I got up at 6 AM, after being awake for a while. It was clear now, and the sun was rising. Outside, the surrounding mountains were now visible and the sun was hitting the peaks. We went down the crooked stairs for breakfast, and I had an egg-pancake (a pancake containing an egg). A Swiss family with a four and six year old child were having breakfast as well. They said the children were doing quite well on the trek so far, but it was just their second day.
Today, I carried my own pack, but put most of clothes in my compression sack for Lal to carry. He was surprised that such a small sack could be so heavy. It fit easily inside his pack. We had a gentle uphill climb along the river, which was a beautiful light blue color with plenty of whitewater. We crossed a number of times on rickety swinging bridges, and shorter wooden bridges. The bridges usually had holes in them. There were a lot of yaks on the trail, and it was often difficult to cross a bridge before a yak train came along, often carrying trekking supplies for one of the large, organized groups. You could always tell the French and Germans on the trail, because they look like they are skiing: they all walk with two ski poles.
We soon entered the Sagarmatha National Park, where I had my trekking permit and national park entrance pass checked. (Sagarmatha is the local name for Mt. Everest.) The office had a small visitor's center with exhibits about the park and the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), which was set up to keep the area clean and conserve the trees. Then we went down a steep hill to the river, which we crossed on a long and especially rickety bridge, which swayed a bit too much for comfort. We stopped for lunch in Monjo, and I had a deliciously potent bowl of garlic soup. I tried to order Tibetan bread, but Lal said it would take too long, so I got a pack of biscuits instead. Lal said garlic is a good medicine for high altitudes, and locals eat a lot of garlic soup.
Shortly after Monjo, we crossed a big bridge, and soon later, and much higher one, the highest swinging bridge yet. Then we began the steep climb to Namche Bazaar. It didn't take long before I started getting cramps and felt sick. I found a place off the trail, behind some pine trees, and had my first case of diarrhea, but it was not too serious. The climb was difficult, especially with cramps, and I stopped to rest often. Lal offered to hire a porter to carry my pack, since I wasn't feeling well, but I just took an Immodium and went on. I bought a liter of bottled water at a store on the way up, since I wanted to have an adequate supply of reliable water.
After the grueling climb, we arrived at Namche Bazaar, a large, U-shaped town perched on the edge of a deep gorge, at 11300 feet. The town has a large number of gift shops and inns. The first two inns we tried were full, so we climbed up the hill to a relatively fancy inn overlooking the town. Its dining room was surrounded by windows on three sides, giving a panoramic view. A glass case held a television and VCR. Through the windows, I could see that many of the inns in town had satellite dishes, which is not something I had expected to see here. I had a tea, and then went downstairs to our double room, which was tiny but had an electric light bulb. I could lock the door with my combination lock. I rested until dinner time, but it was noisy because men were digging up rocks just outside the hotel and shaping them for construction work. Feeling somewhat better now, I ordered fried vegetable momos, a Tibetan dish somewhat like ravioli without the sauce, and a fried apple pie.
Lal offered to take me to his hometown, in the hills near the Kathmandu valley, after the trek, and said we could go rafting on the Sunkosi. He would hire a local company for this, which I was not sure would be completely safe, but they cost less than companies based in Kathmandu. Lal suggested that we should keep in touch after I returned home, and told me that he would like to have his own trekking agency, but will have to learn to read English first. In fact, he could read a little, but had trouble recognizing lower-case letters, and could not read long words. In the meantime, he would appreciate any customers I could send him. I told him I would give a slide show using the pictures I was taking with my small camera, and maybe some people would be interested in coming. I also told him I could put a report on the computer, where it could be read by many people. When we went to bed, Lal wished me ``good night and sweet dreams'' as he would most nights.
Scott A. Yost, 1994. All rights reserved.