Hi MC
I have sent mail to my web master and hope he will have photographs up soon...keep checking!
If you like the way I described Kathmandu, wait for Namche!
I arrived on Monday in Lukla and met up with a young Japanese trekker. We were strong and managed to get to Monjo in 3:07 of walking time...My Forerunner GPS measured 12.6 kilometers so I've called it 13! I think a young, healthy trekker could easily do Namche in a day but am not advising this!
Next day we did the roughly 5 kilometers in 1:50 and were in Namche in time for morning tea.
As we had time on our hands and were feeling fresh we decided to walk up to Everest View Hotel for afternon tea...this is 3880 meters and a very easy walk up via the airstrip.
Today was a big day to Thame and Thame Monastery at 4000 meters... the round trip was 19 kilometers and again , for a fit trekker, a worthwhile day! The highlight was lunch at Everest Summiteers Lodge owned by Apa Sherpa who has the record for 16 Everest Summits...his brother Nawang Sherpa prepared lunch
Namche Bazar is wonderful with 40 lodges that are very clean and welcoming. The village, as you know, nestles against the mountain and is very colourful. The shops all sell the necessaries and if you have left something behind, you can get it here. The food in the lodges is of a very high standard and varied...we are having steak, egg and fries for dinner tonight along with a cold Budweiser! And all for less than $US 10.00
There are many Internet Cafe's so communications good. There are also a number of very fine bakeries serving up wonderful pastries and coffee!
I will be posting a full report of this acclimatisation phase of my trip once back in Kathmandu on the weekend!
Stay well
Bruce