Day 15 -- October 12 => Namche Bazar to Khumgjung

Saturday market in Namche Bazar

There is a morning market every Saturday in Namche Bazar. People from around the area come to Namche to sell their goods. The majority of the goods is clothes but you will find rice, vegetables, meat and some Western goods. The market usually runs from about 7am until 11am. Sarah, Joe Sr., Joe Jr. and Lal went down to the market after breakfast, getting there around 8:15am. The market is a bit of a zoo, especially the top two levels. People pushing past you if you stood still for more than a few seconds. I did find someone selling Pringles but he wanted 150 rp ($3 CAD). I tried to barter him down to 100 rp but he told me "No, not today.". The market is essentially three rows of merchandise, with only about two shoulder widths of room between each side. Since Nepalese always get better deals, I asked Lal (he's the one in the blue vest in the picture above) to try and buy me some Pringles but the guy told him that Pringles were 130 rp in Kathmandu. As I would discover, Pringles would be 300 rp just a few days later higher up.

Kongde Ri (6186m/20,295'), west of Namche Bazar

After about an hour, we headed back up to the top of Namche Bazar.

Above Namche Bazar

We were headed towards the Everest View Hotel (EVH) at 3870m/12,700' and to get there, we had to make a strenous ascent almost straight up a big hill. The clouds were developing quickly towards Everest and I wasn't all too optimistic about our chances for good views. The building you see atop the hill is not the EVH after all, but some other hotel (I can't recall the name). Once you level out, it's about another easy 15 minutes to the stairs of the EVH (10:45am for us).

Group photo at the Everest View Hotel. Photo by Joe Sr.

The hotel allows trekkers to go through the lobby and out to a viewing patio at the back of the hotel. As expected, clouds obscurred Everest but Nuptse (7896m/25,905') and Lhotse (8501m/27,890') were partially visible for a bit before clouds blocked them out as well. The EVH was built in 1974 and rooms cost $250 USD/night. Many guests get altitude sickness because they ascend too quickly from Kathmandu (1400m/4500'); some even die.

Khumgjung

We spent about 45 minutes at EVH before continuing on down to our camp site in Khumgjung (3790m/12,435'), arriving around noon. After lunch, the sun was out so our camp soon looked like an outdoor laundry mat.

Gomba in Khumgjung with Yeti scalp

Sometime after 2pm, a group of us went up to the Gomba. Once we got there, we had to wait about 15 minutes while Lal went to find the woman with the key. Once we were inside, Lal lit some candles on our behalf to bring good fortune.

After everyone made a small donation, the woman opened the cabinet containing a Yeti scalp. We were only allowed to take one picture. The validity of this Yeti scalp is questionable but makes for an interesting aside.

School in Khumgjung

On our way back to our camp site, we passed by the school setup by Sir Edmund Hillary. We also passed the Everest bakery and some of stopped in for a treat. I went for an apple danish (80 rp).

Around sunset (5:30pm), the clouds cleared enough to give us spectacular views of Ama Dablam (6856m/22,493') and Thamserku (6808m/22,336'). You don't get a lot of chances for sunset views due to clouds, so one must make the most of them.

Day 14 - Namche Bazar Acclimitization Day 16 - Khumgjung to Phortse

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Created: November 30, 2002. Revised: December 6, 2002.