Nepal Trip Day 6 - Exploring Namche Bazar (Friday December 28, 2018)

Nepal Trip Day 6 - Exploring Namche Bazar  (Friday December 28, 2018)

We woke up and managed to brush our teeth using the remaining water left in our water bottles. We changed to our trekking outfit and made our way to the dining room around 7:30 am. We were hoping for clearer day so we could explore Namche today. We were served the usual breakfast of egg omelette, fresh toasts, cereal, muesli, yak butter, juice, coffee, and tea. We took our time to enjoy the meal and I shot a few time-lapse videos through the window of the dining room. The time-lapse showed the fast moving cloud forming and dissipating around Kongde Ri, the big south of Namche.

Enjoying our breakfast

 

Home-made toast with yak butter

egg omelette 

egg omelette

Time-lapse of Kongde Ri

https://youtu.be/xgsuX3u1cfo

Second time-lapse of Kongde Ri

https://youtu.be/CD5C9eBVBj4

After breakfast, we left our backpacks at the lodge and headed towards the Tenzing Norgay Memorial and the Sagarmatha National Park Museum. The memorial and the museum are located at a small hill just north of YMH Namche. The cloud is finally clearing up and we can begin to see the blue sky. Mingma showed us the path that we will take on our hike to Hotel Everest View the following day.

Switchbacks to Hotel Everest View

There is a gate that reads Sagarmatha National Park at the base of the hill. We walked up the stone steps towards the museum. Mingma was leading the way, and Gelyzen joined us shortly. It took us no more than a few minutes to make it up the hill and we could already see the Tenzing Norgay Memorial through the trees. 

Gate leading to the Sagarmatha National Park Museum


Being a tourist


Going up the stone steps towards the memorial and the museum


Walking up to the second gate


In front of the second gate to the memorial and the museum


Approaching the memorial with Thamserku in view

First view of Tenzing Norgay Memorial

Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay was the first Sherpa to successfully summit Mount Everest along with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand as part of the British 1953 expedition. The pair was the first to successfully summit Mount Everest on record. Tenzing Norgay Sherpa was born in the Khumbu region and later resided in Darjeeling in the West Bengal region of India bordering Nepal. Being a Sherpa from the Khumbu region, Tenzing Norgay's life achievement symbolized the spirit of the Sherpa people. Based on my personal take, he paved the way for Sherpa led expedition in the Himalayas. Prior to the successful summit of Mount Everest by Norgay, Sherpas were merely viewed as coolies or porters at best by the western expedition teams. Norgay proved that Sherpa can do more than just carrying loads. Ever sine the success of the 1953 British expedition, the Himalayan climbing and guiding industry took off. There were many companies and expeditions that followed the trekking and climbing route pioneered by Norgay and Hillary. Our trek this time - the EBC trek, followed the footsteps of great explorers Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. The EBC trek is not only a stunning trail from a naturalist's perspective, but also a trail of great cultural and historical importance.

Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (1914-1986)

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919-2008)

The storm that hovered Namche when we arrived yesterday had begun to clear. It was a dramatic view to see the remain of the storm cloud covering the big peaks. At the Tenzing Norgay Memorial, we have a good view of the big peak including Cholotse (6,440 m,or 21,130 feet), Everest (8,848 m or 29,029 feet) , Lhotse (8,516 m or 27,940 feet), and Ama Dablam (6,170 m or 20,243 feet) on a clear day. We took a number of pictures at this location and a I shot a time-lapse. We admired the big peaks and could not believe that we actually made it here. WE ARE SEEING EVEREST! THE HIGHEST PEAK IN THE WORLD! It was incredibly satisfying to be here and be here together as a family. We have accomplished this walk together as a family. Even though we will only accomplish about a third of the entire EBC trek or about 30 miles out and back from Lukla, it will be an accomplishment for us as a family. It will be something that we can always look back and say that we did this walk together with tears and laughters and plenty of good food along the way. We can say that we learned a lot about Nepal, the Khumbu region, the people of Nepal, and the geography of the Himalayan mountains. 

