Phakding

Woke feeling fresh and refreshed after a wonderful 11 hours sleep! A hearty breakfast of apple pancakes. I nipped out to grab some water and made a little friend blowing some bubbles.

We knew today was going to be a long day in the saddle as we headed up to the main jumping off point for expeditions, Namche Bazar. We had 800m of altitude to gain, but knew there were would be a fair amount of down to make it that much tougher.

It started easy enough winding along a river valley, and over some long, wobbly suspension bridges. Then after lunch we entered the National Park and started the real climbing. It was a beautiful trail though the pine forests, with enforced rests when a procession of mules or yaks comes around the corner.

No real impact from the altitude yet, so although it was a long walk it wasn't any tougher than a lot of things we've done before. We got into town, enjoyed some hot showers. We mooched around town, found a famous Nepali German bakery and treated ourselves. On the way back to the lodge we saw a wonderful alpenglow over an impressive peak, although we were disappointed to find out it was only a measly 6,255m!Read more