by Phill Michael
Well...Dawa and I stayed up until
1am last night...looking at pictures
and video we had taken. Dawa was
super enthusiastic about seeing all
the stuff...which kept me awake
while building web pages.
I
woke up at 6am...had a hot
shower...then hiked down
(down...down...down) to the only
place in Namche that had a decent
internet connection. After 4 hours
online and an unearthly usage
fee...everything at
www.secretspoteverest.com was
updated!
Dawa and I managed to pack up by
noon and climb out of Namche about 2
hours AFTER Chris and Alex.
The
Climb out of Namche Bazar
The hike was breathtaking...taking
us high on the hillsides along the
Dudh Kosi. Once again, pictures say
1000 words...so here are some:
A Yak train heading into Namche Bazar
Dawa chats with friend...an hour out of Namche
Upper
Khumbu Valley with Dudh Kosi below
An Old Yak
Herders House and Yak Pens
There were plenty of locals hauling
wood on this trail. Dawa said that
there were three times of the year
where people could cut and haul wood
to their respective wood lots. We
were witnessing one of those times.
There were men women and children
moving the wood up and down steep
trails. Amazing.
Do you know
the Way to Tengboche?!
Lady Wood
Hauler
A Smiling
Lady Wood Hauler
Hauling
Wood
After a couple of hours or so, Dawa
and I descended back down to the
riverside...and met up with Alex and
Chris for lunch. Yum. I was feeling
fine...and enjoying my steady pace
with plenty of stops for picture
taking and connecting with other
trekkers and locals.
Chris and Alex had been at the lunch
stop for a couple of hours...so they
were anxious to depart. The hares
and the tortoise.
After a while, Dawa and I were the
only ones left at riverside...so off
we went.
Dzo coming
down from Tengboche
Dawa
Communicates with the Crew in
Tengboche by Radio
Dawa chats
with a Sadhu
We caught up to Chris quickly. He
said he wasn't feeling 100%...so we
all stayed together for the rest of
the climb.
Hiking up
to Tengboche
Tengboche came quicker than I
expected and I was greeted by the
sight of a monastery and a large
group of North Americans who were on
the tail end of a trek.
Tengboche
Monastery
We were
'socked in', but I knew that behind
those clouds were some impressive
peaks...including Everest! This was
proven later...as the 'fog' lifted
for about half an hour, just before
dinner, and we got our first glimpse
of the South Face of Ama Dablam. We
were giddy with excitement.
First View
of Ama Dablam
We hauled out the sat
modem...considered what time it was
in North America...connected the
phone...and I called my sister.
Connected. Oh ya. Alex went online
and updated his blog with the modem
and we all laughed and smiled about
how easily it worked. We were to be
in communication during this
trek...and that's a good thing. =^)
Satellite
Communicating in Tengboche
The dinner bell rang and I hunted
down some red wine. Alex, Dawa and I
guzzled a thimble full of wine (or
ten)...while Chris egged us
on...scrabble dictionary in hand. We
were satisfied. Chris was feeling a
little pooped and was as red as I
have ever seen anyone...so we cut
our scrabble game short and crawled
into our respective tents by 9:30pm.
Ohhhh...starry night?!
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Everest Trek index page
