Everest Base Camp Trek Dispatch

April 23, 2010 – Along the Trail from Phakding to Namche

Leila Silveira reporting from Namche! Today we all woke up in great spirits, looking forward to our hike to Namche and the famous Namche hill. The weather has been perfect, we couldn’t have asked for better, not too warm and an occasion pleasant wind.

High altitude trekking is definitely not a competitive sport; on the contrary, the slower you walk, the less likely you will have a head ache at the end of the day due to the altitude. Our team is moving at a great pace, not too fast and not too slow, enjoying the scenery and stopping often every time we have a "Kodak moment."

Trekking in the Khumbu is a process and not a goal; we have to look around and soak it up. As Rob Dunn would say, "I am just taking it all in!!!" You never know if you'll have good weather on the way down, so you have to make the most of it!

One thing you will notice hiking in this region is the number of prayer wheels and Mani stones. The Tibetan Buddhists believe that in addition to general good conduct in your life, you should also repeat mantras ( prayer chants) as much as possible. So they came up with methods of mass prayers, which can be done on prayer wheels or they can also be carved on stones, which are called Mani stones.

You will see prayers everywhere, and our team have learned how to always walk left of them, in a clockwise direction. It has become like a fun game, making sure we always pass on the left side and keep an eye on your trekking partners and sometimes bring to their attention that one is coming up. There are so many, that it actually takes concentration not to miss one by mistake.

Mingma Sherpa has just joined our team as a trekking guide. He was working as a runner from our Everest expedition base camp, going up and down the valley bringing packages and fresh supplies from Kathmandu. Now he will stay with us for the next two weeks and he is a great addition to our team. You can always find Jeremy talking with him and trying to learn as much as possible about their culture.

We also stopped midway at the Sagarmatha National park where we showed our permits and enjoyed their new installations. Actually it is not so new, the new building was built in 2006 and it has been kept in excellent shape and once you enter their information center you can see a 3D map of the entire Everest region, which is fascinating and helps us understand where we are going.

Right after the park entrance we stopped at Jorsale for a long lunch and then started our uphill hike to Namche. We were really not in a hurry and we enjoyed taking lots of photos. Soon after, we arrived in Namche just in time for tea and then a wonderful dinner.

Tomorrow will be our acclimatization day and rest day. We will take some time to enjoy life in Namche.