Namche

Namche is our home for two more days and we're excited to do some exploring.  After breakfast, our team heads uphill to the Everest View Hotel for our first look at Mt. Everest.  It's a solid hour of uphill hiking but when we get there, our effort is rewarded with an amazing view.  Mt. Everest is there with a huge plume coming off it, Lohtse is there also but completely obscured with a plume and Ama Dablam is completely visible with its iconic shape.  The photo below is from our roaming on Thursday up to the Sherpa museum and another overlook spot.

Yes, those who have read previous posts know what I'm going to say next.  The view of Everest made it all real in an instant.  What was a vacation like trek from town to town transformed into a  long walk to climb the highest mountain in the world and I was looking right at it.  What an amazingly beautiful sight!

From the Everest View, we headed up to another village called Khumjung.  This was a traditional Nepali farming village and we found out later that children from over an hour walk away come here for school after about the 4th grade.  Talk about walking to school up hill both ways, these kids actually do it.

Much of Khumjung was damaged during the earthquake and we visited the Buddhist temple to view the reconstruction.  The workers were making good progress and expected to be complete by mid-summer.

Back in Namche, we enjoyed the comforts of a traditional trading center with some shopping, talking to the locals and making multiple visits to the German bakery.  Another highlight was a visit to the Sherpa museum.  Outside and up on the hill stands a statue of Tenzing Norgay, the first Sherpa to climb Mt. Everest (photo above).  Below in the museum buildings, were displays of old traditional Sherpa household items, displays of Sherpa life and a household prayer room.  The typical  Buddhist Sherpa household has a prayer room which was interesting to understand.

Another room at the museum holds photos of all the climbing Sherpas who have summited Mt. Everest.  Below each photo is a list of the summit dates and it's amazing to see the climbing experience of many of these amazing mountaineers.  Many of these guys will be climbing with us this season and we look forward to meeting them later in the trek and on the mountain.