You mess with the Yak - 16 October 2008

We spent last night in Namche, home of the Namche bazaar.  Every Saturday traders congregate here to sell goods.  Unfortunately we're not going to be here on a Saturday, but it's still an impressive town given the remote location.  Candy bars and soft drinks are cheaper here than they were along the way, since this is a staging center for folks climbing Everest.

I did see a Mountain Hardware fleece sporting a Shaq tag, though, so caveat emptor.

Because of the altitude we'll actually spend the night here, and just do a day hike to help with our acclimatization.  We hiked up to the Everest View Hotel, which is beautiful, especially compared to our accommodation.  Here's an attempt to be artistic, by capturing the view from the hotel in its windows:

I toyed with the idea of trying to spend the night up here, but in 2002 it cost $200/night.  Our rooms, in contrast, cost about $6/night - so I'll keep the extra cash, thanks.

The balcony was a crowded mess when we got there - people trying to take in the views without paying the cost of staying there (like us).  There was a group of Brits and one of them had a heart monitor.  They were amusing themselves by doing star-jumps (that's jumping jacks to you and me) and seeing how it changed their heart rate.  Thankfully no one collapsed.

We got our first good views of Everest today, but since it will feature prominently later on I'm going to hold on to those.  Instead I offer up Ama Dablaum which is more striking in profile:

Its name means "Mother" something (no rude comments, please).  I've heard it described as resembling a thumb, and the guide books say that it's named after a turquoise necklace traditionally worn by mothers in Nepal.  I think it's the prettiest mountain I've ever seen.

Later we trekked back to Namche:

When we got there we found that one of the MT Sobek campers had either broken or sprained her ankle during their day trek.  It ended her trip, but she was lucky that it happened near Namche - they were able to helicopter her out.  If it happened at one of the intermediate towns she would either have been carried by a porter or have to ride on a horse (for at least a day) until a helipad was reached.  Another reminder of how fragile we are.

Speaking of which, we also heard that a French tourist was gored by a yak last night and also had to be helicoptered out.  The yaks made us nervous before this news, but now we're especially wary of them.  Our guide, Hira, told us that 6-7 years ago a guide was actually killed by a yak.

Now we're downright terrified of them.