Day 9. Phortse to Namche Bazaar.
Both of us woke up with cracked, chapped lips. Chris seemed to have caught a cold.
The dining room was freezing. Our hosts didn’t bother to light the stove that morning, so we huddled in our down jackets and warmed our hands on cups of tea.
The trail back to Namche took us through town back to the forest we’d briefly explored yesterday and then down to the river.
We crossed on a low bridge, passed the town of Phortse Tenga, and then climbed back up level with Phortse and higher still.
When we reached the top, we stopped for tea at the View Point Guest House in Mong La.
The trail from Mong La back to Kyangjuma is charming, open and wild and with a great view down to the many helicopters following the river up the valley. This trail is higher and narrower than the main trail to Tengboche but gives a much more “mountain” vibe.
We had lunch at Tashi’s place in Kyangjungma, the Ama Dablam Lodge & Restaurant. Mila Dai, who was of course way ahead of us, had stopped in to order yak burgers for us.
The walk from there to Namche seemed easy. It was more down than up, and all that acclimatization at higher altitudes must have been making a difference because the walking stopped being difficult. Bala was in a bit of a rush too, eager to get home and get a bit of a break. We did that last stretch in under 90 minutes.
The Mountain Lodge put us in our former room’s twin on the opposite side of the hotel. It felt like coming home, except this time the electricity worked!
This room had a view of the entrance to the school. It was charming to see the kids playing at recess; they all seemed happy to be there, and happy to head home when school let out. After the kids left, several local cows wander into the gate to hang out in the school yard.
We were on our own for dinner. Bala ate with Mila at his house. Without his constant supervision, we felt free to drink TWO rum punches (they are not very strong….) and to display loss of appetite if we so desired!