A Day Around Namche Bazaar
The next day was a rest day to acclimitize. After breakfast, Sanjeev had a short hike planned for our group, up above Namche to the Sagarmatha National Park Visitor's Center and Museum. The Museum had displays on the culture, geography, geology, etc., within the park and Khumbu region. Our head sherpa had summited Everest several times and his photo (along with his summit group) was on the wall in the Center. There was also quite an Nepal Army presence there...alert against any Maoists...and no photographs were allowed.
We moved in slow motion....difficulty breathing...still on our way up, when suddenly the most incredible vista of snow-capped giants suddenly appeared before us. Awe-struck, I started to cry. It was just so beyond words and literally "heavenly" that it was easy to understand why these mountains are considered sacred and home of the Gods. How, I wondered, could it ever get more beautiful than this....View image There is absolutely no way that a photo can possibly convey our emotion upon seeing them.
Back down to Namche for a rest. By now, one of our other trekkers, was being very sick over the side of a mountain from the altitude, and poor ex-Marine was still feeling ill. It takes days to acclimate! For him, a week, at least.
Ronnie in tent
Steve/Sonny/ex-Marine hit the tent, curled up in his sleeping bag and I went exploring the streets of Namche forgetting that there is so such thing as "flat" in Namche...you either go "up" or "down." Even animals.....
Zukio heading down the street
There were many houses, trekker's inn, and shops along the narrow streets primarily with new souvenirs. In one shop, I asked a wizened lady if she happened to have anything "older" for sale. She rooted under some quilts on a shelf and pulled out a long piece of wood with many, many Buddhas carved into it. In broken English, she explained that it was from Tibet...damaged by the Chinese during the Cultural Revolution...but for sale. Some of the decorations on it had even been chiseled off by the Chinese. I puffed back uphill to our tents, roused ex-Marine with, "Sonny, Sonny, you have to come see what I found and want to buy." Sick as he was (bless his heart), he crawled out of the sleeping bag, came back with me (first I couldn't find the shop...they all looked alike...but the lady recognized me), and we bought it!
my lady seller
It sits on our kitchen wall, a daily reminder of the trek and "Mountains of the Gods."
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