jhubbel

I'm reporting on my trip (starting today) on a three week trip including two weeks of the EBC with Ace the Himalaya, and some extra time in and around Kathmandu.

This trip began on May the 17th, with my trusting Super Shuttle to get me to the airport on time for my flight to Chicago. Now I've used SS many times in the past, and on one occasion they called to tell me that they were sending a Yellow Cab instead. This was a cluster, and they ended up getting me to the airport barely in time. I remembered this experience vividly. So when the girl calls me at 12:55 for my 1 pm pickup to say that a cab is coming, I ask her pointedly when she called the cab. Ten minutes ago, she said. Well, this is an outright lie, which I find out later. She says the cabbie will call me right away to confirm. Twenty minutes pass and of course, he doesn't, because SS hasn't called them yet. I call SS, am on hold for quite a while, give them an earful and they say they will call the cab. Finally I get a call from the cabbie (it's now forty minutes later) and he says that SS has cancelled the ride and I have to pay the eighty dollars full fare. This isn't the case and I inform him of such and call SS again. He has to call them back- the clock is still ticking, and finally he is on his way to my place. He gets there nearly an hour later and we head to the airport.

On the way, I ask him when he got the call. True to form, he only got the call minutes before he called me the first time, making the claim that the first SS call made a complete fantasy. This was the case the first time around. SS does not call the cab until they get around to it, which means you may or may not make your international flight on time. Your cab may be on the other side of tarnation when he gets the call.
Well, my cabbie was a great guy and we had a terrific conversation. Turns out he was from Sierra Leone and we just bonded. Good thing because when he dropped me off, I left my computer and solar battery charger- a $500 investment- in his cab, and I hurtled into the airport. Since I don't travel with a cell phone, I had to use United's phone and spent an hour on hold while they tracked him down downtown Denver. By that time he was at least 45 minutes away, and I was 20 minutes from boarding. But somehow he made it back out to the airport in less than 10 minutes- and I got my gear, a great big hug (that didn't cost anything) and he got thirty bucks for his trouble. There is nothing like stress to make you do bonehead things like leave computers in cabs. And there is nothing like bonding with a cabbie to make sure he puts the pedal to the metal to get you your goods back in time to make your flight. I was mad all right but not at him, and I was hugely grateful to him for hightailing it back out to make sure I had my gear. Whatta way to start a trip. Good thing the rest of the trip was nothing more than long, restful sleeps.

jhubbel

I had booked my EBC trip with Ace the Himalaya, an outfit that has some nice press about it, through a gear website called The Clymb a number of months ago. Since then I've done some research and prep, did the Inca Trail in April and read some intriguing comparisons from other adventurers who have also done Kili and the Inca Trail as have I and the EBC which I've not. As a reference point I'm 61, a gym rat, do adventure travel and like many on here am a travel addict.

Istanbul airport was to me a revelation in some ways, a complete joy- my first time there. I only want to comment on how much a pleasure it was to eat authentic baklava in Turkey, even if it is at the airport, to sit in such a crazy busy place and watch so many different nationalities mix and mingle. There was a four top table where I sat on purpose and periodically people would join me in the food court, and because of that I got to meet a Lebanese surgeon living in Russia who is just learning English. That conversation was so delightful I came away with an invitation to come to Russian and may well do just that- which is why I don't travel with a phone. Here is my favorite quote from Abbas: "I speak Lebanese I am one person. I speak French I am two people. I speak Russian I am three people. I learn English I am four. And so on." I loved this wisdom. What you can learn in the Istanbul Airport. Is there a better reason to get on a plane?

