Everest Base Camp Trek * Day 9 / March 22 * Pheriche – Namche Bazar

It was yet another cold night. The lodge was filled with trekkers, but that didn’t really heat up the place; it just made it a whole lot noisier as the rooms were separated with simple plywood walls making every rustling, coughing or coupling sound like it was in the very same room. (I think it came out of the room to my left, the sleeping bag shuffling and female voice mumbling for about 30 seconds. Then she whispered louder, “What?” And he whispered, “I’ve already come.“)

After breakfast Tengi and I went off making the second part of the descend. It was a perfect day for hiking; blue sky, little wind and great views all around. It was a very quiet day too. There didn’t seem that many people crawling up the hill, which was a little disappointing, as that way I couldn’t show off my victory grin and force a “Hello” out of the breathless trekkers.

We stopped for some tea the the beautiful Himalaya Sherpa Lodge in Pangboche, with a dining room with view of Nuptse, Everest and Lhotse. The nice owner lady, who had traveled to Japan, Greece and all over the States, knew why it was a quiet day: the past two days were no-fly days in Lukla due to bad weather and heavy winds. Thus there is a gap in the stream of trekkers, leaving the path and the lodges empty.

So I had to wait until lunch time a little further down (where I had macaroni with tomato sauce) to brag about my accomplishment to trekkers, who still have a long way to go. They had the uncertainty in the eyes just as I had 7 days ago, but some of my descriptions seemed to calm them down, “Yeah, it was a piece of cake. I did all routes in two hours less than scheduled. After that I hit the local gym for my 3 hour cardio session, and then made myself carrot stew in my own kitchen tent I carried along in my side pocket. Do you want to see pictures?”
Well, I couldn’t quite brag with my altitude achievements with the German guys from Nuernberg, who have scales Kilimanjaro before (and that one is 5900 tall), but we always found common ground in how impressive and inspiring the landscape is here. And I wished them good luck — I truly did as everyone who has come this far should be rewarded with a successful trek to the top and see the impressive panorama for themselves.

Today we also had to go back up 2 steep hills that were fun walking down on our way up. The first ascend was the “mud track” up to Tengboche. Thanks to the dirt it was rather entertaining as we again balanced from stone to stone and held on to trees. After that we arrived at Tengboche, which this time around was set in clear sky. The monastery was so colorful and pretty and the views were — as always — impressive.
The second hill was much longer than I remembered, but since we were scaling up from 3200 to 3500 the oxygen was already quite plentiful and made it much easier to walk up.

The traffic on the “highway” to Namche Bazar was moderate. We passed several porters and yak trains but only some sporadic trekking groups.

Then we were back to “The Steps of Namche Bazar“, a setting that sure could be a location for a spin-off of the old TV series “The Streets of San Francisco“. Tho, the car chases (on yaks) would be quite a bit bumpier.

Of course we checked in at the Buddha Lodge again, but I didn’t mind that much, as all I cared about was to get a hot shower and to have a sit-toilet.
For today I had no other worry in the world. Up here, after having climbed up to a place that seemed so far away for most of my life, should I worry about my 40K, or how the color of my eyes matches my taint? It all does not matter for now; it is all unimportant compared do my mountaineering experience.

After refreshing myself (my last real shower was here in Nachme, too) I hit the town to pay a visit at my favorite outdoor gear shop again. Last time I saw they were selling beanies with “Everest B.C., 5334” on it, and since I was there I was now entitled to buy one.
The store — actually half of Namche — was filled with older Japanese tourists. Not sure if they will walk up any higher, but they were getting outfitted with good walking pants and jackets. I was amazed to see the owner lady, Pemba, understand and speak Japanese. She said it’s only a little, but it sure sounded quite fluently.

Back at the lodge I hade a chat about “God and the world” with Ksusha, a Russian born English girl, who has spent over 18 days trekking around — most of it on her own. And we were both happy with our (different) achievements but also looking forward to the finish line in Lukla.
I filled my empty stomach with a mushroom soup and veggie fried rice; it was good.

So now for some rest in my room that is next to the shared toilet (and I noticed there is a gap between the two rooms in one corner. I hope no one has diarrhea, but with only 4 guests in the house the chances of that are somewhat minimized.), with a bed that would fit 3, but also disables the door from opening all the way.
I’m hitting the hay early again to get some needed rest for tomorrow, what could be the last part of my trek.