Day 3 Namche Bazaar Acclimatization day 1

Today we start to acclimatize, So we climbed the hill high above Namche, It was very very steep and mainly steps, We took it very very slow, Stopping many times, The guides keeping an eye on the group and walking as slow as the slowest person which is fine, Once above Namche we carried on to another village where i got my first glimpse of a real Yak, The ones that have carried our gear so far are hybrids, Once above 3500m you will see real yaks but they cannot survive below that, Beautiful creatures and seem less temperamental than the hybrids, We had lunch there which is a long affair, Whilst we were having lunch the clouds came down and we walked back in thick fog, We stopped at the Everest view hotel but it was a white out, Once we got back in Namche the fog lifted, A quite tough day but the group is doing good and i hope it continues, A easy day resting tomorrow before things get real

Namche Bazaar

 View from the balcont outside my room

 Climbing up to 12700 feet to acclimatize

 Diarmuid a crazy Irish man flying the flag

Ciaran the other crazy Irish man having some fun, Must be the lack of air

Our group with guides, Shame the view of Everest was blocked by the low cloud

Alpine flowers

Baby Yak

Prayer stones

Stupa

A real Yak

Entering Khumjung, Spinning the prayer wheels as you enter

Villagers

A tough climb with very enjoyable day, Feeling great and so far no ill effects, A rest day tomorrow and then off and up

Dave

Day 2 Phakding to Namche Bazaar

We were told that today would be the longest and hardest day of the trip, So up early and after breakfast we hit the trail at 8am, The weather was great and i had been up early photographing a mountain catching the early morning light behind our hotel, Yes the trail was long and steep but i loved every minute, The scenery was spectacular as we walked in valleys with bright glacial water roaring past us, We crossed the famous double suspended bridges and made the steep assent to Namche Bazaar, The day before our guide had told us that when yaks come along the path to keep near the wall side so as not to be knocked over the edge, Today a young chinese guy did not take that advise and was head butted over the edge and was very lucky as it was not a steep drop, Later in the day another yak had a fit and spun and fast circles throwing everything off its back and fighting withthe woman who was taking them up the mountain, The scenery is very much like Colorado but every now and again a beautiful snow clad peak could be seen poking its head high above, We have very lucky with the weather, it has been very warm and the temperature has only dropped since getting above 11000 feet, Today the air has been busy with helicopters taking people off the mountain and in the hotel in Namche there are people who have had to turn around through altitude sickness, We are checked each night for vitals, So far so good

View from outside my accommodation

Crazy Irish team mate by waterfall

High peaks in the distance

Prayer rocks and stoupa

Right of way for animals on the swing bridges

Luggage arriving

The group with guides

Starting to get steep, The trail was busy

The famous twin bridges

So glad to be there

Our guide

Windy and a swinging bridge

From the bridge

Just before we arrived at Namche we had this view

Namche Bazaar

3 dayss here to climb, acclimatize and rest

Dave

Day 1 Lukla to Phakding

Not a difficult day and we finished earlier than planned, The flight into Lukla was good andthe landing was somewhat different, The runway being incredibly short, We walked for 2.5 miles very slowly before stopping for an extended lunch, As we landed late we have to finish earler in a different village than we hoped to get to, This means we have a very long day tomorrow which is already deemed to be one of the most difficult, The landscape has been beautiful, Not as rugged as i thought but that will come, I feel good, One of the team fell ill at the airport and vomitted badly and has a bad tummy but has made it and on the way another person has started to feel iffy, Lets hope this passes soon, The food has been great, I had an awesome rice pudding for desert which was huge.

Small and very noisy prop plan on the way to Lukla

I was right behind the pilot, Lukla airstrip in the triangle window

Lukla airport

Our guide telling us to keep to the side so as not to get knocked over the ledge by the yaks and horses

Local in a rush

Clear streams and waterfalls everywhere

Prayer wheels and flags

Our luggage on the way up

Huge rocks carved and painted with prayers

Just a quick blog today, I hope to show the journey in images

Dave

Here we go

The new team started to arrive, There will 8 in our group, Myself as the only Brit, 3 Americans, 2 Irish and 2 Hungarian making this a mixed group in both nationality and age, I went back to the Monkey temple with some of the new guys and had a nice day getting to know them, There were plenty of monkeys around so i left the others to explore and as i had done it before spent time alone, Its festival time here so its quite busy, The weather has improved day on day with just some rain later on but mainly dry and clear with some humidity,
We have been very well looked after by Kaye of Ian Taylor Trekking and today she spent all day with us again, You could not ask for more
As with all groups we all went out for dinner again to get to know each other, It was Michael's birthday so he got a surprise cake , Wehave to be downstairs for 6am and be at the airport for 7 am, Its finally about to happen and there have been lots of questions by everybody, I have been fortunate enough to spend a couple of days with a group that have been there, done that so know what to expect, I have no idea if i will have internet tomorrow but should the day after when we get into Namche bazaar, Fingers crossed that all goes well and we arrive in Lukla in the morning


Back at the Temple

 A strange form of prayer

 Prayer flags from above

 At the back of the temple on the way to Buddha Park

 The monkey's were out in force

 Buddha Park

Its been a great few days in Kathmandu and i am glad that i have had the chance to relax and get over jet lag but the time has come, I am packed and ready to go

Until the next time

Dave