Trek Day 3: Namche Bazar to Tengboche

Flowers on the side of the trail
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Time taken: 3 1/2 hours (incl. breaks)

Distance: Today: ~6 kms            Total to date: ~19 kms

Finally a break in the clouds!

Altitude: Namche Bazar - 3450m, Tengboche - 3860m, Max ascent: ~630m

Shrine and prayer flags on the trail
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(Note: More pictures in the archives - click on any picture to see the others!)

Most people take an extra day to acclimatize to the altitude in Namche Bazar, but I was feeling quite fine and had a bit of a limited timeframe in which to complete the trek, so we decided to push on.  Given that it was the edge of monsoon season, flights between Lukla and Kathmandu were often delayed (by days sometimes!) by cloud or rain, so we wanted to give ourselves a little buffer on the back end.

More flowers...
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There were many fewer people on the trail at this point, both locals and foreigners.  Traffic was heightened by many locals going to Namche for the Saturday market in the next day or two, but it was still quite slow.  Very interestingly, the foliage on the trail changed dramatically at ~ 4000m, and if you look up on the trail here, you can see a very clear line around this altitude.  I guess the foliage has a hard time growing from 4000m upwards, so you end up with very little foliage of any height - mostly grasses, flowers and mosses.

Shrine with prayer flags blowing in the wind on the trail
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The day started off very cloudy once again, with a very subtle set of ascents and descents following the river valley.  We were quite high up above the river at this point, and mcuh to my dismay, Keisha told me that we had to go all the way down, cross the river and then climb up to an even higher altitude later on!  A little demoralizing once again, but we pushed on.  Once again, the sun came out on the steepest point of the trail and disappeared when we got to the top at Tengboche (again blocking out all chance of seeing Everest and the mountains)...  The day was again quite tough, but I was feeling much stronger and more able, so I made it up the hill with only just more than moderate difficulty.

Another view of the river valley
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The tea house where we stayed was extremely modest, with the interior made entirely of wood that was knotted, rickety and often missing in spots.  Had lunch and then went back to rest for a bit.  Keisha had warned me not to sleep in the day due to altitude, but I was still catching up from Namche.  May have been a bad idea in the long run...

When I awoke, I met another British "bloke" named Anthony, and his guide.  He ended up on the same schedule as me, so we travelled together for a day or two along the way.  Had a nice chat, and shortly thereafter we were joined by the Polish-American family.  There were only 4 or 5 tea houses in the town, and many were closed, so they ended up staying at the same place again.

Entry to the monastery in Tengboche - under renovation but still beautiful!
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The afternoon turned into quite a riot, as we ended up playing a very competitive game of UNO involving all the foreigners, and even some of the guides and porters (many of which did not know UNO or even English!)  Lead to a very funny hour or so, as the guides translated the rules into the local language, and many of us "helped" the porters make their moves...  Lots of laughs as some corrupt politics were used...

After UNO, we went and checked out the monastery in Tengboche - one of the biggest in the area.  The walls were painted with religious symoblism, there were decorations everywhere (gongs, streamers hanging from the roof, decorative sitting areas), and even a few statues at the front of the alter area.

Rocks carved with prayers on the side of the monstery
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The clouds were still hanging in there in the evening, so we managed to miss a great view that night.  Tengboche has a 360 degree view of snow-capped mountains, so it was frustrating.  The tea house manager told me that the clouds had been clear at 5 am the previous few days, so I decided to get up early to see the scene.  Would be quite easy, since my room had windows looking out over Everest and the surrounding mountains, so I thought I could just look from bed and go back to sleep if it wasn't clear.

A Buddha statue inside the monastery
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So, I got up at 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, etc. and it was still cloudy.  What a waste of precious sleep time...  We finally did get lucky during breakfast, and managed to get an amazing view of the Himalayas all around us!  The views in these pictures are literally from the front and back doorstep of the tea house.  What a spectacular panorama!  Plus, my first sighting of Mt. Everest (albeit only very briefly and mostly obstructed by other mountains and cloud...)