jhubbel

Kathmandu, first impressions. The visa process was so easy. I'd read where people at the airport struggled with you to take your bags for tips. Didn't happen. Where do these stories come from? Someone offered, I said no, nothing more. Perhaps the early morning arrival? Prem had someone with a sign right out front, made it so easy. The sky was dark with dust, 22C already it was only 7 am. People everywhere sweeping trash, facemasks on. Lots of trash in the street. Chaotic traffic, a bus making a U-turn for no conceivable reason causing a huge backup. Raj, my mountain guide, energetic and friendly, delivers me to my hotel in the middle of tourist district- all souvenir shops and hostels. Closed up tight until 9 am. At 9 everything comes alive with incense and music and horns and street vendors and thank god people selling fruit. A riot for the eyes and ears and nose. It's HOT. No power until noon, but I can at least wash a few things and set them on the balcony upstairs. It's such a pleasure to take it all in, to familiarize with the streets closeby, to take in a new country's impressions. Tomorrow the trek group meets. Just before I left, Sierra Trading Company was selling Icebreaker T shirts- super lightweight wool, and I snapped up a bunch and traded up to them in my gear. Smart move. They cool and warm. Here, I am using both a buff and the facemask I bought on the streets in Vietnam. Both are working fine, but depending on how your breathe, it's easy to fog glasses. Comes with the territory- but it does clean the air.

thursdaysd

Wow, that's a **** way to start a trip! I'm lucky that I live close to an airport and am usually driven to/from by friends. I'd have been going absolutely nuts. But... your computer wasn't in your carry-on?

Have a great trip. Where are you staying in KTM?

jhubbel

Thursdaysd-it was a carryon- I have a backpack and it was an additional carryon, which I never usually have, so I simply didn't remember it. Usually I have one big backpack or gearbag and a small pack for a carry on and that's it- but this time I had the solar battery back as well and the computer was in there. Sigh. I'm at the Trekker's Home in Thamel, where for some reason the power is on the middle of the night right now (go figure) and the computer is powering up from oh dark thirty to oh dark thirty while no one is up and moving around. Except me, apparently.

Yesterday after arrival as is my habit, the first order of business was to find fruit. That wasn't as simple as I thought it might be, although the guy at the front desk made it sound so. I trundled up and down the streets in all directions and finally found a street vendor- who charged me an arm and a leg for some bananas and a papaya and a mango. Fine by me- this is my lifeblood. I spent nearly an hour trying to find yogurt which was utterly fruitless, no pun intended, all the local markets not having cold storage, but I did unearth another fruit stand which was far more reasonable.

I am delighted to have hot water showers, which will not be all that easy to get at altitude, starting tonight from what I understand. We fly into heart attack airport this afternoon and hike for three hours into our first tea house and after that we are on our way.

DIA is nearly an hour from my house so a shuttle service is a necessary evil. Taxis are a fortune. I was beside myself standing at my front door wondering if I was going to make it.But then, it also makes a funny story. SS sent me a feedback email and I sent back a detailed blow by blow account of the whole sorry situation. It will be interesting to see if anyone follows up with a customer service inquiry. If they did it to me twice, then they have done it to others, and there is a pattern there.

BTW I did look up the recommendations listed on the other threads. They're a little rich for my travel budget but they looked lovely. I tend to sleep cheep and spend my travel dollars on adventures like river rafting and the like. I've got reservations at a different hotel in Kathmandu when I get back but they are negotiable. I plan to do some serious sleeping after 14 days of hiking!

jhubbel

Namche Bazaar, and a mild headache- the headache is because I spend more time studying my guide's feet and maintaining the pace rather than remembering to drink my fluids, which I have laced with something called Octane, an excellent drink that replenishes what we use up on these climbs. We are in a very nice little in, eleven of us with Raj our guide, who just gave us the dinner call.

Despite what one writer said on another thread I've simply not seen trash on the path so far, if anything members of our group have picked up what little we've seen.There are big receptacles on the way. There was plenty of garbage around Kathmandu and there's some here in the streets in Namche, but not on the trail. What I have seen have been some pretty spectacular suspension bridges, causing one in our group who has a problem with heights to have to hold onto the ends of her sister's boyfriend's hiking poles in order to make it across. The first caused a little discomfort but when you figure thousands of people cross them regularly and they are very sturdy, they aren't a problem. They do bounce and sway, which can cause a little vertigo, but you get used to it.

We have of course been passed by many a donkey team, and a few yak teams, hugely burdened. What astounds me even more is what people are able to pile onto their backs and move up and down the mountain. We would often move aside for people bent over under the weight of building materials, long long planks of wood that must have weighed a ton, and took up a great deal of space front and back. At lunch yesterday I watched a woman go by under a tower of goods that were three times her size.

