5am start this morning to hike up to the Everest view point. We all headed up with our head torches on as daylight broke. The big plus was that I was rucksack free and just loaded with my camera and 2 lenses.
The first time seeing Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam (the ‘stairway’) was special and felt even more so given it was Easter Sunday. It’s not just those iconic peaks but the entire 360 vistra. Everest was initially hidden with cloud cover but as the sun rose it soon burnt off. I took a zillion photos.
Descending for breakfast we then headed back up to the Sherpa museum which I cannot do justice but I am hoping the photos will. There were moving pictures of all the sherpas who have died whilst helping egotistical foreigners seeking their goals. Sheilesh also took us to the museum which gave an insight into life in the area pre 1953. The stats were astounding with electricity for example only available for the first time 5ish years ago. They can get 5 meters of snow in winter and often the only way to save the livestock is to bring them inside.
On the way back we saw the high flying Himalayan Griffon vulture (with its 25 feet wing span) as we looped via the helipad perched on the cliff face which is almost as dramatic as Lukla airport.
Post lunch we picked up all the final gear from all the Namche mountaineering shops with Sheilesh warning us that the weather forecast for the next week or so is not good which means we could be wading though snow.
With 3 hours spare pre dinner and with the altitude only going to get higher over the coming days I decided I needed to run. I set myself the target of 2 hours knowing that London is 3 weeks away, speed and distance being irrelevant at 3,500m. I took off in the direction of the Everest look-out but got lost in all the tight streets of Namche stumbling along a path which looked relatively flat and so grabbed the chance. The path took me along the valley but getting fantastic views back across where we had walked up from Lukla over the last 2 days with the double suspension bridge in view.
Running in my shorts and Nike Zoom Flys the locals did not know what quite to make of me. This path was also great as there were no westerners but just the locals and the passing sherpas. I exchanged a tonne of Namaste's as I passed 3 or 4 mini ghompa temples making sure I passed on the customary clockwise side. At one point one 2 of the sherpa boys started running and immediately regretted not having my phone with me. With the sun now going down I thought I’d better swoop back home but arriving into Namche and feeling good I again tried to find the Everest look-out taking the wrong path yet again which ended up being very steep. I persevered for 20 minutes and then thought better of it and walked back down with the Nikes slipping on the rocks. To finish I ran back up to the helipad and then down to the entrance of Namche running the path down for a k or so down before switching back and home. 2 hours done and less than 13k completed :)
Dinner was all about Yak burgers. I went for the vegetable option. I cannot get my head around any meat that needs walking up from Lukla in the same fashion we had.
An Easter Sunday I won’t forget. At dinner I managed to meet ‘haha’ Tenzing who my had led my dad here a few months back. More selfies.....
day 3 video: https://youtu.be/Clz3Vfc2AxY
day 3 video: https://youtu.be/Clz3Vfc2AxY
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