Return to Namche
After Tengboche the trail went, you guessed it, down and up again to cross the Dudh Kosi on the way to Khumjung and the “No Name Lodge” where we stayed previously. We came bearing the name “Danfe” to bestow on it. To our horror we found a new menu bore the commonplace name, “Namaste Lodge and Restaurant”. We explained to the owner, also named Chhongba and the bother of Sonam one of our sherpas, the marketing logic of having a unique name rather that a name used by many other lodges in Solukhumbu. We sold him on “our” name.
The next day was magical. A beautiful hike with the two Chhongbas up to the very plush Hotel Everest View, a walk to Shyangboche Airport this time approaching it from above, a dramatic decent into Namche, and the first real shower since one at the same Khumbu Lodge in Namche 11 days earlier.
Chhongba continues as a chef at the Hotel Everest View, at least until his new lodge is firmly established, so he was able to get us a deluxe tour of this Japanese-owned hotel where rooms start at $260/night (compared with a more typical $10-20/night at many Khumbu lodges). The Guinness Book of Records lists the Everest View as the highest hotel in the world, although there are clearly lodges, some of which we stayed at, at higher elevations. The rooms have bathtubs, but the only water source for the hotel is water carried up by porters from the villages below. I am told this is intentional to provide work for the locals. Here is the view from the roof of the Hotel Everest View. One can find Phortse in the distance where we stayed over a week before. Also seen are Khumbila (the sacred mountain that no one is allowed to climb), Thamserku and Kangtega together, Ama Dablam, and, of course, Mount Everest.
After tea on the patio of the Everest View and a lengthy tour we took the short hike to the Shyangboche Panorama Hotel. The major peaks from left to right in the image below are: Khumbi Yul Lha (Khumbila) the sacred mountain, Cholatse, Tawoche, Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Khangtega (the saddle), Thamserku, and Kusum Khangru. Finally you can see the Dudh Kosi Valley which we will hike tomorrow.
The trail down to the Shyangboche Airport gave us this view which included a plane under repair.
We approached the plane that had crashed a few days earlier during takeoff. Can you find the damaged parts of the airplane? The dirt and stone runway is less than smooth and apparently a wheel caught a hole and the plane spun and tipped. No one was badly injured. I did not see the “no photography” sign until it was too late, but honestly it might not have mattered anyway.
From the airport our hike down to Namche was spectacular. We could see spread out below us some of the spots we visited 11 days earlier. You can explore this pan and see: the helipad; the Sherwi Khangba Sherpa Culture Museum run by local photographer Lakpa Sonam below a chorten with mani stones and the Mount Everest Documentaiton Center with displays of photos of all the Sherpa Everest summiteers; the Sagarmatha National Park Visitor Center with a museum is to bottom right; the school at Namche; and finally the Tibetan Market.
- Kathmandu