6:30 Breakfast, 7 0’Clock we leave. That was what Raj, our trip guide briefed the night before. And there we were, in the dining area right on time. Today’s walk time was going to be double than yesterday‘s walk with an altitude gain of approximately 800m. Target for the day was Namche Bazar, a trade hub and important town of Khumbu region.

Today we saw the first snow capped peak of the trip.

We officially entered Sagarmatha National park. Raj took care of the bureaucratic formalities of ticket and other permissions.

As we continued on the banks of river Dudh Koshi the weight carrying porters continued to awe us, by their sheer strength and ability to climb up with huge amount of weight on their back.

We had a pit stop after around two hours of walk. (This was going to be part of usual schedule in coming days. Start → Tea Pit Stop → Lunch → EOD). Ginger Honey tea was going to be a regular drink, along with garlic soup. It has amazing rejuvenating impact on your body

The route has a series of suspension bridges, including the iconic Hillary bridge (also featured in movie Everest) at the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and the Bhote Kosi.

Nitesh captured our crossing of bridge (and it took around one and half minutes to cross the entire bridge)

And then I had to literally get the paparazzi and their camera off the hook 🙂

As we walked across the forest, the energy level didn’t seem to fade during the walk.

The routes had mix of steep rock stairs, plain walk, and then steep climb in the end to Namche Bazar. Needless to say, the trail is picturesque and greenery was still around. (Which will deplete as we climb up).

Not to forget stupas and Mani stones.

And finally the site of Namche.

We reached Namche by 2:00 PM. Well as a group, we actually reached in range of 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM depending on speed of each member. Since the route was straight forward, we split in pairs of two or three, depending on members speed and reached at our own pace. That is very important aspect that. Do not overspeed your limit, lest you may get tired, cramps and may hamper your entire trip. So do not, do not get carried away by the fastest member of the group. Maintain your speed, but don’t go too slow. Keep the target to reach the destination before 4.

Days Summary

  Prologue-EBC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 – Gokyo lakes | 6 – Gokyo ri Summit | 7 – Chola pass | 8 | 9 – Kalapatthar/EBC | 10 | Epilogue-EBC