Namche Bazaar Acclimatization

Christmas Day!!!!! Namche Bazaar was the location of our first acclimatization day. This meant we got to sleep here for two nights. This is a great thing not having to pack up all you junk. We started the day by skyping our families back home. We are a little over 12 hours ahead of Utah folks. When I skyped in my siblings were all gathered for Christmas Eve. I am not going to lie this made me a little homesick. Christmas is so magical with children and I was so sad to be missing it. I didn't talk to long because we needed to eat and hike.

Namche is 11, 154 ft. We had to hike up to the Everest View Hotel which was at 13,000 ft. We were following the principal to hike high (in elevation) and sleep low. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had light packs, perfect hiking conditions. These acclimatization hikes are pretty much straight up a mountain. They are steep and tiring. We got hot fast as we went straight up. We also saw our first Yaks! Also we learned that a female Yak is actually called a Nak, who knew????

This was just as we were heading out for our hike. That long fur is so crazy.

 Once we got up on the mountain there was a herd grazing so we saw a few more. Why is it so fascinating to see animals you have never seen before? They really are amazing creatures.

 We literally hiked straight up a mountain so we took lots of rests.

 The mountains in the background and the prayers flags all make for such a scenic view. Seriously when I thought of Nepal before this trip i thought of prayer flags. Let me tell you they are everywhere.

 We were resting just a little ways above Namche Bazaar. It was funny to look down and see the school. I was able to watch what I assume was a PE class from way up above. They were playing soccer on a dirt field. The thing that struck me was they were playing music for the kids and every song they played is on my playlist for my students. We live in very different countries very far away from each other but the music kids like is the same in both countries. Really cool to see that.

While we rested we took some group photos.

I also wanted a picture of me with our guide (Chheshang) and porters (sherpas).

Once we took some pictures we continues up. We were excited to get our first good views of Mt. Everest! The view did not dissapoint. Everest is the first peak to the right of the black peak. Then there is Lhotse another peak that is over 8,000 meters. And then Ama Dablam, which is such an impressive peak.

Cyndee and I took a jumping picture.

We continued to the Everest hotel and then our whole team took a jumping picture!

And then Me, Cyndee, Vincent, Chhesang, and our sherpas took a jumping picture:)

 The view from the back balcony of the Everest Hotel. Not too bad!

 The way back was super easy. All down hill. No breaks needed. Just a small pause to point at that Everest Base Camp is on the sign.

We got back to our hotel in time for lunch and had some time to go check out Namche Bazaar. Namche is the last bigger city on the trek. It is your last chance to withdraw money and last chance to buy clothing supplies for the trek. This means that there are tons of little shops. The entire city is built on a huge hill and it is filled with shops for tourists.

Don't worry the Mule trains come right through the city.

 They also have a stupa to worship and the round things to spin to have your sins forgiven.

 For every sin you commit you are supposed to make these spinners go around one time.

 The lotus is very important and symbolic to the Nepal people and the Buddha religion.

 They also have a tribute to Pasang Llaum Sherpa, the first Nepalese women to hike Everest. She unfortunately died on her way down because they got stuck in bad weather.

The views in Namche were amazing.

 Prayer flags. Each color stands for an element of the earth: blue represents sky and space, white represents the air and the wind, red represents fire, green represents water and yellow represents the earth. They always look very cool!

 The sun goes down early in the mountains because the mountains block it. The weather turns very chilly when that happens.

We headed back to our freezing hotel before dark. We ate dinner and tried to hang out but it was just so cold. This is how I ended up pretty early in the evening.