Phakding (2610 m) - Namche Bazaar (3440 m)

For those who didn’t dally, our daily treks ended early in the afternoon, but rarely before the heat and aching feet forced us to ask each passing Sherpa, “How much farther to camp?” The reply, we soon were to discover, was invariable: “Only two mile more, Sah’b . . . . ”

Evenings were peaceful, smoke settling in the quiet air to soften the dusk, lights twinkling on the ridge we would camp on tomorrow, clouds dimming the outline of our pass for the day after.

Thomas F. Hornbein
Everest: The West Ridge

From the information we had gathered while we were at Pune, we were told by one and all that this leg categorised as one of the toughest ones on the entire trek. The fact that we were to ascend over 800 metres raw in vertical height must have been the reason above everything else. We were pretty eager to get on to such a terrain since it would give us the real feel of being on a route that’s not yet-another-one-of-those in the Himalayas. It was a trek in the Everest region, we knew it. Facing challenges was therefore what we had come prepared for.

We bid goodbye to Phakding at 08:51 am after having a good breakfast that included our cant-do-without-this energy booster, garlic soup. Sherpas say this helps in altitude acclimatisation. The initial route was a gradual climb, nothing really steep as such. In fact, it was feeling excellent to walk alongside the serene Dudh Koshi amidst mountain ridges on either side. Crossing bridges at regular intervals, we soon reached the village Monju. I remember the time was 10:21 am, exactly an hour and a half after we left. At Monju, we got our permit for trekking into the Sagarmatha National Park, an area that lies to the Northeast of Kathmandu. The park was gazetted in July 1976 and it covers an area of 1,148 sq. km. of Himalayan ecological zone. The park is largely composed of the rugged terrain and gorges of the high Himalayas ranging from 2,845 metres at Monju to the top of the world, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) at 8,848 metres above sea level. UNESCO has listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for its unique natural, cultural and landscape characteristics.

Once we departed from Monju, we carried on with our previous pace and in less than 10 minutes, we reached another village on the way, named Jorsale. This was the same village that was marked as the "Entry Gate" on our trekking permit. Having a rigorous climb ahead, our guide advised us to have lunch here itself. It seemed like quite a while before our food arrived. It was fifteen minutes past noon when we started walking towards our destination of the day. Very soon we were walking over a pretty steep gradient. There are different ways in which people prefer to walk over such terrains. Some we saw walked rapidly for a while before taking a break to catch their breath. Few, like us, preferred walking slowly but steadily, which gave a two-fold advantage. We never went out of breath, and we managed to conserve the much-needed energy rather than utilising it all away. We had maintained the same style at our practice sessions back home. Once the body got used the rhythm, it was a non-stop walk.

As we were walking across the winding path, we noticed a couple of snow-capped peaks, albeit these ones were pretty distant. This time, before we asked our guide which peaks these were, he explained calmly that one of those peaks was Mount Everest itself. What makes it distinctly unique is its trademark ‘snow-band’ trailing eastwards. Looking at that massif, I tend to recollect Jon Krakauer’s description of Everest:

“The ink-black wedge of the summit pyramid stood out in stark relief, towering over the surrounding ridges. Thrust high into the jet stream, the mountain ripped a visible gash in the 120-knot hurricane, sending forth a plume of ice crystals that trailed to the east like a long silk scarf”.

For a moment, we were speechless. We exclaimed in joy before reaching out to our cameras. This was an unforgettable moment. We exchanged high-fives and that event charged us to complete the remaining leg.

We never bothered to take a look at our watch on the way, and in some time, we saw a house on a hill on a turn of the winding path. We didn’t even have the faintest of idea about where we had reached, and our guide said 'Namche to aa gaya' (We're there at Namche). We were simply thrilled, and I can’t describe how pleased we were to read a signboard "Welcome to Namche Bazaar". Touted as one of the tough graded legs of the trek, involving a gain of over 800 metres in a single day, more than 8 kilometres or probably well over that, and we covered in just 3 and a half hours of walking time (5.5 hours in all). We were simply elated and patted our own backs. At the same time, we had achieved another milestone - we had crossed the 3000-metre milestone, and here at Namche, we were at 3440 metres (11352 feet).