My tour has put me into rooms by myself so far, which is much appreciated as this allows me to write and also sleep through dinner, which I prefer to do. After long hikes I'm often more tired than hungry, and hit the sack around 6 or 7 and sleep until 4 am when I get up to write, fix supplement drinks, eat peanut butter and other calorie rich snacks and then join our group for breakfast. Most of our group is in their thirties with one father and daughter pairing from Iowa.

This way I get lots and lots of recovery sleep, time to write and an early start on the new day which fits my normal schedule. I brought two pairs of hiking boots rather than the recommended flip flops or sandals, and this turned out to be a great idea. They give the feet a rest at night as well as a day off from your primary hiking boots. I also brought an extra pair of orthodics which lasted in my bag one day and were immediately put in the shoes.

The hotel at Namche also offered a hot shower- and I mean a really good one- for 400 rupees. I'd not expected to be able to do this for another eight or nine days, not knowing the facilities, so this afternoon stood under some high pressure hot steamy water which took away all the sweat. This morning we did an acclimatization hike to 3800 feet up a climbing switchback which looked brutal from across the valley at the museum. However, once we hit the top and got to see the world's highest airport, walked around the first guesthouse and got our first vision of Everest, we forgot all about our climb. Minutes later we were enjoying coffee and juice at a lovely hotel with a breathtaking view of the peaks- a million dollar view if there ever was one.

chris45ny

I'm really enjoying your posts as I'll never get to do what you are doing. I am 69 and out of shape and overweight so mountain climbing and trekking like you are doing isn't going to work for me but I love it that I can read about it. The most adventurous I've been is to do white water rafting and zip lining in Costa Rica a few years ago.

Looking forward to reading more and coming along with you on your trip!! Even if it's from my laptop.

jhubbel

Namche Bazaar also offers a great opportunity to gear up one more time before you head up higher. While it may be questionable whether what you're getting is really North Face or Arcteryx, from what I checked out this afternoon it looked pretty comparable. And you can't beat paying $28 for a pair of Arcteryx knockoffs you know would set you back many times that much back home. There is a gear shop here whose prices are quite high, but I stayed in the ones that also offered jewelry and souvenirs, and found plenty of offerings that looked like they'd work just fine.

Namche curves around a valley, and consists of many blue-roofed hotels and buildings, shops and homes. It appears from the map that from this launching point one heads on any one of a number of different route through the Himalayas, so it makes sense that you'd finalize your gear set here. The small shop just outside our hotel ( The Yak Hotel) offered very nice looking down jackets, high quality pants and gloves, and plenty of climbing gear, as did many others. The very pricey gear shop which was in a glassed in space was selling Icebreaker tops and bottoms for nearly $100 apiece, which isn't out of the ordinary for back home but compared to other shops here it's high.

Food has been okay so far- mostly a selection of egg, noodle or rice based dishes. We've been warned off the meat, as it is carried uphill without protection and as such might not be the best choice. I packed in some mangoes and a pineapple which have all disappeared by now and where I can get it I buy fruit salad, which is largely made up of apples and pomegranates. Porridge is readily available, and perfect. All the stores are happy to sell granola bars and the typical favorites of Snickers and Twix and Oreos. Kopal, my porter, is hefting an additional few pounds of food weight in the form of Clif bars and packets of Almond butter (Justin's, available at Whole Foods) which come in very handy on the trail, and sometimes suffice when it's hard to find something on the menu. I also loaded up with dried apricots and pineapple slices in Kathmandu which will provide something sweet and caloric but also vitamins.

We've been blessed with lovely warm weather the first few days on this trip, with bright sunshine (and the requisite dust) and mild breezes. The trail varies, heading up, sometimes quite steeply, then flattening out, heading down again for a bit. After landing in Lukla we hiked down for our first night and then hiked back up the next day. This combined with our acclimitization hikes makes sure we're able to handle the altitude, and so far no one has had any problems. I just need to be far more diligent about my liquids.

