September 13 - 16
The following pictures are from our hike from Phakding to Namche. Namche is the most commercial town along the trail with tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and markets.
Gene and Govi taking a break from the constant uphill climb.
Here's Gene trying to pet these mountain sheep.
We arrive in Namche - home for 2 days!
We spent two day at Namche in order to acclimitize to the altitude (3450 meters or 11,300 ft). During our second day, we hiked up to the Everest hotel (3800 meters). There were clouds so we didn't get a great view of Everest, but we did have awesome views of Lhotse, 4th tallest mountain in the world.
Sagarmatha National Park museum
The Nepalese Red Panda! We never actually saw one in the wild, but it looks just like a raccoon.
Lhotse in the center of the photo. Everest is just to the left of Lhotse but it's covered by the clouds.
Helicopter either making a drop off of supplies to the Everest hotel or doing a emergency rescue evacuation.
That's Namche in the background below us (about 400 meters below us)
Prayer flags
One of the monks that was staying at the same guesthouse as us came to sit and hang out with us. He can't take pictures with women, part of his Buddhist religion, so only Gene could be in the picture with him.
We left Namche on September 15 and hiked to the Tengboche Monastery and later the town of Pangboche where we stayed for the night.
Hiking to Tengboche Monastery
Tengboche is a small town with just a few guesthouses. It is known for its Buddhist Monastery.
Kat in front of the monastery gates
This is a picture of the foot print in the rock left by Lama Dorje. The Lama meditated here during the 16th century for so long that eventually his foot made a print in the rock. During his meditations, he predicted that a monastery would be built in Tengboche.
Monastery courtyard
Inside of the monastery. You can see the monks' robes on the seats.
Gene posing with he bull (careful not to get too close)
Our first view of Everest! Finally the clouds opened up!
Gene and I with Everest above us
The landscape is starting to change as we go higher in elevation. This was a really cool marsh area.
Juniper trees!
This is a bridge that collapsed a couple years ago in a landslide and a new bridge is being built to replace it.
The temporary bridge
Our guesthouse in Pangboche, just hanging out by the furnace with Govi, Radskumar (our sherpa), and the owners of the guesthouse. We were the only guests that night.
Playing cards with Govi and Radskumar
We woke up a a perfectly blue sky with incredible views of Everest, Lhotse, and many other "top of the world" mountains in the Himalayas.
Amadablam
Everest is the tallest peak on the left side of the picture behind a row of mountains in the front. It appears smaller than Lhotse since we're further away from it than Lhotse at this point in the trail.
Gene's 33rd Birthday!