At the Tenzing Norgay memorial, the remain of the storm cloud covering the big peaks

With our guide Mingma

A moment of peace

Name of the big peaks

Time-lapse at the Tenzing Norgay Memorial

https://youtu.be/rBd3hE16HLQ

Panoramic picture of the Tenzing Norgay Memorial


View of Everest


"Insta-worthy"?

We walked towards the south side of the memorial which faces the lower Khumbu valley that we walked from. We stared at the lower Khumbu valley and was able to barely tell the small villages way below. We could believe that we have made it this far and this high from where we were. 

View of the lower Khumbu valley where we were just yesterday

At the look out point

Lower Khumbu valley on the right side of MM

Sagarmatha National Park

After exploring the memorial, we entered the Sagarmatha National Park Museum to check out the exhibits inside. We signed the guestbook at the entrance to document our visit here at Namche. The museum displayed the regional cultural artifacts and climbing history artifacts. We asked Mingma how it felt to summit Everest. He said it was unreal. I asked him what time he summited, he said about 8:30 am.

Signing the guestbook at the museum entrance

 

The local woman seemed to find our presence to be interesting

Our signatures in the guestbook

Display in the museum

The 1996 IMAX team poster

At the museum entrance

Touring the museum


Museum artifacts

After visiting the museum, we headed back to Namche. We will be walking around Namche in a loop. First to visit the Monastery on the opposite of the town from our lodge, then we will circle back to visit the Bazaar. 

Mingma showing us the route near our lodge

YMH Namche

View of Namche

YMH Namche, our lodge, can be easily identified by the five color flags and the green window frame

Began our walk towards the monastery

Namche with ice covered Kongde Ri in the background


Local home


Doors of homes in Namche




Firewood in stack


Clothes being hung


A dzo next to gas cylinders


Seeing Thamserku on the opposite side of Namche


Thamserku


MM in Namche




The view began to change as we walked to the monastery


Walking up the stone steps with the monastery in the background




Outside the monastery prayer wheel


View of Namche and Thamserku from the monastery, one of my favorite shots


View of the lower valley


Panoramic view


At the door to the monastery. We could not enter because the monks have left the mountain due to the cold


Door to the monestery

We were not able to enter the monastery because the monks have already left the mountain for the winter. Mingma led to through narrow alleys through Namche. We toured the little shops and restaurants through Namche. We ended up at the Bazaar on the opposite side of the monastery. We walked around the Bazaar and saw so many different type of items being sold here ranging from daily essentials like soap to a variety of food. There was also an open air butchery. We walked through it briefly and GG could not take the smell of raw meat in open air. We have visited Namche "Bazaar". After visiting the Bazaar we walked back to our hotel and took our lunch. 

Taking in the view

Bazaar is located towards the center right

"Holy-cow?"


Walking through the narrow alley


Through the town




Shop selling various items


"Downtown" Namche


More store items


Enjoying the town


Bakery shop in town


Another cow or dzo


Outdoor gear shop


T-shirt with map of Khumbu


"EBC" t-shirt


Through the colorful shops


Boys playing ball on the street


Local woman shopping at the Bazaar


Yak butter


Canned good - spotted Choco Pie


Happy shopping


Coconut Crunchees! I should have bought two packs home


Muesli


Looking at Namche from the Bazaar


Kongde Ri from the market


Tuppleware


Daily essentials - toothbrush, lightbulbs, toothpick and more


Sponge, papad, and pasta


The North Face jackets


Shopping at the cliff


More clothes for sale


Coca Cola and canned goods


Various type of grain


Bars of soap


Busy day at the Bazaar


Doing some shopping


It's a nice day to be shopping at the Bazaar


Mount Everest Whiskey


Better than Costco


A little boy by the produce section


Spices


Ginger root


Fresh produce by the pound


Fresh produce


More fresh produce


Carrots


Flour


Eggs and pepper


Fresh fruit


More fresh fruit


Open air butcher shop - no refrigeration


Yak meat?


