A brilliant day! Twas very hard to get out of the warm sleeping bag, but breakfast beckoned. We were woken by Bir, our sherpa, who took our food orders as we got up!
In the lobby everyone was huddled around the fireplace but Paul and I opted for the view of the mountains by the window. It was beautifully clear with the sunshine travelling slowly down the hills.
Paul and I are the two lone travellers of the group - he is a middle-aged man on a bit of an adventure. Olivia and Rodger are newly married but not in their youth... Karma has his girlfriend Robyn, and Dorothy and Marjorie are teachers at the same school in Wales. Dorothy and Marjorie sound more like poms but were angry when i suggested it! They have been planning this trip for nearly 2 years as a charity for a Kathmandu school. Talking to another traveller they discovered taht it is the school holidays and they won't have much of a chance to visit it, despite raising 4000 pounds!
Paul and I are a big contrast as trekkers - he has everything you could imagine for trekking and then some, whilst I have some cheap fake stuff from Thamel! He said he looked at suggested items to bring and broguht them all! Rodger and Olivia helped him lighten his duffel bag - he had 500gm of honey in it as well as other things he wouldnt need! Apparently he had heard from friends of how rough the trips were, but they just got buggered round on a cheapo camping trip!
Trekking was stopped just five minutes after we started - the sun was out and we had to shed layers! It was so hot and I was glad to be wearing shorts and a shirt despite the bitter cold as the sun goes down. When we stop moving we freeze in the wind - it is so odd to be under the extremities of hot and cold at the same time!
Several times we had to stop again, mainly to let Dzooms (yak/cow cross), donkeys or porters pass - their loads would easily knock us off the mountain! It is always amazing to hear about the ability of the porters in traversing mountainsides with great burden, yet it is another to seem them briskly walk past you as we struggled up the hill with just a day-pack! The piles of wood, food or anything else were phenomenal - usually 50-80kgs! In aussie terms one porter had 6 cases of longnecks as well as some other things on his back! He could be useful on a trip to Dan Murhpy's!
I convinced the others to try momos at lunch and generally it was appreciated. Robyn had to brave the homemade chilly sauce and is now paying for it! She is lucky we are acclimatising in Namche Bazaar for another day so she can rest!
The walk itself was amazing and it is taking me a while to soak in all the views! It was particularly fun crossing the wire bridges over the river - Marjorie was a bit scared though she is yet to realize the worst are still to come!
Rodger and Olivia ran ahead of the group as we climbed above the 3000m mark, despite Karma's warning of altitude sickness and fatigue. Personally i think its a bit stupid and ignorant - they could get lost or have to end their trip early due to altitude sickness from overstressing!
I learnt a little of Nepali off Bir and Karma, mainly colours and the like. Thinking of Guru Ama at the office i called them "guru ama" thinking it meant Nepali Teacher but it actually means mother teacher! They had a good laugh but i wasn't sure if id offended them at all.
The mountain peaks were cloudy as we finally reached Namche Bazaar, a rather large mountain village set into the side of a mountain. All the villages in the area have a good power supply from hydro - better and more consistent than Kathmandu!
The lodge just had to be situated at the upper end of the village, the ten minute walk is quite a struggle after the days efforts! But it is a good lodge with great views, unfortunately cloudy at the moment.
Paula and I agreed that being seedy and rich is better than clean and broke, going for an apple turnover instead of a 200rs shower! There are a few german bakeries with microwaves! Brilliant. There is an industrial-sized oven in one that took 4 porters to carry it from tibet! Also everybody has a tv - even the run down shacks we passed on the way to the village! Bizarre.
Before dinner we shared a huge flask of hot chocolate over a game of scrabble. I can proudly say that I won both games despite their teachers knowledge!
Our room was warm as we finished the night early - even warmer in the sleeping bags. But the air is so cold it chills my body every time i inhale!