We did find a few toilets along the way, however invariably one would be marked "free" and have a padlock on it and no one had a clue who had the key and gee nobody knew when that person would come back, but you could pay for the other one if you really had to go. Considering the condition of the ones that some of us had used up to that point, several of us girls headed up the trail and disappeared into the woods and kept point for each other. This meant air dry to avoid leaving paper but it was worth it.

Finally, I have been trying out a solar pack on my backpack as a power source for my HP mini. I know most people use pads or tablets but I need a keyboard. The solar panel is the size of a 17" computer, and it has a rather clumsy strap system which caused it to sag. One carabiner later, we're all good. And it works perfectly. Every night I come in and plug the computer in and it juices right up. After Namche I was told there may not be too many more wi-fi spots but at least I can recharge without fighting for a plug.

So far, the wonder of seeing these magnificent mountains has been well worth it. We have excellent, interesting company, many of whom have never done anything at altitude and several who have done Macchu Picchu and similar trips so have some experience. Lots of good humor, support and shared interests. What I like about this group is that we may be drawing a lot of strength from each other as the days go by, and the demands get greater. Tomorrow we leave at 8 am after another hearty breakfast, and I will be drinking a lot more Octane!

Kathie

I'm also following along. I'm hoping you got all of your bad luck out of the way at the start of the trip.

crellston

Great reporting jhubbel. Nepal is somewhere I have often thought about going but somehow I have never got around to it. I am relying on you to finally convince me.
PS that Icebreaker merino gear is amazing.

sartoric

I'm here too JH, following your adventure.
Have a fantastic time, maybe you can pick a few flowers for the travel gods....?

Bokhara2

Hi JH
Lacing my boots for the trek.
Did you stay in Phakding, Monjo or Jorsale the first night out of Lukla?

I did a trek up there last year, taking a slow wander around the Khumbu for a fortnight & stayed at Phakding & Jorsale. Made easy work of the switchbacks up to NB .

Those were more likely Dzopke /Jopke than yaks, btw. That's a mix of yak & a cattle breed. Yaks are usually only found above 3,000m - too hot for them below.

That Japanese hotel is charming isn't it? Everest View. Interesting history, built in the early 70's. hot chocolate on the balcony, watching Everest emerge in the sunrise - hard to beat.

jhubbel

Hello to all, and no surprise to anyone surely that wi-fi has been challenging to get along the way. Back in Kathmandu now and nursing my sore pegs, and some kind of nasty bug that I seem to have picked up at a teahouse along the way down. Good news is that I have a supply of antibiotics, and the really nice hotel where I'm staying courtesy of Ace the Himalaya is going to let me extend for a week. I was going to move to a hostel but not in this condition. With this cough, I like the idea of a little luxury.

Our group was eleven strong, and a mix of folks which came into play as we headed up. There were some who had hiking experience and some with none at all, and some who had no high altitude experience whatsoever. This all came to a head when we reached the jump off point to Gorak Shep which I'll get to in a moment. We had an interesting story which some in our group aren't very happy about right now.

The hiking up part of me is pure joy- I love heading up the mountain, it's like my pegs were made for climbing. After we left Lukla it is of course downhill and we stayed in Sherpa's Resort (some of the names of these places really make you guffaw). The sweetest thing about hiking this time of year is that all the rhododendrons are in bloom, every flower is bursting out and all the gardens are emerald green. The weather favored us- well, mostly- and of course with the exception of the chilly nights we hiked in shorts and light shirts most days.
It is simply extraordinary to watch the movement of goods which come in by plane, are offloaded by cart and prompty end up (Pringles and coke and sprite) onto someone's strong back and then make the excruicating trip up the mountain to some isolated resort so that some tourist can have his refreshment- or buy the ultimate necessity, toilet paper. We might niggle about carrying 3L of water and this or that amount but when I would get up early (often around 4 am and look out at the trail, women and men with towering burdens three times their height would be steadily making their way past. Nothing more than a T-shaped piece of wood to sit on or lean against, use as a walking stick. So you and I can have a coke at altitude, mind you.

The other notable was that this is construction season as it is all over the world, so many people would pass us up AND down with four by fours and other very long boards of extremely heavy wood. How they negotiated some of the tight corners that we had challenges with is a mystery to me but speaks to the effortless skill of these remarkable people.

