Namche  -  Acclimatisation  Day -  October 29th 1999

Slept well but awoke feeling light headed with a slight headache - altitude or heat exhaustion I guess.

Felt better after breakfast, walked up out of the Namche bowl towards the National Park headquarters. Passed the Edmund Hillary School and museum on the way to the viewpoint - a flat hilltop with 360 degree views including up valley to Ama Dablam and the Everest massif with Lhotse, Nuptse and Everest itself looming above the others. With binoculars we could make out two climbers on Ama Dablam. Cameras were very busy. Our Nepalese sirdar can up with us and was given all the cameras whilst 18 of us stood together for a group picture with Everest et al as the backdrop. Went into the Sherpa Museum (50Rp) where there are lots of artefacts.

Back down towards Namche, stopped off at the Everest Museum where there are lots of press cuttings displayed along with large photographs of successful expedition sherpas. There is also a Sherpa Museum here depicting the Sherpa way of life.

Our sirdar had promised to help two of us purchase carpets from the Tibetan market that we had passed on our way into Namche the previous day. The Tibetans come over a 23,000' pass down to Namche to sell their wares. Tourists were interested in the carpets but most of the items were for local people, brightly coloured clothing made in China, yes I do know Tibet is unfortunately part of China now. Anyway after a hectic bout of haggling, 4 beautiful 36"x28" carpets we purchased from one dealer for 8100Rp, around 20 U.K. pounds each, more weight to carry back but worth every ounce.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around chatting with some trepidation on what is to come. How hot ? How cold ? How tiring? How dangerous?

Namche is a bustling village, a bottleneck for trekkers before they branch out towards their goals. The many bars and restaurants are alive with people from all over the world exchanging experiences.If you like discos, pool tables, launderettes, e-mail, telephones, hot showers, tasty western food, electric lighting, etc then make the most of it here. If you are like me then you will be glad to get through Namche, I did buy a few Snickers bars as emergency rations though ......