Climb up to Everest View Hotel
Today is a ‘rest day’, we are staying in Namche for another night to help with our acclimatization. So far everyone is feeling great with no headaches or altitude sickness. So on our ‘rest day’ we hiked up another 1300 feet to The Hotel Everest View situated at 12,400 feet in the Sagarmatha National Park and is the highest located hotel in the world and commands a spectacular view of Mt Everest and many other awe-inspiring peaks including the most beautiful mountain on this planet Ama Dablam. Most of the hotel’s clientele arrive by helicopter from Kathmandu for 2or 3 days to enjoy the view of Mt Everest. We hiked straight up along the edge of a mountain with a steep drop off into the valley below. The views looking back to Namche were spectacular the higher up we climbed. You cannot see the hotel until you are almost there. Hidden on a ridge overlooking Mt Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku and Tawoche, the hotel blends gracefully with its surrounding. We sat on the deck of the hotel and ate chips and drank ginger tea while we enjoyed the spectacular view of the mountains.
Exploring Kunde-Home of the Hillary Hospital
On our way to Khumjung village at 13,024feet, we passed by Sir Edmund Hillary’s memorial. After Hillary was the first to summit Mt Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, he established the Himalayan Trust and in 1961 a three-room school house was built in Khumjung with funds raised by the tireless mountaineer. We also visited the Khumjung Monastery which houses a purported Yeti scalp. We followed the stone walls to the Kunde village directly adjacent to Khumjung where we went to see the Kunde Hospital. It was built by Edmund Hillary in 1966 at the request of the Sherpa community. It was the second major project of the Himalayan Trust and now services over 10,000 Sherpas within the Khumbu district.
Return to Namche Bazaar
We returned to Namche down a different steep trail with spectacular views of Namche from another direction. We ate lunch at the Cafe de’ 8848 as we watched a film of the Swiss expedition on Mt Everest in 2009. Then back to the Hotel Namche where we rested and went shopping one last time and spent the remainder of the evening in the dining room playing cards and eating.
