The first photo is our view of Everest during our day hike in Namche from the other day.  Everest is the mountain closest to the left side of Brian’s head.

Day 4: Our destination was Thame at 12,500ft, so we gained approximately 1,200ft in elevation.  It was a relatively easy hike which was good because I started to get a head cold/sinus infection likely due to all the dust and dirt.  We have all been wearing buffs or surgical masks to cover our noses and mouths while hiking to prevent this kind of thing from happening, but it still got me.  They say it is not a matter of if, but when you get sick on this climb.  I guess my time is now.

Prior to departing Namche, the owners of the Panorama gave each member of our team a Khada, the white scarves you see us wearing in the photos.  It is meant to be for good luck.  One of our rest breaks along the way was in Thamo at Lakpa’s cousin’s wife’s home, and just across the path was Lakpa’s aunt’s home.  They both gave us Khada before we continued on our trek to Thame.  They were very sweet women.  Along most of the trekking path so far we have encountered many prayer wheels – we learned they must always be spun clockwise.  Once we arrived in Thame, we had lunch and then headed up to see the monastery.  There were no ceremonies being conducted while we were there, but we were able to take a quick tour inside.

Day 5: Thame was a detour off the normal EBC trek so we actually had to backtrack a little to return to the main trail.  Before we began our trek for the day, we stopped by Lakpa’s parent’s home to visit for a while and have some tea.  We were all excited to meet the parents of one of the most famous climbing Sherpa.  There were photos everywhere and all kinds of other interesting pieces of Lakpa’s history of growing up in Thame.  Lakpa literally had to walk uphill both ways to get to school and back home every day.  It took him three hours each way.  His parents also gave us Khada for luck before we left.

We headed to Khumjung which is very close in elevation to Thame.  However, there are no real flat areas on this trail.  It is mostly up and down the whole way.  Since we backtracked, we passed through Thamo again, but this time we took our rest break at Lakpa’s aunt’s home.  She gave us each Sundi which is a little ribbon that has been blessed.  You wear it…also for luck.

I have to say I really like how these rest breaks work on this trail.  You trek for about an hour and then you stop at a tea house (there are many and they all look very similar) to drink some tea for a while.  Then you get back on the trail and repeat this methodology all the way to your target destination for the day.  Pretty fancy.

Day 6: Deboche was our next stop at 12,600ft.  Again, very similar in elevation to Khumjung and Thame but we had to drop a good 1,600ft all the way down to a river and then back up another 1,700ft to reach Deboche.  After we had lunch at our lodge in Deboche (Rivendell Lodge), we hiked back up a short way to the village of Tengboche to watch a monk perform a ceremony inside one of the oldest monasteries in Nepal.  Our guide, Ben, also arranged for a Lama to conduct a Puja ceremony for us where a monk gave us Khada and Sundi blessed by the Lama.  It was a fascinating ceremony and I felt full of blessings when it was done.  Unfortunately there are no photos of the ceremony because you cannot take photos in the monastery.  We will have another Puja ceremony at EBC so I’ll try to get some photos then.

We stayed in Deboche just for one night.  I was able to take another shower at the lodge (yea!).  The water was super-hot and it felt awesome.  It’s the little things that make me happy.

Day 7: Today we trekked to Pheriche at 14,300ft so we gained some elevation.  We got some great views of Ama Dablam on our trek in.  It is a really beautiful mountain.  I can tell I am at elevation, but feeling good overall.  Now if I could just get rid of this cold…

We had lunch here at the Himalayan Hotel and now everyone is back in their rooms or here in the dining room (like me) relaxing for the rest of the day.  The rooms in all these lodges are pretty cold so it is actually more comfortable to hang out in the dining room until it is time for bed.  It has started snowing here in Pheriche but they say it won’t last long.  We are staying in Pheriche for two nights so tomorrow we are going on a short acclimatization hike.  Pheriche has great Wi-Fi so I am taking advantage of this opportunity to get you all updated.  Just in case I can’t get connectivity at the next village, I wanted to let you all know our itinerary: The day after tomorrow we will trek to Lobuche at 16,200ft where we will also stay for two nights.  Lobuche is our last village before we reach EBC on April 10th.  I think everyone is anxious to get to EBC and settle into our home away from home for the next month and a half.