Everest Base Camp 2018 Day 2: Phakding to Namche

Everest Base Camp Trek, Nepal
Monday, 12 November 2018

Elevation: Phakding (2610m) to Namche Bazaar (3440m)
Estimated Distance / Time: 12km / 8hrs


Morning...

Beautiful Morning at Phakding

Breakfast, Honey Ginger Lemon & Tibetan Bread with Omelette

Today was a tough day on EBC Trek as we’re going to climb more than 800m to an altitude of 3,440m. And, our final destination for the day will be Namche Bazaar, the biggest town in the Kumbu Valley. So, day 1 dah easy & short hike, day 2 will be a long trekking. But, the steep climb to Namche Bazaar will only start after crossing the Hillary Suspension bridge. Tapi compare to ABC trek (kalau sesiapa yang dah pernah pergi), EBC trek still ok lagi. Kalau steep pun still tolerable.

It’s an easy uphill hike for the first part of the day.

Beautiful view on the way

We will cross the Khumbu River various times across swing bridges before the final climb to Namche Bazaar. This is the river coming down from the infamous Khumbu Glacier, which streams down the face of Everest. The water is incredibly green & beautiful. 

The first bridge for 2nd day

Khumbu River

Route to Namche

Route to Namche

Route to Namche

Route to Namche

The first sight of Kusum Kanguru

September to November considered as peak season juga kat EBC trek ni, so, memang ramai sangat hikers all over the world sepanjang kami trekking. Ada masa tu rasa macam, apasal lah ramai sangat orang ni. Sampai traffic jam lah. Kadang-kadang terpaksa berhenti kasi laluan sebab malas nak bersesak. Anyway, just enjoy the hike & beautiful view along the EBC trek. 

Now is peak season in EBC Trek

Beautiful view otw to Jorsalle

Route to Namche

Another awesome view of Kusum Kanguru

Route to Tengboche

Route to Namche

Route to Namche

Another checkpost

Another view of Kusum Kanguru

Rimau pun nak trekking

Kami stop sebentar di sini sebab Deepak need to check-in first at this National Park Office

Ramai gila trekkers masa ni, Guide kami terpaksa queue panjang nak tunggu turn... kami tak tunggu Deepak pun sebab dia suruh jalan dulu

We're heading to Namche

Another hanging bridge

Arrived at Jorsalle for Lunch break

Kami order 2 different menus & shared together

Proceed to Tingboche after the Lunch break

Route to Namche

Another Hanging bridge

The incredible Khumbu River

Route along the Khumbu river heading to Hillary Bridge

Kami akan lalu sepanjang Khumbu river ni sehinggalah sampai nampak Hillary bridge

Kami akan lalu jambatan gantung tertinggi di Everest Region which is Hillary Suspension Bridge.. Actually, this bridge was named after the Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer & explorer from New Zealand yang menjadi first person to conquer Mount Everest together with The Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. This bridge quite popular sebab dari bawah boleh nampak macam double bridge. Tapi kami akan cross upper one. The lower one is old one & not use anymore. Nak naik ke sini boleh tahan juga steep. Tengok tinggi pun dah tahu.

Tingginya nak sampai ke atas tu

Hillary bridge view from below, we will cross the upper one, the lower one not use anymore

Steep Ascend to Hillary Bridge

Steep Climb to Hillary bridge

Hillary bridge was named after the Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach Everest together with the Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953

View from top

After crossing Hillary bridge, bermulalah pendakian yang agak steep menuju Namche and it was the hardest part of the climb today. Suffering juga sebab elevation semakin tinggi, udara tipis & sejuk yang hampir paras negatif, membuatkan pernafasan kadang-kala agak sukar. So, at this rate aku memang banyak slowdown kan pace aku and relax. Masa tu Deepak suruh aku jalan dulu sebab dia cakap jauh lagi nak sampai ke situ. Ohh, from Hillary bridge to Namche, no more guesthouse or teahouse on the way tapi ada toilet in between. And this toilet got two options, free and pay. Of course lah yang pay is much better than free. Tapi aku tak sure berapa kena bayar sebab it was locked once I reached there. So, the only option at that time, of course lah yang free. Nasib baik ada buff nak tutup hidung & mulut. And bagi aku still ok lagi compared to other certain guesthouse.

