Day 2: Phakding to Namche Bazaar
Approximate Trek Time: 4 – 5 ½ hrs.
Distance: 9.7km / 6 miles
Overnight Elevation: 3420m / 11,220ft
Our dinner last night had been a rave affair – with the lights flickering on and off during our meal of daal bhaat. A dark dining room, there was little to do after dinner but head to bed. Our 11 hours of sleep was interrupted only briefly during the wee morning hours by the unmistakable sound of rats on the rooftop. Having lived in an apartment in China for a year, where I dealt with rats from time to time, I knew the sound of a rat. The difference between hearing a mouse and a rat is pretty simple: a mouse makes a tiny tiny scratching noise – soft like a fingernail scratch against wood. A rat sounds like the size of a cat, with loud scratchy claws. You can hear its girth; it sounds big and heavy; you can hear its belly dragging across the floor/ground. Luckily, the noises were coming from outside and we didn’t hear anything inside the lodge, but nevertheless, I was ready to get up and start hiking in the morning.
Hitting the trail around 7:30am, the air was cool and brisk. The first part of the trek took us along wide rocky dirt trail that weaved its way along the river valley, undulating between nice flat sections and brief uphill and downhill jaunts, some with seemingly no purpose other than to take you by a lodge or restaurant. Walking along and above the river, we crossed by gorgeous waterfalls, their mists blowing in the breeze created by their own power, gently showering us as we bounced over stepping stones or small bridges across their streams.
Soon, the sun filtered warmly through the trees, splashing across the trail shared by the trekkers, porters, herders, and locals, all walking from village to village. Porters carried unbelievable loads on their backs – five or six cases of beer, building materials, and the large duffel bags of trekkers and climbers – all braced for the haul by the wide cloth band strapped around their foreheads. The most common loads seemed to be cases of beer and trekking duffels, the two of which surely went hand in hand. Other goods, such as large gas tanks and giant bags of rice and lentils, were hauled in by yaks, horses, and donkeys herded up the trails, the clangs and tinkles of their bells hanging endlessly in the mountain air.
In the villages we passed through, we walked by a number of large boulders engraved with the Tibetan Buddhist mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”, the lettering painted in white to “pop” out from the stones. Land surrounding the trails, when a patch of it was available along the mountain slopes, was covered in small fields – cabbages, wheat, and hay – among other crops used for food, animal feed, and trade throughout the region. Kids along the village paths ran up to us for high fives.
Most of the first two hours of the trek was relatively easy. Not far past Jorsale (Jorsalle), the trail took us to the valley floor before ascending back into the forest of pine, magnolia, and rhododendron, and up a stone staircase to a set of high suspension bridges over the Dudh Kosi (the lower one older and unused) that lead to a spur just north of the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and Bhote Kosi rivers. Crossing over the higher of the two bridges and standing at the edge of the spur, we could see both river valleys – one right and one left – with the spur rising up in between, an impressive view as we began our climb up the center of the spur toward Namche Bazaar.
After an hour to 90 minutes of climbing steep switchbacks and rocky steps through the trees, we emerged at the eastern reaches of the first lodges outside Namche Bazaar. We continued past, winding our way along the level trail that hugged the mountainside. Coming around a bend, the incredible view of the iconic Namche Bazaar (3420m/11,218ft.) was suddenly just before us, the lodges, homes, and businesses all layered tier upon tier up the mountainside, the village curving like the side of a bowl into the mountainside from the east to the west. A central staircase climbed up through the middle of the village, with side paths branching out on every level. It was very surreal to suddenly be staring at a location we had seen many times in the mountain movies of the region – and here we were.
Walking under a kani (entrance archway) along the trail, we crossed a small bridge over a man-made waterway at the base of the village. Situated along the first flight of the central staircase, water flowed down the wide decorative waterway, plunging into a fountain near the bridge, the spouting water feature clearly signifying Namche as the most prosperous settlement, and unofficial capital, of the region.
A large stupa and mani wall were also situated along the base of the village, and locals washed clothes in the public water spouts below the bridge. We shared the main staircase with a very tired looking yak train on our way up into the center of the village, where we found lodging at the Khumbu Lodge. The oldest lodge in Namche Bazaar, the Khumbu Lodge is something of an institution, having hosted many accomplished climbers and Everest expeditions, as well as Jimmy Carter on his trek through the region in 1985. Here, we splurged on an en-suite room – the “Snow Leopard” – for our two nights there. The room included, among other small luxuries, electric heat pads on the beds. I would be wishing for these days later in Gorak Shep.
The convenience of an en suite bathroom is a perk that’s worth splurging on once along the trail… beyond the easily accessible hot shower, the cleanliness associated with having your own toilet is a welcome comfort. Plus, it’s much better than trudging your ass down a dark corridor late at night to a shared toilet or squatter where the door latch never works, to squat precariously over an eastern squatter toilet – or far worse, a western toilet rimmed in piss – trying not to touch anything. This would be our only stop along the trek where we had an en suite bathroom (before returning to Namche again), and it was a nice treat. Also the shower was piping hot, which was doubly great since we wouldn’t be having another one for quite awhile after leaving Namche.
Before 2pm, fog had begun rolling down the valley, blocking all views of the surrounding mountains. With foul weather, we did what any logical traveler would do and retreated to the local Irish pub – the highest in the world (!) – with drink prices that might also match that description at $10 for a pint of Guinness. Walking into the establishment, Shawn promptly proclaimed, “it even smells like an Irish bar!” Since the prices were going to be high no matter what we ordered, Shawn took the opportunity to try out the only craft beer in Nepal – Sherpa Brewery’s Khumbu Kolsch (about $8 for a 500mL can), and I ordered a nice hot Irish coffee.
The bar was an eclectic mix of country flags – naturally favoring large Irish flags, which hung from every wall – signed t-shirts, soccer team posters, and other signage with bar witticisms such as “Please do not flick your cigarette butts on the floor, it burns the hands and knees of those trying to leave”. The remaining décor was rounded out by ratty couches, a large picnic table, a pool table, and foosball table. We sat at the bar next to the large bottle of “Homemade Namche Whiskey”, which was nearly full. We did not partake.
For dinner, we made our way to the dining hall at the Khumbu Lodge, which was warm, well lit, and full of the clamor of trekking groups – some of which were celebrating the last days of their treks and others, like us, excited to begin their journeys further northward into the Khumbu. After dinner and a basket of popcorn (my favorite lodge snack), we retired to our cozy, electric heat-pad warmed beds.
