We all set off from Namche Bazaar with sore heads this morning either from a lack of sleep last night or alcohol induced. Some had both!!! Everyone had enjoyed last nights party.
The walk back took around six hours and I remembered the final hill up to Lukla which is a real sting in the tail from when I climbed Ama Dablam in 2009.
It started to rain just as we entered Lukla and this was a precursor to negotiations which have just finished at 10.00pm.
Unfortunately there have been no fixed wing flights out of Lukla for the last three days and the forecast is for more poor weather until Sunday- the day of our flights home to the uk!
The fixed wing air craft need a much higher cloud base and horizontal visibility than helicopters. So we've been trying to find three helicopters to fly all of us and our kit out in the morning. Finally we think we've succeeded but we will find out in the morning as its impossible to get anything in writing or even something resembling a ticket out of the Nepalese here. We've just got to hope its not thick cloud or even the helicopters won't be flying. After ten weeks everyone is understandably very very keen to get back to civilisation! Yes it's going to be quite expensive but in the scheme of things not too bad.
I've almost finished the summit day post so hope to have that up by the close of play tomorrow.
As for the summit photo, yes it is me and whilst it's sunny what you can't see is the 30 mph winds and probable -40 to 50 wind chill - I wasn't going to be exposing anything!
Showing posts with label Namche Bazaar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Namche Bazaar. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Arrived in Namche Bazaar
This is just a very quick post to I've finally got my phone charged and have been able to send yesterday's post (it's posted below). Secondly I've finally got a reasonable internet connection!
I know a lot of you are understandably waiting to hear what summit day was like and I'm working on that (promise!) but first I thought it only polite to reply to the numerous comments and emails that I've had over the last four or five days, so please bear with me.
I think I've replied to all of them but if I missed anyone I am sorry!
Last night I had my best night's sleep for probably nine weeks, eight hours uninterrupted sleep. Bliss. So finally felt slightly more human than I have for the last four days!
Today's walk from Pangboche should have taken six hours but we cracked it off in four! Not quite as fast as those in the Everest marathon which took place today. It starts at Base Camp and ends here at Namche. The fastest runners do it in about three hours! Incredible considering the terrain and the heat.
Tonight there is apparently a big 'rave' style party which we are all going to. I'm sure my 'status quo' dancing will go down really well!!
I know a lot of you are understandably waiting to hear what summit day was like and I'm working on that (promise!) but first I thought it only polite to reply to the numerous comments and emails that I've had over the last four or five days, so please bear with me.
I think I've replied to all of them but if I missed anyone I am sorry!
Last night I had my best night's sleep for probably nine weeks, eight hours uninterrupted sleep. Bliss. So finally felt slightly more human than I have for the last four days!
Today's walk from Pangboche should have taken six hours but we cracked it off in four! Not quite as fast as those in the Everest marathon which took place today. It starts at Base Camp and ends here at Namche. The fastest runners do it in about three hours! Incredible considering the terrain and the heat.
Tonight there is apparently a big 'rave' style party which we are all going to. I'm sure my 'status quo' dancing will go down really well!!
Thursday, 29 March 2012
A day around Namche
Aaah! I spoke too soon. Dinner last night was vegetarian! I can't help feeling the previous lodge must have read my blog. That's not to say it wasn't good as it was, even though it was an unusual combination - chips, spaghetti with a tomato sauce and cabbage. Secondly I woke at 1.30 am only to stay awake for a couple of hours. On the plus side the Internet speed was up to 3g! I understand from Henrietta that at least one other person apart from my parents are reading my blog! I've got a mention on Alan Arnette's Everest website for my description of Kathmandu. I've been asked to do the Jagged Globe blog today so normal service (irreverence) will resume tomorrow!
This morning we woke to another day of sunshine and an early breakfast at seven thirty.
The plan was to have a relatively gentle morning walk up another 300 m to the villages of Khunde and Khumjung just to the north of Namche.
The two villages are a far cry from the hub bub of Namche with very limited facilities consisting of a couple of lodges together with a bakery.
Wondering around these two villages you get a real sense of how hard life is for the local inhabitants who aren't involved in someway with the tourists. They eke a subsistence living off the semi fertile land. There's no mechanisation here as everything is done by hand with the help of a yak or two to do the ploughing. It's like stepping back in time three hundred years into a working museum.
The village of Khunde is where Sir Edmond Hilary set up a hospital and a school following his 1953 trip as a thank you for all of the help that the locals provided during that expedition. Both are still operating which is a tremendous legacy.
From Khumjung after a coffee and apple cake stop we continued to the Everest View hotel which has a terrace that enjoys panoramic views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Unfortunately for us the cloud had started to build during the late morning so our view of Lhotse was obscured.
The two villages are a far cry from the hub bub of Namche with very limited facilities consisting of a couple of lodges together with a bakery.
Wondering around these two villages you get a real sense of how hard life is for the local inhabitants who aren't involved in someway with the tourists. They eke a subsistence living off the semi fertile land. There's no mechanisation here as everything is done by hand with the help of a yak or two to do the ploughing. It's like stepping back in time three hundred years into a working museum.
The village of Khunde is where Sir Edmond Hilary set up a hospital and a school following his 1953 trip as a thank you for all of the help that the locals provided during that expedition. Both are still operating which is a tremendous legacy.