Dried peppers


Stocking up


Friday afternoon Bazaar - one of my favorite pictures


Numerous lodge homes


Up the stone steps back to YMH Namche


Kongde Ri in mid-day


Steep steps to our lodge


At the lodge entrance minus the snow

It was really fun to see all the goods at the Bazaar. It's amazing that all the goods were brought here by either porters or pack animals. It really makes you appreciate every single grain of rice you eat in the mountain. 

We took our lunch at the dining room. The staff turned the fire on of the pop belly stove to keep us warm. We feasted on tomato soup and potato package with egg. After lunch, we retired to the sun room to relax. We thought maybe we could catch the sunset at the Tenzing Norgay Memorial so we asked Mingma to take us again later in the afternoon. 

Tomato soup

Potato pancake 

Photo with the friendly hotel staff


Turning on the fire in the sun room


Relaxing in front of the fire




Can't get enough of Masala Chia

We left to lodge around 3:30 pm to see if we can catch the sunset at the Tenzing Norgay memorial. Unfortunately, the big peaks were completely cloud covered and the timing just wasn't right for sunset. We thought we may try to catch the sunset again the next day. We did catch a great view of the Tengi Ragi Tau from the Sagarmatha National Park Museum. From afar, we heard the bell of the yak train that came from the EBC trail to Tengbouche. Mingma led us there and we got to view the first real yak train. Yaks are beautiful animals with long fur. It can only survive in high altitude locations such as Namche. We were glad that we were able to see such beautiful local animals.

After the short walk to the museum and seeing the yak train, we came back to the lodge to sit at the sun room again. There were no other guests at the lodge that night. The Germans had left for Thame in the morning. To our surprise, the hotel staff brought the dinner table to the sunroom so we could eat in the much warmer sun room. The staff set up the table with table cloth and silver ware. We were served a huge feast of Tibetan style hot pot, momo, vegetables, rice, and a meat dish. It was an incredible large feast. Mingma told us that this feast is usually served after the completion of visiting the Everest Base Camp. We thought we deserved it anyway. After dinner, we again filled out water bottles with hot water with help from the kitchen staff. We managed to brush our teeth with the boiled water and went to sleep in our camp clothes with our outer wear and woolen hats on. The temperature was well below freezing into the night.

Cubby for Crocs, which were provided at all YMH lodges

All the big peaks were covered by the afternoon cloud

Sun shining through the cloud before diving behind Kongde Ri

The sun shining through the cloud, Mingma was standing to the left

Great view of Tengi Ragi Tau (6,927 m or 22,762 feet)

Zoomed in view of Tengi Ragi Tau 

Kongde Ri and Tengi Ragi Tau

Stunning view of Tengi Ragi Tau in the late afternoon sun

Panoramic View of the museum square

View of Tengi Ragi Tau

Kongde Ri and Tengi Ragi Tau

Walking towards the yak train

Kongde Ri from the EBC trail


Yak train that came from higher elevation


Yaks


Yaks


Yaks


Yaks


Followed by donkey train


Himalayan View


Herding yak


Yak


Yak


Taking in the view of Kongde Ri



Time-lapse of Kongde Ri
https://youtu.be/KSFgwCwhEbg

Small droplets of ice forming on my eye lash after standing outside for more than fifteen minutes shooting the time-lapse


Enjoying the happy hour at the sun room


Happy Hour!


Popcorn!


All alone in the lodge


Special table set for us at the sun room


Dinner table


Tibetan style hotpot


Hot pot


Big feast again


I can help you


Meat with green pepper


Chinese buns


momo


Red bean dessert with tea


Enjoying the meal

Our walking distance was quite moderate today. It was nice to rest a bit after getting into Namche. We will rest up tonight to get ready to climb up to Hotel Everest View tomorrow. 

Moderate walking distance for today

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