Gorgeous views wherever you look, thin clean air stripped of oxygen, yaks and other labor animals carrying stuff around like a freight train – this is definitely where I parked my car!
It all starts in Lukla
Having the reputation as one of the most dangerous airports in the world, Lukla is the hub for every trekking towards Everest Base Camp and others in the area. There’s almost no other way to avoid flying there because a Jeep road trip would take 2-3 days due to the challenging terrain.
We sat off right away after some refreshments and snacks. The trail actually descends a few hundred meters of elevation before starting to go up again. At Lukla the altitude is about 2700m and the next point of interest is Namche Bazar which is at around 3400m.
The landscape at this level is very green, it has trees, forests, trails and lots of houses as well as lodges on the way up. No chance to feel secluded in this part of the trek.
Namche Bazar
The only place which can be called “city” is Namche Bazar. Here there are plenty of coffee spots, lodges, temples as well as the Sherpa Museum which I highly recommend visiting.
Surely but steady, we performed an acclimatization hike to Everest View Hotel at around 4300m. The weather was foggy so we could not see any Everest from there.
Namche Bazar is quite easy to provision with food and supplies, so take your chance to stuff up here. Gradually, as you climb, the food quality kind of goes to the south.
Next destination: Tengboche
From Namche to Tengboche Monastery there are approximately 12km of trekking. Like from Lukla, you start by descending 400m and then climbing up 700m in elevation. The last part before the monastery is a bit steeper but there is a lodge before the incline where you can have a much needed snack and refreshments.
Once you get past the gate of the monastery, there is an inner courtyard before going inside. You are required to take off your shoes. You are asked not to take photos, don’t know for sure why.
I felt a bit tired that day so I was really glad that we had to go down a bit to our next accommodation. This one was particularly cold but the food was quite ok.