From Khumjung after a coffee and apple cake stop we continued to the Everest View hotel which has a terrace that enjoys panoramic views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Unfortunately for us the cloud had started to build during the late morning so our view of Lhotse was obscured.
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| Everest is on the left with the cloud blowing off it whilst on the right is Ama Dablam |
On our return leg back to Namche we had an excellent panoramic view of it looking down from above. It's been built within a semi circular hanging valley which looks like a greek amphitheatre.
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| Looking down on Namche |
Namche is full of lodges, cheap gear and souvenir shops, internet cafes and restaurants. It's a fascinating village and the hub of the Khumbu valley. It gets it's name from the weekly Saturday market with traders coming from as far as Tibet to sell there wares.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Monjo to Namche Bazaar
I've realised I've not told you who else is on the expedition:
David Hamilton who is our leader
Adam Ward who is our base camp manager and chef. Yes that's right we've got a uk chef to oversee the menus and the cooking.
Team members:
Bruno Baschung from Switzerland
Philip Purdy
Nick Bailey
Cain O'Brolchain of Southern Ireland
Brett Hammond
Warner Rojas Chinchilla who is hoping to be the first person from Costa Rica to summit.
Our ages range from 32 to 52.
Yesterday whilst our walk initially dropped down from Lukla we regained the height on reaching Monjo at 2835m.
David Hamilton who is our leader
Adam Ward who is our base camp manager and chef. Yes that's right we've got a uk chef to oversee the menus and the cooking.
Team members:
Bruno Baschung from Switzerland
Philip Purdy
Nick Bailey
Cain O'Brolchain of Southern Ireland
Brett Hammond
Warner Rojas Chinchilla who is hoping to be the first person from Costa Rica to summit.
Our ages range from 32 to 52.
Yesterday whilst our walk initially dropped down from Lukla we regained the height on reaching Monjo at 2835m.
 |
| You soon learn to give way to yaks! |
I am pleased to say most of the team had their best nights sleep. I had a solid 8 hours which I have to admit I've not had for many weeks. I suspect it's a combination of getting over the jet lag as Nepal is four and a half hours ahead of the UK and just the relief of actually getting here.
Today we climbed the 750m up to Namche which I remember well from last time as being the first really continuous section of up hill walking. I just recall arriving in Namche exhausted and fighting for breath as the effects of the altitude kicked in. This time though I'm pleased to say I arrived feeling so much better - probably the good nights sleep. I say long may it continue.
Along the way we had our very first glimpse through the trees of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam which were approximately 30 and 20 miles away.
We arrived at our lodge in time for lunch and this afternoon we dropped back down into the town centre to do a bit of shopping. A few of us also stopped to have an excellent coffee and cake at a bakery (I've got Ben B to thank for this as we visted the bakery on our Ama Dablam trip in 2009). It must be the best one in town as David H also dropped in.
A couple of guys including Cian and Pasang then decided to go to the Irish bar to play some pool! Hard to beleive but no matter where you are in the world you're never far from an Irish Bar. I've not heard the result yet.
The food has been good. Last night for dinner I had a plate of chips with two fried eggs and not a single vegetable in sight (Henrietta would have loved it), followed by an individual deep fried apple pie! The pie tasted a lot better than it looked. I don't believe the lodges have ovens as most of the food is prepared over paraffin stoves. So the Nepalese have something in common with that alternative national dish of Scotland - the deep fried Mars Bar!
Breakfast was porridge and an omelette on toast whilst lunch was soup followed by boiled potatoes and tinned tuna in tomato sauce with some extra hot spices.
I'm pleased to say the quality of the food is so much higher than that I experienced (endured) in Tibet whilst travelling to base camp on the north side.
We will be staying in Namche for two nights to aid our acclimatisation.
Today we climbed the 750m up to Namche which I remember well from last time as being the first really continuous section of up hill walking. I just recall arriving in Namche exhausted and fighting for breath as the effects of the altitude kicked in. This time though I'm pleased to say I arrived feeling so much better - probably the good nights sleep. I say long may it continue.
Along the way we had our very first glimpse through the trees of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam which were approximately 30 and 20 miles away.
We arrived at our lodge in time for lunch and this afternoon we dropped back down into the town centre to do a bit of shopping. A few of us also stopped to have an excellent coffee and cake at a bakery (I've got Ben B to thank for this as we visted the bakery on our Ama Dablam trip in 2009). It must be the best one in town as David H also dropped in.
A couple of guys including Cian and Pasang then decided to go to the Irish bar to play some pool! Hard to beleive but no matter where you are in the world you're never far from an Irish Bar. I've not heard the result yet.
The food has been good. Last night for dinner I had a plate of chips with two fried eggs and not a single vegetable in sight (Henrietta would have loved it), followed by an individual deep fried apple pie! The pie tasted a lot better than it looked. I don't believe the lodges have ovens as most of the food is prepared over paraffin stoves. So the Nepalese have something in common with that alternative national dish of Scotland - the deep fried Mars Bar!
Breakfast was porridge and an omelette on toast whilst lunch was soup followed by boiled potatoes and tinned tuna in tomato sauce with some extra hot spices.
I'm pleased to say the quality of the food is so much higher than that I experienced (endured) in Tibet whilst travelling to base camp on the north side.
We will be staying in Namche for two nights to aid our acclimatisation.
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