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Climb for Kid’s Sake Day 6: The AMAZING Namche Bazaar

This morning we hiked along the Dudh Kosi river (ironically, Dudh Kosi means Milk River, which is also the name of a small river near Lethbridge!) and into Sagarmantha National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We meandered through many villages where I got awesome photos of the river, the deep valleys and the children.  One child was having a birthday party and they were blowing up balloons and holding the top tight and letting the air out in high pitch noises and laughing.  I took pictures of another young boy with a plastic toy gun.  He aimed it at me and did the sound effects of the gun going off.  Ha!  Just like the kids at home!

About 40 minutes into my trek I noticed my camera battery was almost dead, despite the fact that I’d put new one in this morning.  I had packed all my other batteries into a wool toque and put them in my duffle bag (that went onto the back of a yak!) and the yaks left way before us!  I asked the guide if I could run ahead and stop the Yak train to get my battery.  He went with me and we literally ran for an hour! Up hills and down into valleys and finally we stopped them!  I got my battery and was a happy man :)

After lunch we climbed the notorious Namche Hill (our first taste of ukalo – the Nepalese word for “uphill”) and , if we’re lucky, our first opportunity to glimpse Everest!  All my hard work climbing our fantastic peaks in Waterton and working out at the Canadian Martial Arts Center must have paid off.  Although it was challenging, I was able to thoroughly enjoy the climb and even showed off by running a little!  Lol! 

In mid-afternoon, we arrived in the amazing village of  Namche Bazaar!  Namche is small and scenic beyond belief!  It was socked in and pouring rain when we arrived…this means much snow up higher.  (I heard that base camp has 20 inches of fresh snow already!!! )  The village was an intoxicating mix of Tibetan traders, tourists from all over the world, Sherpas, monks and, yes, the ever-present yaks!  Take a look at this video of Namche Bazaar.

We’ll spend the rest of today and all day tomorrow here in Namche to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude.  If the weather breaks and the sky clears we will be up at 6 AM to hike to a viewpoint where we can see Everest and take pictures.  If it doesn’t, we’ll wander the small streets here to sight see and check out the tourist shops.  

Berg Adventures are our hosts on this trek…check out our guide’s dispatch report for more information and pictures!

I’m climbing to Everest Base Camp to raise money and awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Please share my blog with your friends and family.  Show your support by donating some time or money in support of this great cause!  You can contribute by visiting the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lethbridge website or click on the blue become a sponsor button to the left.  And tune into 94.1 The Lounge at 7:05 AM tomorrow when I’ll be chatting with Mark Campbell!