Namche Bazaar is a village set in natural amphitheater looking across Khongde Ri in Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3440 m (11,286 ft) at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Namche is the main trading center and tourist hub for the Khumbu region.
Namche Bazaar is popular with trekkers in the Khumbu region, especially for altitude acclimatization, and is the gateway to the high Himalaya. The town has a number of lodgings and stores catering to the needs of visitors as well as a number of internet cafés, making it one of the few places in the region where trekkers can access the Internet. On Saturday mornings, a weekly market is held in the center of the village. There may also be a daily Tibetan market where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the main articles for sale.
Woke up with shortness of breath (at the altitude of 3440 m, the air is getting thinner and the oxygen rate drop to 64%) tying your own shoelaces could be quite exhausting and challenging! I have to stop and gasping for air every time i finish tying each shoes. Bending down to tie the shoelaces was like running in 100 m dash with Usain Bolt.
Today's schedule is to acclimatize by climbing about 420 m high to The Everest Sherpa Resort where we can catch a glimpse of Everest Peak. We start our hiking around 8:00 am and believe me, the first 15 minutes was torturous. With lack of oxygen, like an asthmatic the body tries to adapt with the altitude and this is where the half-step method need to be applied.
My brother(left) with our guide, Mingmar Sherpa and the porters.
Khongde Ri (6187 m)
Yak's Right-of-Way.
Excellent view of Namche Bazaar.
Yup..we're heading up to that lodge.
Our lead photographer, Dawam.
About two hours and fifteen minutes, we reached The Everest Sherpa Resort which we're fully acclimatized. For the first time we had a glimpse of the illustrious Mount Everest (8848 m) standing strong in between Ama Dablam (6856 m), Lhotse Shar (8393 m), Lhotse (8516 m) on the right side and Nuptse (7861 m).
The best part, we sat at the lodge compound and had a few cups of tea while looking at the mesmerizing vista of the Everest...priceless!
The nearest and most beautiful mountain is Ama Dablam. Ama Dablam means "Mother's necklace"; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional double-pendant containing pictures of the gods, worn by Sherpa women. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the eastern sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp. -wikipedia-
Ama Dablam (6856 m)
The Mighty Everest (dark color peeking in the middle).
L-R: Pasang, Dorje, Doma and Mingmar.
It was 8 degrees Celsius up there.
One of Dorje's son, Mingmar Sherpa who will always smiling.
The Everest Sherpa Resort.
Another awesome view of Namche Bazaar.
After spending about 45 minutes up there, we went down to the Namche's Sherpa Culture Museum where all the Everest documentation and records kept. The museum was inaugurated by the first climbers who reached the summit of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Percival Hillary.
Yak poops is used primarily as fuel. Almost everything from Yak can be used by the locals.
Colonel Sir George Everest, the first to survey the Everest.
Even Malaysian climbers are also being recorded and documented here.
90 kilogram!
My lunch at the tea house. Dal Bhat..again..
Kicap Pekat Manis ABC, never leave home without it!
We spent our remaining day in Namche shopping and sight-seeing. I had light-headed and nausea due to overdosed of Diamox. I feel much better after vomiting.