Just nak shared, toilet dekat ABC route is much much better than the EBC route. Aku tak pastilah kenapa macam tu. Kalau dekat guesthouse or teahouse, boleh dikatakan every toilet kat EBC route sebelum sampai Deboche tak provide dengan air. And everytime pun memang kena bawa air botol sendiri, wet or dry tissue. Tiga benda ni memang sangat penting kalau nak trekking kat EBC trek ni. Kebersihan pun agak kurang kat sini. Kadang-kadang tu air dah se tong besar dalam toilet pun, tak boleh nak flush apa yang kau buang, aduh. Inilah antara benda aku tak suka kat EBC trek ni. Ingat package dah mahal dua kali ganda dari ABC lagi better tapi tak dari segi kebersihan toilet.

The beginning of the steep climb to Namche

 

Rest

Masa kami stop for toilet break, kami jumpa dengan satu chinese group from Johor, Malaysia. Berdua je pun and with one guide & porter. Dia orang ni memang kat mana-mana perhentian kami selalu jumpa sampai lah ke EBC. Salah sorang member dia nampak macam dah kritikal sikit sebab kaki dia ada problem & backpack dia pun dah kena guide yang bawa. Still can walk tapi kami tak sure lah sampai mana je boleh bertahan tu. Tapi sampai kat EBC, aku nampak sorang je yang tinggal. Dia siap cakap, inilah sebab kalau tak cukup training. Aku tak jumpa dia dah selepas turun dari EBC.

The only toilet yang available from Hillary Bridge to Namche, ada option pay & free, hehehe

Police Check Post

Peace from this 2 cute little sherpa girl

Pose tahan gatal ni

 

Sherpa Famili

On the way to Namche Bazaar

Aku & Uncle tiba di Namche around 5pm tapi rasa macam dah pukul 8pm. Cepat gelap kat everest trekking region ni. That's why everytime trekking pun, we'll make sure to arrive before 6pm at guesthouse. Bukan sebab nak elak trekking dalam gelap je pun tapi sebab nak elak cuaca sejuk which normally drop during night time. Tempat yang kami nak sampai tu kena jalan jauh lagi. So, aku slow down sikit & banyak stop juga while waiting for Fad yang masih dibelakang. On the way tu kami jumpa banyak juga local people. So, sebab masih awal, kami stop & berbual-bual. Pelik juga apa pasal Fad & Deepak masih tak sampai-sampai lagi ni. Hari dah gelap. Uncle pun ajak aku jalan dulu, kami pun tak pasti laluan mana masa tu tapi kami tanya local people kat situ, katanya just follow route yang kami lalu tu. Rupanya porter kami dah tunggu kat tengah-tengah Namche Bazaar. And Fad dah lama sampai rupanya. Fad & Deepak tak follow route yang aku lalu dengan Uncle. Tapi aku memang notice ada dua route tadi tapi kami lalu bawah. Maybe Fad & Deepak ambil laluan atas nak ke Namche Bazaar.

Tak sempat lagi nak jalan-jalan di Namche Bazaar sebab hari pun dah gelap & penat baru sampai pun masih tak hilang lagi. So, kita plan tomorrow after hike to Everest View Lodge.

Namaste

Having a chit chat with the local people in Namche

Dia orang ni nakal ingat Uncle was my nepali guide

Just arrived at Namche Bazaar

Kami stay di The Nest Namche & kami akan stay 2 hari di sini for acclimatization. Hotel kami terletak kat bawak sekali, so, masa nak turun ok lah tapi nanti nak acclimatize esok, memang menaik sajalah dari bawah. Malam tu aggaran di Namche dalam -2degC and memang sejuk sangat. Tapi kami tidur nyenyak saja. Pagi esok saja dah ada lembu yang tolong kejutkan dalam pukul 4am. Sini tak ada ayam berkokok tapi ada bunyi lembu lah, hahaha.

Egg Noodle Soup for Dinner

Our room at The Nest Namche... luas sangat

Bilik kat Namche kalau bernasib baik dapat plug yang boleh guna, so, memang kami gunakan sebaik mungkin nak charge segala electronic item. Selepas ni, tak tahulah dapat lagi ke tak. Dua hari kat sini memang banyak guna battery, so, save our money not to spend for charging. Ohh, kalau nak hot shower, charge masih murah, npr400. Aku guna untuk hari kedua sebab emergency. Ok lah, kalau orang tak mandi sampai 12 hari trekking kat EBC, aku, at least, mandi jugalah hari kedua, hahaha.

Malam ni tido dengan oink-oink, kalau tak bangun solat subuh ni memang tidur dengan selimut babi lah jawabnya, hahahah

To be continued...