1 April – Monjo to Namche

As of this morning, in the last 24 hours, the high temp was 87F and the low was 47F. Today’s trek started at 2860 metres (9380 ft) and ended at 3440 metres (11285 ft).

We set out from Monjo today for our trek to Namche. The day promised the steepest consistent upward grade of the entire journey to come. But we were ready to rock. After a hearty breakfast, we were each issued a Snickers bar. I love the outfit we are trekking with.

Overlooking Monjo is a mountain with snow on it. It is a Himalayan mountain, and is therefore quite pointy as has previously been observed. I do not know its name. I imagined asking a local the name of the mountain and being answered with a shrug. “It’s just another mountain. Not one of the really tall ones.”  Of course, it does have a name, I simply don’t know what it is. For myself, I have nicknamed it Hill Number Four.

Hill Number Four is pointy

As we trekked along the trail to Namche, we wound our way up a valley, at the bottom of which runs a small mountain river. The water has a turquoise hue, given that color by the rock flour ground by the movement of the Khumbu glacier. We made our way around and over the mountainy crinkles as we worked our way up the valley, and as we did so we gained glimpses of more and more beautiful, pointy mountains.

Hill Number Seven

Ha ha! I have made a jest and fooled you, maybe. Were you fooled? Ha ha ha ha! This is actually not “Hill Number Seven”; it definitely has a name. Sagarmatha in Nepalese, Chomolungma in Tibetan, and in English, Mount Everest. There is one location on the trail from Monjo to Namche where it is possible to see the top of Mt. Everest – if the weather is cooperating. Today was a beautifully clear day, and we were granted a fantastic view. The lateral plume of snow is being blown off the peak by a breeze known as the Jet Stream, into which the upper reaches of Everest poke. It will be several days before we have an opportunity to view Everest again.

Namche was a short hike beyond the Everest viewpoint. The town is shaped like an amphitheater, and is filled with all manner of shops, inns and restaurants. We will be stopping here on the way back, and I hope to obtain a portion of the few souvenirs with which I intend to return.

Last stop for anything you forgot to bring...

We spent a bit of time exploring, and ducked into the one shop that we had been directed to as selling genuine brand equipment. Namche is the last stop at which we could reasonably expect to fill gaps in our gear. After that, to the Everest Bakery. There are a number of bakeries in Namche, all of which will provide a raft of yummy confections. We chose this one simply because we had seen others of our group there.

Burning calories on the trail grants one tremendous dietary freedom

Julia got a mug of the ever present hot lemon tea – which contains neither lemon nor tea. It is essentially hot lemonade from drink mix, and in the cold it is absolutely delicious. I got a cappuccino. Our friends had advised in favor of the chocolate croissants and apple strudel, so that made our munchies order a no-brainer.

Fitting fare to accompany kicking back and reflecting on the events of the day, which included viewing Everest with my very own personal eyeballs. I am stoked.