The gateway to the Himalayan Region
Kathmandu-Lukla-Phakding:
35 mins flight; 3-4 hours trek
Early morning flight by small twin otter to Lukla (2,800m/9,186ft). After final preparations, the trekking starts passing Chaurikharka village, and makes a descent towards the Dudhkosi Ghat (2,530m/8,300ft). The trail follows the banks of the Dudh Khosi River until the camp at Phakding (2,652m/8,700ft) is reached. This first day is short for acclimatization reasons.
Phakding-Namche Bazaar: 5-6 hours trek.
The trail crosses the Dudh Khoshi River via a long suspension bridge and the trail then leads us to Hilarys Suspension Bridge. We climbed steeply from here to Namche Bazaar. Overnight in Namche Bazaar (3,440m/11,286ft).
Namche Bazaar: rest.
This is the first of the two crucial acclimatizationï days. We spend the day hiking to Thame, and visited Khunde and relaxed.. exploring Namche Bazaar; the main centre in the Sherpa Khumbu region which has shops, restaurants, a bakery, hotels with hot showers and electric power. There is a colorful market each Saturday.
Namche Bazar is a village and Village Development Committee (Namche) in Solukhumbu in the Sagamartha of north-eastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft) (the low point that is), populating the sides of a hill.
|
A population of 1647 people residing in 397 individual households.
Immediately west of Namche is Kong deri at 6,187 metres (20,299 ft) and to the east is Thamserku at 6,623 metres (21,729 ft). Namche has a permanent population of around 800
On a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is the Shyangboche Airstrip (3,750m / 12,303ft). This is not generally used as its surface of loose pebbles makes it unsuitable for fixed wing aircraft, but it does enable visitors to reach Namche Bazaar by helicopter.
Almost everyone trekking in the Khumbu region will visit Namche Bazaar, as it is the gateway to the high Himalaya. Visitors are likely stay at least one night, if not two for altitude acclimatization. The village has many shops and lodges where one can find almost anything required for trekking (no camera repair shops), although prices are higher than in Kathmandu. However, the higher you go up into the Khumbu, the more expensive everything gets so by the time you reach Lobuche (4,930m/16,175′), the prices in Namche will seem quite reasonable. Near the top of the village is the headquarters for Sagamartha National Park as well as Nepalese army barracks. From the bridge over the Dudh Kosi, the trail winds its way up a “big” hill, finally cresting at a small building which also serves as an army/police check point.
Many trekkers get up before sunrise and walk up to the Sagarmatha National Park Headquarters to take in the impressive views of Mt. Everest,Lhotse,Thamserku,Ama Dablam(6,856m/22,493′) and other magnificent peaks (though these can only be seen on a clear day) and to visit the museum. Pictures of peaks to the west from this vantage point such as Kongde Ri, cannot be taken as the army barracks are between you and these mountains. The army does not permit pictures to be taken of the barracks. Because of the proximity of the army barracks, the Sagarmatha National Park Headquarters is surrounded by a large amount of barbed wire.
Namche Market
A good acclimatisation walk from Namche Bazaar goes to Everest View Hotel, which is at an altitude of 3,800m / 12,467ft. As the name suggests, the hotel gives good views of Everest (when it is not enveloped in cloud) and this is generally considered the best view in the surrounding area. Everest View Hotel is a luxury hotel, which has had mixed success. Although the rooms are oxygenated, many guests have become sick. The hotel does, however, have the only decent restaurant serving western food in the region.
On Saturday mornings, a weekly market is held in the center of the village. People from all around the Namche area come to sell their wares, to locals and to visitors alike. The market usually starts around sunrise and begins to break up around 11 am. Also, there may be a daily Tibetan market where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the main articles for sale. Tibetan merchants have traditionally come to the market by way of high passes through the Himalayas, however the Chinese currently disallow this passage.
Namche Bazaar has many internet cafés, making it the one of the few places in the region where trekkers can access the internet. The internet cafés connect via satellites and so the resulting connection speed is slow.
From Namche Bazaar we trekked 5-6 hours North before turning off left from the main Everest trekking trail left and walk steeply u through birch and junipers. After Mungla the path descends to Phortse Thanga and ascends to the village of Dole (4,090m/13,419ft) where we camped overnight