We quickly learned that at nearly every restaurant the staples were noodles, rice, eggs and bread of some kind, and while meat was available it was not advisable. My staple became cheese omelets, which varied by chef, but when fortified by ketchup were usually pretty good. Fruit disappeared quickly after Namche Bazaar.

thursdaysd

Sorry to hear about the bug - take care of yourself! Looking forward to more when you feel better.

jhubbel

At the lower levels the towns are so well kept, nicely painted, the mothers with their kids getting ready for school as we come hiking through, people getting wash out for the sunshine. The uninitiated who come to this altitude with drug store sunglasses will be nearly blinded especially higher up as the sun is unobstructed, the sky so clear and gorgeous. I had three pairs of glacier glasses for this trip since I had the unfortunate habit of losing three pairs on a previous trip, and I was to learn more than I ever wanted to know about how they held condensation. But they are required.

The trees, pines, bushes and everything that could possibly flower, did- pine needles decorated our path, and we walked through the small villages which were cheerfully dotted with cafes, restaurants and hotels for travelers, often full of fellow hikers taking in coffee or my favorite, lemon tea.

Raj was our guide, an enthusiastic, terminally cheerful, funny and sometimes very loud man in his mid-thirties with a buzz cut. Quick with a laugh and always happy, Raj got us going in the mornings, and Deepak, our assistant guide whose English wasn't as good, led us from the front Deepak wore a pair of very simple sneakers- no insulation- all the way to the top of the mountains in the deep snow- without any ill effect.

I had a porter named Kopal, a particularly strong young man who had the misfortune of ending up with my bag which carried extra equipment and food. As a result, every morning Kopal found something extra tucked into the set of ropes at the end of the bag - a Clif bar or a Snickers or two, and while the bag got lighter with consumption, it was still heavy. This little extra caused Kopal and me to have some very fun interactions during the trip, and since I'd also brought enough food and snacks along, I often brought out goodies like honey sesame sticks for all the porters when we were up very early at altitude and sitting around the fire- on the rare occasion it was on in the morning.

jhubbel

One of the key pieces of gear that I bought from a site called Feathered Friends was a pair of very lightweight down booties. They had a firm flat bottom so that you could walk anywhere in them but I also slept in them- which for someone with ridiculously cold feet this was a gift. I'd bought zpacks' 0-rated down bag which weighed a little over a pound- my bag liner weighed more than the bag- and with a few layers of icebreaker and a pair of thermals I was very cozy. I never used any of the proferred blankets- famous for being a little ripe- at the guesthouses. When you recognize how hard it is to get clean water and how tough it is to wash something like a blanket you can understand. I brought an alternate pair of shoes for hiking to give my feet a break and they came in very handy. I used a pair of heavy leather Keens which had broken in quickly and had a big wide toe box, extremely useful for all those downhills when you are shoving all your bodyweight into your boots. And while I saw a lot of advice from various campers on socks, I followed one very experienced sage's advice from REI and this WORKED: one pair of liners, one pair of lightweight wool socks. The great big heavy duty wool socks are invitations to blisters, which I found out on Kilimanjaro. They take up too much room and cause chafing. The mid to lightweight wool works just fine- and the added benefit of a SmartWool liner does several things. First it prevents your feel from creating the tear gas effect (I am a first offender here- nobody gets downwind of me when I take off my boots) and they wick away moisture. They're good for several days in fact. The wool socks last several days as a result and they don't get offensive. A real win win. And after all that, no blisters. When necessary- and it did become necessary at one point- I put in shoe warmers AND toe warmers and still had room in the toe box to wiggle my piggies. This all simply speaks to careful boot selection at the outset and considering the conditions from bottom of the mountain to the top- the potential for snow including very deep snow (YES) and the exceedingly long walk down. Your feet better like you the whole way.

jhubbel

I may not get all the names of the places correct so anyone can jump in here and slam me. I am currently digesting my first (TWO HUGE) bowls of yogurt and fruit and am again lying in my luscious bed recovering away in luxury while catching up. Raj owes me a list of all the places we stayed but I don't think he's even awake yet. So mistakes are all mine, dear Readers.

