How do you do justice to God’s pristine beauty. We woke up to splendor all around us. It was beautiful and ever-changing, with fog and cloud constantly moving in and out. 

Our destination was Dengboche, situated at 14,465 ft. We walked through the lush forest for the last time, as we were going to go beyond the timberline. 

Today was typical of the last two days. We hiked numerous ups and downs all morning, crossing rivers over suspension bridges. After lunch we were mostly climbing. 

Note: None of our cellular service works here, so posting all our beautiful pictures will not be possible. Since I was able to buy some data, I will post only a few pictures over the next few posts, as I am not sure how many I can post!

P.S. Today was an acclimatization day, so we climbed up to 15,200 ft and are now back down to 14,465 ft.  Tomorrow we hike to over 16,000 ft. 

After three days of mist, drizzle, and rain, this morning we woke up with some sunshine mixed with fog and cloud. 

Where we could not see any peaks previously, all of the sudden, the view was surreal!

But of course the views only lasted  a full ten minutes before they vanished.  We began our trek at 8 am, climbing straight up for about 30 minutes. After that we climbed along a ridge while the sun and clouds played their dance. Our first views of AMA Dablam and Lotsi were breathtaking!

We could see the two suspension bridges crossing the Dudh Koshi river, the top one of which we had crossed two days ago on our way to Namche Bazar. This time, of course, we were way above them. 

We ended up going back down to a  village by the river for lunch, a climb straight down for an hour. After crossing another suspension bridge we had our lunch. 

After lunch, it was a straight climb up for 2 1/2 agonizing hours.  We are settled in Tenboche which is close to 13,000 feet high. Weather is a bit chilly here. We just spent 1 1/2 hours in the monastery listening to the monks chant. 

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Today we were to stay in Namche Bazar and climb 1200 feet to the Everest View Hotel to finally get a glimpse of Mount Everest. Alas, it was foggy so no view of Everest yet, but great flowers nonetheless!

Phakding to Namche Bazaar hike is considered the toughest day of the EBC trek by many. First half is a constant up and down along the Dudh Koshi (milk river). The second half after lunch is a straight climb for over 3 hours. Murder!

The 13 km distance combined with over a 3000-foot elevation gain will be the most strenuous combination in this Trek. Happy to have that under our belt.  The views speak for themselves. Shangri-La is all I could think of. 

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Last two days there were no flights to Lukla, but we were fortunate to get our flight in time today.

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We had a nice hike from Lukla to Phakding, our destination for today. 

Our first suspension bridge. 

We had our welcome dinner last night and a chance to meet our group of 21 brave souls that will be part of this trek. I have a feeling that by the end of the trip we would know each other quite well. 

Here is an excerpt from our organizer, Advanced Adventures, about this trek. 

“There is nothing like stepping onto that first suspension bridge, that first glimpse of Mt Everest on the climb up to Namche Bazaar or listening to the early morning chants of the monks at Tengboche Monastery (at a mere 12,694 feet). The Everest Base Camp Trek really is the trek of a lifetime and has a well-earned place on most people’s bucket list of travels. It includes the famed early morning hike to Kala Patthar (18,188 feet) where one can watch the sun rise over the west and south face of Everest and get a bird’s eye view of climbers en route to the summit.”

Enough said, I am excited and can’t wait ’til our flight at 6:15 AM tomorrow to Lukla.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from sightseeing around Kathmandu, Bhaktipur, and Nagarkot.

Pakhora is the second largest city in Nepal. It is a beautiful drive, but unfortunately road conditions detract your attention from the prestine beauty around you. 

We stopped for a nice lunch at the hill town resort of Bandipur. 

We arrived late in the afternoon in Pakhora valley in the lake Fewa neighborhood. On a clear day the whole Anapurna range is visible from Pakhora mountains. 

In the morning we were up at 3:30 to visit Sarangkoth Peak to view the sunrise over the Pakhora valley and the Annapurna range. Anapurna is the ninth tallest Peak in the world and Pakhora is the launching pad for all the treks to ABC (Anapurna Base Camp). 

Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy that morning but we still had some fabulous views!

After breakfast we went to the Mountain museum and Devi’s Fall. 

In the early afternoon we visited the   World Peace Pagoda, an absolutely peaceful and serene mountain structure. 

We capped the day with another walk by the beautiful Fewa lake. 

A truck stop scene along the drive. A part of real life and real Nepal. 

This year’s adventure has brought us to Nepal. We (Pat, my lovely wife and life companion; Sakkar, my courageous sister – whose idea this was; and two friends, Vandana and Carol) are here to trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC).  The trek is not very long but requires us to climb from Lukla (elevation ~ 9,500 ft) to EBC (elevation ~ 18,500 ft).

We will begin our trek on September 2, 2017.  We will fly from Kathmandu to Lukla and then begin our 11 day trek.  We landed in Kathmandu a couple of days ago so we could enjoy beautiful and prestine Nepal. 

The last few days we have spent in Chitwan National Forest. We drove down from Kathmandu along the river. The road was very badly damaged due to heavy rains and mountain slides but the views were gorgeous.

We visited a local tribal village along the river to enjoy the sunset. 

This morning we went down the river in an old fashioned canoe carved out of a tree. In the afternoon it was a trip in the forest sitting on an elephant and observing spotted deer.