Day 29 -- October 26 => Kyangsuma to Chumoa

Bed tea was at 6:30 am, a little earlier than the past several days. Thamserku blocked the morning sunshine until 7:50 am. It was a spectacular view watching the sun's rays as they slowly emerged behind Thamserku. We left Kyangsuma at 8:10 am under a promising sky of a beautiful day (we were not disappointed). The trail undulated as it contoured towards Namche Bazar. The temperature quickly rose and we made several stops to remove the layers. We passed by several groups of trekkers as they were heading up, some still having difficulty with the altitude.

Namche Bazar (3440m/11,286')

We entered the top of Namche Bazar at 9:20 am. Ten minutes later, we reached our lunch stop, just a few minutes from the shop where I had rented the jumar. The yaks and Chris had not arrived yet, so Baboram, Sarah and I went souvenir shopping. I was looking for some Island Peak patches, that I had noticed when we had first arrived in Namche Bazar on October 11. We then made our way down to the Tibetan market. We did not find anything worth buying. We headed back up towards our lunch spot when Jagat found us. The yaks and Chris had arrived and we needed to arrange for returning our rented equipment and tipping the yak men.

After digging the rental receipt out of my duffel bag, we descended to the Mountain Madness shop where I returned the jumar and payed a rental fee of 25 rupees ($5.00 CAD). I also picked up an Island Peak patch for 25 rupees.

Group photo at our lunch stop in Namche Bazar

We had just finished lunch when Pemba returned with the two yak men. Chris presented them with a group tip, and because they had done a bit extra like setting up tents, Chris gave them two bottles of whiskey. Chris then presented Pemba with the group tip and I followed that up with an individual tip for his assistance on Island Peak. After the group photo, Pemba said his goodbyes to the group. He was headed back to his lodge in Pheriche. His lodge was originally called the Yeti Lodge but he had renamed it to the Panorama Lodge. I never visited Pheriche so I did not get to see Pemba's lodge but Sarah told me it is very nice and has a beautiful sun room on the second floor.

Election sign on a rock by bridge over Dudh Khosi

We left our lunch spot at 12:40 pm. It was warm and mainly clear. Chris went ahead to ensure there were no problems at the army checkpoint at the last lodges in Namche Bazar. It was a steady descent down that "big hill". I finally got down to a t-shirt for the first time in two weeks. As we approached the suspension bridge over the Bhote Kosi, the clouds were building quickly and a chilling breeze was blowing up from below.

Sarah on bridge over Dudh Kosi, after Jorsale

After passing Monjo (2835m), it was a stiff but relatively short ascent up to the Sagarmatha NP entrance. We went inside the park entrance building where Chris gave us the NP permit had had been holding for all of us (less weight for him to carry!). We stayed for about 15 minutes, looking at the photos and information on the walls.

Another 15 minutes of descent before a final uphill to our campsite in Chumoa (~2900m), arriving at 3:20 pm.

Day 28 - Deboche to Kyangsuma Day 30 - Chumoa to Lukla

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Created: March 30, 2003.