The monastery at Tengboche is one of the more wonderful spots for a variety of reasons. It saddened me that we got there late and left early- it always seemed we were in such a rush- and the material talks about the place being so peaceful. Yah, I suppose, if you take the time to enjoy it. As you come up to the first viewing point one of the things that strikes you is a line of prayer tablets off to your right, and behind you (which I saw much later) is a massive mountain of incredible beauty, with snow coming down its face, but I was so focused on forward that I missed the damned thing and had to have it pointed out to me later. As we crested the hill the monastery was to our left, the small town at the base of the valley and some fields with about ten black dogs tumbling about in play. And there across the horizon were Everest and her sisters in all their glory, on hell of a sight. Snow covered, imposing, glorious. Heart stopping.

But it was late afternoon and we had to check in, so we made our way to our rooms (being an odd number I lucked out and slept alone, which I really appreciated). Toilets were down the hall. In some cases there was water available and most of us carried some kind of steripen, others had iodine tablets. Evenings and breakfasts were punctuated by the stirring of bright wands in varicolored bottles, complaints that someone's tube had gone out, discussions of the advantages of this version to that. But they kept us healthy.

At about five, Raj gathered us up and took us over to the monastery for evening prayers which were just beginning. We quietly slipped in and grabbed rugs, and as soon as we were seated the prayers began. About twelve monks were attending, all in constant prayer. As their words rose to the highly decorated ceiling I took in the ornate walls, the massive gold Buddha, the painting and hangings on every surface in the room. Nothing was left untouched. Prayers went on unabated for some time, then attendants came in with hot refreshments. The tone and tempo changed slightly and prayers resumed, at times punctuated by cymbals clashing or other instruments.

It was extraordinary, striking, sometimes earshattering, calming, deeply emotional and in every way moving. At some level one has to respect the level of effort to learn the prayers that these people recite for so long, the devotion that they show, and the time they give to their devotion. The room they do it in is another statement of faith for its beauty and design, all the love expressed to the being that sits in the back of the room I took a couple of furtive photos (they are allowed with no flash) and left when my legs gave out, very happy to have had such an intimate look at this practice.
The night air was brisk and the great peaks in the distance beckoned.

jhubbel

The mountain I mentioned that stood behind our hotel in Tengboche Raj called the "horse's saddle," I don't know its name. But for whatever reason it became one of my favorites if for no other reason than the first time I saw it, it was shrouded in evening mists and its size and power was only hinted at. Before we took off in the morning a few of us early risers were outside in the clear air taking photos and I was able to see what I'd missed the night before. This massive set of peaks reminded me of posters I'd seen on my brother's bedroom wall, those of his hiking and climbing friends, and many sports shops. Now for the first time here I stand right in front of the real thing and there was this sudden vertigo-geez, this is REAL- not that it hadn't been up to that point but I think everyone can relate. The mists as they creep in during the evening hide a lot of the scenery so you're heading up with these massive peaks sneaking up all around you. You really have no clue what's popped up as you're doing all that work. Now you see Everest off in the distance, sure. That's cool. But right at your back door, literally, here is this astounding mountain with all this pure white snow and rock face- well. Like Christmas morning. So often we would end the day in mists, and truly have no clue what was around us. We knew we were hiking in pretty country but there was no way to see it. So we could only hope for sun at some point so that the scenery would reveal itself. And sometimes, it did. Like that morning. Wow.

jhubbel

Our group was made up of components including a father daughter pair, two German sisters and one's boyfriend- and those two were on a trip around the world and had already done Macchu Picchu, and mostly people who had signed up via the Clymb. I was the oldest at 61 and the father, a Nordic mix, was in his fifties. Sometimes we would get strung out a bit especially over the long uphill hikes. I loved pushing hard on Deepak's heels until we were one day on an acclimatization hike.It had begun to snow and this was up Chukka Valley (sp, sorry). The top of the mountain disappeared into the clouds and the conditions were nasty- ice on the rocks, snow, and a hard climb to boot with no visual reward. I stayed on Deepak's sneaker heels until we were past the 5000 m mark and we took a rest.

