| Date ... | Wednesday, 2 September 2009 |
| Start ... | Namche Bazaar (altitude - 3440 metres) |
| Finish ... | Namche Bazaar (altitude - 3440 metres) |
| Time taken ... | about 2 hours 30 mins (including stops) |
Day 4 on our trek was a scheduled 'rest' day, to allow us to acclimatise to the affects of been at altitude. Some of the team decided they wanted to visit the nearby sherpa villages of Khunde and Khumjung which was about a 5 hour trip. I was starting to feel all of the travelling etc starting to catch up with me so I 'lazy' day in the village. After a walk around the shops and a visit to the Everest Bakery where I had one of the best ever cups of coffee I decided to have a wander around the village to take some photo's. I kept getting some more tantalizing glimpses of the high mountains through the clouds so I extended my walk out to the view point, along the track towards Tengboche.
Namche Bazaar
The chorten and prayer wheels at the entrance to the village
The village is built on a natural steep sided bowl in the hillside
Looking down onto the village, you can make out the chorten in the bottom right of the photo
The path going diagonally across the opposite side of the village is the main trekking route out towards Tengboche
This photo should give you some idea how steep the slopes around the village are?
The large mani stone marks the exit village
The Sherpa Museum, with the military outpost on the hill behind
The villagers cutting the hay and picking the potatoes in the fields around the village
Looking down the valley we walked along the previous day
The path to Tengboche, I only went as far as the chorten!
Zooming in on the chorten
This was built to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1st ascent of Everest
Looking along the valley towards the cloud shrouded mountains
The clouds would part to give the odd glimpse of the giants that I knew were at the head of the valley
As I headed back towards Namche the views improved a bit
Zooming in, Everest or not? Sadly no this is Lhotse, only the fourth highest mountain in the world!
More yaks carrying their loads up the valley somewhere
Back in Namche, time to pay another visit to the bakery!