When I awoke, Lal brought me tea and a basin of hot water. For breakfast, I had a pancake with jam and an onion omelet with hot chocolate. We started the long walk toward Namche Bazaar at 8:15. We soon passed Ling Soo and her guide, who started earlier. Her guide didn't have a typical Nepalese look. He was rather large, and had a big beard and a leather motorcycle hat. He carried two packs, one on top of the other, with a shoulder strap around his head.
The day was sunny and cool. We stopped at Dole for a long break while Lal had breakfast. He couldn't get what he wanted in Machhermo. I had a chocolate bar from Gokyo with a lot of tea. The walking became more difficult as we approached Phortse Thanghka, further down the valley and across the river from Phortse. Going down the steep hills was hard on the knees. There were also a few climbs.
We stopped for a leisurely lunch in Phortse Thanghka. Ling Soo caught up with us, and stopped for lunch at the same tea house. She was still not feeling completely well, and ordered a big plate of boiled potatoes. There were too many for her, so she shared them with her guide. I asked her why her guide was carrying a camera, but she wasn't. She told me it belonged to her sick companion. A radio in the kitchen played western pop music, and a young boy wearing bottomless pants danced to it in the doorway.
After lunch, we had a very long, steep climb to a pass at the top of the ridge. Although it was very long, it did not seem too difficult to me now, and we did not have to stop for rests. We passed a number of groups, and had to stop only to let yaks pass. At the top of the ridge, we stopped for tea. I took a picture of a stupa at the pass. Then we had a gentle, flat trail following the valley, near its top. On the way out of Namche Bazaar, we originally followed a much lower trail through this valley. Eventually, the trail split, and most people followed the lower fork, which led directly to Namche Bazaar. However, I had told Lal I wanted to go the hard way, over the hill and through Khumjung, since it looked like a more interesting route, and we had not been there before. He wasn't very happy about this idea, but agreed, of course, since that is his job. We waved to Ling Soo on the trail below for the last time, and followed the high route toward Khumjung.
We soon came to the largest and steepest stone staircase I had seen yet, and carefully descended it. At the bottom, we looked up, and Lal pointed out a mountain goat, which was different from the American kind, near the top of the stairs. Shortly we came to Khumjung, a very large town, possibly bigger than Namche Bazaar. It is said to have a school, and a gompa with yeti relics (actually a hairy goat skull, reportedly), but we didn't stop here long, because it was getting late and cold, and snow was coming. We climbed the steep hill above Khumjung to the Everest View Hotel. By now I was getting tired, and had to rest several times during the climb. The hotel was now in a cloud, and had no view at all. We went in a back door, walked through a maintenance corridor, and exited through the front door. Since snow was coming, we didn't stay long.
The clouds blowing up over the mountain were very cold. We crossed the government yak farm on top of the hill above Shangboche, descended past the airstrip, and started the steep descent into Namche Bazaar. I had climbed this steep, dusty trail the first time I was in Namche Bazaar, so I knew the way down, which was good because there was now no visibility, and Namche Bazaar could not be seen below. I sent Lal ahead because he was following too closely. The trail was very hard on the knees and thighs. The dust made it slippery, and I fell once. A few porters were coming up the trail, and some sounds came up from the town below, but it was not visible until I reached the bottom of the hill. I did not see Lal there and I didn't know where he was going, so I shouted a few times for him and he came back.
We went down to the center of town and found a nice lodge with a private room and electricity. I could hardly move at this point, and crashed on the bed. Lal brought me a tea and I rested for an hour, until it was time to go up to the dining room and order dinner. Lal's thighs were sore also tonight. He didn't like going downhill, and sometimes had trouble with his knees.
The dining room stove was very warm, and several people huddled around it in comfortable chairs with backs. I sat there a long time drying out (I was still sweaty from the walk) and getting warm. Tibetan music played on a tape in the kitchen. A Japanese trekker who had walked from Jiri was staying here. He spent most of his time reading, and didn't say much. Namche Bazaar was his final destination. He did not want to go very high. We suggested that he should at least go to Tengboche for a day.
I had mixed fried rice for dinner. It was bland, and I could not eat it all. I had a cinnamon roll for dessert. They had been made today, and were a little dry, but tasty. We went to bed early and had a good sleep in the comfortable room. I took a naproxen to stop my muscles from hurting, which helped me sleep soundly.
Scott A. Yost, 1994. All rights reserved.