At that point I was reminded somewhat of a guide I had followed in Vietnam back in January who liked to set a NASCAR pace, and it had cost me. I was panting, which at 5000 was to be expected, but two wonderful guides had taught me the right pace at this altitude on Kili and I wasn't following their advice. At that point it had stopped being fun, I had to ask what the hell I was trying to prove to myself and when a reasonable answer wasn't forthcoming I figured it was time to change. Several of our group headed to the top- ice cold, no view, just to do it, and the rest of us headed down, as the ice had made footing very slippery. No one wanted a busted ankle or leg at that point and the hike had served its purpose anyway. From then on I took up my pole pole (Swahili for slow, slow) and was fat and happy towards the middle back of the pack. And didn't pant again.

Those of you who have done this hike recall the suspension bridges. One of our crew has a real fear of heights, and this was a bit of an issue for her especially on the first one over a big gorge. The fix was that she grabbed the tips of her sister's boyfriend's hiking poles and fixated on his back, and thereby ignored her surroundings and made it across. It is a bit disconcerting to be on a swaying, bouncing mode of transportation very high over a smashing, rolling river full of boulders, but all manner of animals and heavily laden people cross those bridges every day with no issue. Well, that's until you walk by the one bridge whose support system- the whole mountain on the other side- collapsed. That did give us all pause, and you're quite happy to walk over the little bitty one about 600 yards up the river which is barely high enough to keep you out of the mists.

jhubbel

I realize that I did not report on Namche Bazaar, that is because of the drugs, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I do love codeine, taken when appropriate, and now it is appropriate, and combined with clean sheets, a comfy bed and long hours resting it is a fine thing whislt trying to shake off the nasties.
So. Namche. We stayed at the Yak Hotel, a right pleasant spot on a main drag (one of the only really paved flat streets in the town) and surrounded, natch, by camping stores. As I was just beginning to get used to the setups at the various hotels I hadn’t yet sorted out that lights might not always be where you’d think so I didn’t realize that there were lights in the toilet until we were about to leave. So using the toilet down the hall consisted of sprinting down the hallway- a light overhead would come on for a few seconds, enough time for you to scurry to a destination, and then you’d be standing in the black to do, well, whatever you were going to do. Someone earlier that day had decided to shave in the one sink we had to ourselves, which was a dumb move for several reasons. First of all, why? You might want that facial hair later not only for wind and sun protection but also for warmth. Second, who the hell is looking at you up here? Who cares? And third, as we all of course found out, shaving plugs the pipes. No one could use the sink for hours while Baby Face was smooth and shiny. Not cool. Which is one reason why I have to engage the services of a lawn mower to remove three weeks’ of growth in the nether regions because I don’t think my disposable razor has the blades to do the job. You could braid a rope with my leg hair right now.
So I went next door to buy a little bitty flashlight and I got to looking at stuff. Yeah, stuff. And I found a pair of knockoff Arcteryx pants (no self respecting Arcteryx dealer would sell them for $28) which had lots of zippers, lots of insulation and were windproof and rainproof. Or appeared to be. This was the layer I wanted, and so I bought them,plus a carabiner, for the solar panel contraption I was carrying on my pack tended to sag and hit the rocks when I took my pack off. Most of these goods are made in this part of the world anyway and it’s all about the materials. I liked the look of the pants. I had no idea how hot they would get even in the deepest of snow- man did they deliver.
Many of the others found a bakery which apparently was so good that on the way back down, this shop was one of the top subjects of whattaya gonna do when you get to Namche? My primary concern was good gear and good calories that I would eat at altitude and at that point I had both. The town itself is curved around the valley, a series of pleasant buildings with blue roofs, with great rising peaks behind. The Yak Hotel had a lovely view first of the street below and then of these peaks. Mists tended to rise in the late afternoon to obscure the peaks, and blot out the buildings on the opposing side of the valley.
The second day in Namche, and I did mention the Japanese hotel, we took an acclimatization hike which was pure switchback all the way up. The path was rocky and challenging, and gave us an excellent taste of what was to come over the next few days. A few in the group were surprised that it wasn’t as hard as it had looked from the other side of the valley- a sentiment that might have been repeated a few times, as we often had a glimpse of our trail to come from a long way off. Especially those suspension bridges.