Gompa possesses what is supposed to be a Yeti skull.

Meanwhile, Lal bhai had raced way ahead and Rawal bhai was pretty sure that Lal bhai would have chosen a lodge on the lower slopes of Khumjung itself, but he was not sure which one. We weren’t desperate at all to take rest or have tea, so we decided to wander around. Crossing a couple of Buddhist stupas, we reached the gate of a school campus here. Taking a stroll around the campus we saw the Khumjung Secondary School, Khumjung High School, the Art Gallery and Computer Lab (both part of Khumjung High School). The school is named after the great Sir Edmund Hillary himself. In 1953, this great New Zealander became the first person to scale Mount Everest along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Sir Edmund Hillary has done a lot for the locals in the Khumbu region, and they owe their share of gratitude towards him; in fact he is a very respected entity in this area.

Roaming around for a little while in the small town of Khumjung, Rawal bhai was finally able to locate Lal bhai, who had chosen ‘Gompa Lodge’ for our accommodation in Khumjung. Soon after, we were having a nice lunch after which we preferred to bask in the afternoon sun for a while. We knew that very soon the situation would change – and so it did wherein the entire area came under a cloud cover. A chilly wind started blowing due to which the temperature dipped in almost no time. We reached for our down jackets, and sought comfort in the centrally heated dining area – the focal point in every lodge. Majority of the trekkers preferred to read a book to kill time, some sipping tea while some were busy gossiping.

As we moved in the dining room, there was a discussion going amongst some American trekkers and our lodge owners about Sherpas and their relationships with the Yankees. We realised soon that most of the lodge owners in the entire Khumbu valley were pretty rich people, not just because they had equipments like television sets or music systems, but because of some interesting facts that we got to hear from the discussion. Trekkers from the United States are regular visitors here in the mountainous regions. Many a local Sherpas get into relationships with these Yankees and happen to travel to the West, where they make a living and send over handsome amounts of money back home. Our lodge owner was quick in commenting that such relationships did not necessarily last long, but once these folk get over there, they end up make a living or return after gathering enough money. Most of these nouveau-riche people then manage to run seasonal side-businesses like setting up good lodges where trekkers stay and have food.

When we were at the Khumjung High School, I was wondering how students were not present around. It was a Saturday afternoon and it did not strike me that students had a holiday on occasion of the auspicious Diwali festival! Once we had gone into the trekking mood, we’d pretty much lost the sense of day and date. It was Laxmi Poojan day when we were in Khumjung, one of the most important days of Diwali. We saw a group of about 15 Sherpa ladies who sang a couple of songs in the local tongue at the doorstep of each lodge, and it was customary for the owner of the place to award them with a considerable sum of money. Rawal bhai told us that the money would be distributed amongst the poor and the needy, which was a very good act that these ladies were doing. We decided to help the cause by contributing some amount.

Sunset at Khumjung was one of the most wonderful evenings I had ever experienced. The cloud cover cleared off for some time, and the sun setting over the beautiful peaks of Thamserku and Khangteka made them look like sheer gold. And we couldn’t have expected a closer view of these peaks, along with the mighty Ama Dablam standing tall in the background. After taking some stills, we proceeded on to the dining room.

While dinner was being prepared, I spent some time reading ‘Into Thin Air’ and then shifted focus to writing stuff that has gone into making of this personal account. Dinner was served pretty soon and very shortly we tucked ourselves into the sleeping bags. It was quite cold out here in comparison to Namche and we started to get a feel of what lay in store for us. We had a good amount of walking to do on the following day, which translated into starting early. In terms of altitude, our destination on the following day was going to be almost at the same altitude, but we were certainly going to inch closer to our destination.