Subject: One step at a time...
Posted by Rob on 07 April 2005 7:00 GMT+1 11:45 NST
Hi from Namche Bazar at 11,000 ft in the Himalayas. We have done the first two days of our walk in and are having a rest day. The flight over was fine and I didn't have to pay any excess baggage (cheer). We only spent an afternoon in Kathmandu, long enough to repack our bags, organise the bags to go direct to base camp and have dinner. We were up at 5 am the next morning (read midnight UK time!) for the flight to Lukla. The mountains are very spectacular and rise right up from the plains. A solid landing on the steep uphill runway and we were in the mountains!
We spent 6 hours the first day walking to Jorsalle, just inside the national park. We went up and down a lot, but didn't gain any height! A good night sleeping at 2800m, helped by having had endless stops for cups of tea on the walk in. On 6 April we had a short walk up the valley to an impressive suspension bridge and then a steep slog up the 600m hill to Namche. We got a great view of Everest from part way up. It looks a long way away, and it is hard to believe we will walk all that way! But we have another week just to get to it. It is also odd to think that we have to go higher than all the mountains we see here. But one step at a time.
So far I’m feeling very good and eating well. Endless cups of tea of course. This morning we walked up top see Ama Dablam, very impressive! - and another great view of Everest. I also met the rest of the team last night - a very good natured lot.
Tomorrow we start moving up towards base camp, but it is still a week away. I might not be able to send an update until I get there, which should be about 13 April. What a great place to be!
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