Day 3 - 4 | Namche Bazaar to Tengboche

When climbing at high altitude, one must rest every so often to allow their body to “acclimatize.” The general rule is that once you’re above 10,000ft, you should climb no more than 1,000 feet per day and once you’ve climbed a collective 3,000 feet, you should take a rest day. Since Namche Bazaar is at 11,300ft, day three was our first of two rest days while trekking to Everest Base Camp. It's also important to note (as I mention our itinerary in future posts) that these are general guidelines; everybody is different and these limits can be flexed +/- given how your body adapts and how your itinerary and overnight villages are laid out.

Under the watchful eyes of a Buddisht stupa, Kimberly spins a row of mani wheels.

In Namche Bazaar, there is a viewpoint of Mt. Everest and a memorial to Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali Sherpa and one of the first to summit Mt. Everest.

Day Three - Acclimatization Day in Namche Bazaar

This morning we woke up feeling good. Although today was meant to be a day of rest, it is best to “climb high and sleep low” to maximize your acclimatization. The village of Namche Bazzar is in a bowl-like valley so Kimberly and I decided to check out the museums towards the top of the village as our rest day "activity." We also took advantage of the stores and shops of Namche by buying some last minute thermal socks and long underwear. These were items that we absolutely needed but didn’t have because we were packed for the hot weather of Southeast Asia. It’s quite surprising at first when you arrive, but every single item you need for trekking in the Himalayas can be found in Namche. Doing so would cost a small fortune but you could literally be helicoptered to Namche with only your credit card and build your provisions from scratch for months in the mountains. I even found a bottle of 5 Hour Energy--a caffeinated energy drink that I occasionally enjoyed back in the US, at one of the shops. These cost about $2 in the US and are nowhere to be found in all of Asia but I found one in Namche albeit for $18.50. Kimberly would not approve the purchase.

Last night before settling in, we found a small pub in the village showing a documentary on Sherpas. The true heroes of the mountains, Sherpas and other "high altitude workers" risk their lives every season to ensure the safety of their clients attempting to stand on top of the world. The documentary was eye-opening and thought-provoking and made us affirm our reasons on the mountain and our respect for the locals who call it home. Wanting more insight, we found another spot this evening to enjoy another documentary and dinner.

A quick note about our approach to this trek:

Mt. Everest Base Camp (EBC) and surrounding trails can be hiked by anyone (given they have the proper permits and a reasonable level of fitness). Probably the most popular approach is to join an organized group that includes a guide and porter(s) where all logistics are taken care of ahead of time and your only effort is forward walking.

A Guide is a local who speaks your language, is responsible for getting you to your destination safely, is knowledgeable of the trails and common itineraries, and knows the ins and outs of the teahouses and lodges. On average, guides charge between $20-$25 per day for their services. A Porter is a local hired to carry provisions. Typically a porter doesn’t speak English very well or at all. The fascinating and cringe-worthy fact about porters is that most carry loads of 75% to 125% of their body weight. Think about carrying a heavier version of yourself while the air is 50% less. Their loads are balanced on their back supported only by a strap around their forehead. For their services, porters take less than $15 per day.

A porter carries two large duffel bags up the mountain for an individual or organized group.

The many loads of the porters in the Himalayas. The red duffel bags are gear and personal items of paying clients in organized groups. The supplies in the baskets are food, drink, and miscellaneous supplies to stock the lodges along the trail.

Throughout the Internet, expeditions and treks to EBC using a Western tour operator can run as high as $4-5k per person. Surprisingly, this doesn’t include international airfare to get to Nepal. Alternatively, if you arrive in Kathmandu and haven’t planned your trip, don’t worry. The streets of Thamel, a tourist and mountaineering-driven neighborhood in the heart of the Nepalese capital is filled with local operators offering the same services for much less. With these operators, your two weeks in the mountains will cost about $1.5k per person. Because of the competitiveness of the industry, some haggling or desperate operators might even drop the price to $1k per person but if you add up the fixed expenses for the trek (flights, permits, lodging and meals), the guide or porter they use is probably taking the biggest hit on discounts that deep.

Kimberly and I went with a third and probably “most likely to grow in popularity” approach which is what the Nepalese Government now calls being F.I.T: Free Individual Trekkers. We hired no guide or porter and had to figure out the flights, permits, and navigation on our own. Doing so however saved us a great amount of money (I will be including a full break-down of our trip at the end of this journal series) and gave us the freedom to explore under our own terms. With a wealth of information online, we were able to do all of this with ease. During and after the trek we felt strongly that this is the best way to hike in the Himalayas. For those who say it's better to support the locals by hiring them, we counter with the justification that our money was just as supportive in the family-owned lodges where we slept and ate and no porter's back was injured by carrying our weight.

Day Four - Namche Bazaar to Tengboche

Last night, a new friend and fellow independent trekker advised that we get an early start today (as F.I.Ts) because the few lodges in our next village, Tengboche, fill up quickly with organized groups who have reservations or get preferential treatment. With this in mind, we are first to eat breakfast and are leaving Namche by 7am.

Two porters carry supplies on the well-made trail towards Tengboche. (Mt. Everest is the second peak from the right in the distance.)

Kimberly ascends through the rhododendron on our way to Tengboche.

The day overall was an easy one. Our bodies seem to be acclimatizing properly and the first three-quarters of our route today was a wide, road-like path around the skirt of a mountain and then downhill before crossing a river and traversing over half a mile uphill to the village of Tengboche. The uphill was made easier and more enjoyable thanks to the blooming rhododendron and unobstructed views of the Ama Dablam peak.

Upon arriving in Tengboche, our first try at a lodge was a failure as they were fully booked. For a half second, I feared we may not have a place to stay tonight. Fortunately though, our next try yielded an available room and a rooftop patio with a 360-degree panorama including Tengboche Monastery and Mt. Everest.

Our afternoon was spent relaxing on the rooftop with the company of other trekkers going up and coming down the mountain. Kimberly and I both splurged $5 each for hot showers, a luxury at 12,700ft and the last hot shower we would be offered for the next week. This was also our first shower in four days so its expense and feeling afterwards was easily justified.

At 3pm, we wandered over to the monastery to witness the monks chanting their afternoon mantras in a prayer ceremony. The ceremony lasted for about a hour and was very unique and peaceful, even with some disruptive visitors who didn’t respect the monastery’s request for no cameras or videos. After leaving a small offering, we walked away enlightened and at ease with the experience overall.

The following are journal entries of mine from our time trekking to Mt. Everest Base Camp and Gokyo Lakes. Check back soon for the remaining entries from our two weeks in the mountains!