Rest Day in Namche

Well yesterday we had climbed up to over 11,000 feet altitude, and it was exhausting. Exhausting I tell you. And this morning we felt the effects of that walk and the Irish Bar. I say ‘I tell you’ because it sounds slightly deranged.

Nir, our leader, had decided on a 7am breakfast and an early yomp up on top of the hill behind Namche to see if we can see Everest and its chums.

First off we walked up to a park on a small hill, dedicated to Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who scaled Everest with Edmund Hillary. They were the first to get to the top and Tenzing was from the village of Thame, where we may be staying tomorrow night. There was a museum in the park dedicated to Tenzing and Sherpas in general. Fascinating.

We dropped down to the village to start on the higher climb and were rewarded with this panoramic view of Namche.

Looking down the valley that we had walked up the view was great.

However the views of the Everest range were largely obscured by clouds. Thanks Pink. But Lhotse (4th highest in the world) was clear. Everest, over to the left, didn’t show.

We bumped into the woman who supports Leeds and her husband again, Ruth and Paul from Otley. For the benefit of Southerners it’s pronounced Ockley. Turns out that they run a karate school and are both 5th Dan black belts. And they both lived in Melbourne for donkeys years before returning to the UK. I know another Leeds fan who lived in Melbourne who had the audacity to marry my eldest daughter. Later on Paul and Ruth joined us for a pool challenge at the Irish bar and Paul had the audacity to win. A lot of audacity from the Leeds Metropolitan Area.

Earlier, whilst walking back to town, we were treated to a view of Tensing Park, surrounded by trees and sitting on top of the hill.

The two piles of fresh hay with legs, walking down the mountain, are local farmers. No tractors or roads here.

We had lunch in the hotel and spent the afternoon playing pool with Nir and Amit, and the occasional Ockley based hustler. We took it steady and went to bed early, rested and sober.

Night night.