As we were walking across the various shops in Namche Bazaar, we came across a bookstore and I was drawn to it without even realising it. Bookstores here were filled with Everest classics – epic stories of the brave who have attempted their luck at conquering the mountain. Being a voracious reader myself, I couldn’t stop myself from purchasing the book I was longing to read for quite some time – ‘Into Thin Air’ by Jon Krakauer. It is a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster in 1996, and if I were to give an adjective, it was nothing short of ‘gripping’. It was extremely inspiring that I feel purchasing it was one of the wisest things I did on the trek. What better time could one get to read such masterly accounts!

We stayed at a place called "Ama Dablam Lodge" located in the heart of Namche. As per our plan, we were to spend another day at Namche Bazaar to get acclimatised to the altitude. After resting for a while our guide said he had different plans. Looking at our progress, he suggested that on the following day we move up to Khumjung instead of acclimatising at Namche. Khumjung was another 300 metres above Namche, a place chosen by trekkers on their way back from Base Camp or those enroute Gokyo. Since we were all fit and fine, we agreed to go by this plan.

The rest of the day was spent roaming around Namche Bazaar, which happens to be the capital of the Sherpas. Namche is Khumbu's largest village, has everything a trekker might need, including a dental clinic. In fact, the dental clinic at Namche holds the world record for being the dental clinic at the highest altitude. There is a bank, currency exchange stations, a post office as well as many shops selling leftover expedition supplies. For those interested in some sort of entertainment, this place boasts of pool joints, hard rock cafes apart from good restaurants and bars. Other places worth visiting include the Sagarmatha National Park Headquarters and a nice little museum. And did I mention about the army office and the soldiers who make sure that this area is totally safeguarded? All this in the Himalayas, at 3440 metres (11352 feet) above sea level!

Every Saturday the village hosts a large market where there are sides of buffalo meat, sacks of grain, and bamboo baskets filled with vegetables and tangerines lining the terraces at the edge of town. Tibetans are permitted to travel across the border and participate in the market each week. We took a stroll around the Tibetan market in the dwindling hours of the evening, since it happened to be very close to our lodge.

The only means of communication in this mountainous region is satellite phones, and each call costed 90 Nepalese Rupees per minute from Namche. The increase in rate was directly proportional to the gain in altitude. This place had Internet connectivity @ 20 Nepalese Rupees per minute. We sent a short email to one of our friend to tell him to communicate our well being to our families. 8 minutes in there left us 160 Nepalese Rupees (exactly 100 INR) poorer.

We headed back straight into the dining room, a focal point in all these lodges/teahouses situated on the mountains. Every lodge/teahouse, however small, does have a 'dining room' as they call it. Not only does it serve its purpose as a place where people are served food, but also happens to be the only place in the lodge with a central heating system that is designed to suit the environment. On a wooden platform is placed a hollow drum, about 3 feet in height and 1.5 feet in diameter. Dry stuff that typically consists of wood and dried yak dung is stuffed in. After pouring a little fuel to assist burning, the stuff is lighted and the drum gets heated almost immediately, radiating its heat around. People get their chairs to sit around this drum to feel the much needed warmth. The drum has a vertical flue that provides a path through which smoke from a fire is carried away through the roof of the lodge.

We suddenly felt like we were back home when an entity called television set, the presence of which was not felt till now was switched on. We got to see some of the regular channels thanks to the one of the several dish antennae visible around. The local channels had nice sounding Nepalese songs playing. The clarity of transmission was worth noting.

After a hearty dinner, we decided to take rest (basically translates to sleeping). There's nothing much you can do up there in the mountains late at night, typically if you are a trekker, you mustn't. That’s how it works up there: 3 square meals a day, early-to-bed, early-to-rise, no sleeping at all during the day. An excellent change from the routine I'd gotten into back at home. We didn't have a hectic day as such ahead, as our guide put it, as it wasn’t much of a strenuous walk. The fact remained that we were going to gain some altitude on a day we had reserved for acclimatisation. Its said "Don't walk up too fast on the mountains lest you have to walk down faster". Time would tell if our decision was correct.