Namche Day #2

Saturday March 12, 2011

3:25PM

I awoke to the sound of beating drums and chanting this morning at 6AM. Maybe it wasn’t the most convenient time, but I have certainly heard far more unpleasant alarm clocks. The biggest problem getting out of bed wasn’t the time of day but rather the 34 degrees my thermometer read in my room. After a generous breakfast of oat porridge, sauteed potatoes, a fried egg, mango juice, tea and two fried tibetan bread cakes with honey we managed to plod our way up the remaining hill behind Namche toward Khumjung. Along the way we passed a half dozen or so Japanese tourists who all had matching jackets and pants and covered themselves nearly completely from head to toe.

The view from the top of the ridge was amazing, to say the least, as Everest, Lhotse, Peak 36 and Ama Dablam were all clearly visible. We got an Aussie trekker to take a picture of us with the giants in the background. Then it was down a slippery, mud and snow covered path to Khumjung for lunch.

The hot lemon tea and fried momo’s (a lentil, carrot, potato filled egg roll) weren’t the best I’ve had but certainly did the job. I tried to take a picture of some children playing but they promptly looked up at me and yelled “NO PHOTO”. Among some groups in the Himalaya there is still some belief that taking a photo removes some amount of life from the subject.

From Khunjung we hiked up the valley a short distance to Kunde and paid a visit to the Kunde Hospital. This is our referral center for our Aid Post in Pheriche, unless the patient just needs to be evacuated to Kathmandu by helicopter. Scary to think that I may be referring patients to a 12 bed hospital with outdoor plumbing.

The 2000ft descent back to Namche was a little hard on the knees but far easier on the lungs than the way up. I suspect we’ll spend the remainder of the afternoon and evening drinking tea and eating some variation of lentils and potatoes.