Khumbu Region AKA Mt. Everest!

I have taken a bit of a hiatus since we spent most of the spring packing our house for our worldwide moving adventure. We are now settled and I wanted to get this adventure written down! We were able to spend some of our last days in Nepal visiting the places we have always wanted to visit and with the people we love.

So, we did it! We finally made it to the Khumbu region of Nepal. This is definitely one of the most popular places in Nepal, it is the home of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. I have hesitated going here since you have to take a scary plane ride to get there. We are closing out 3 years of living in Nepal and if anyone 1) knows where Nepal is then 2) they ask about Everest. It is the world's most famous mountain and is kinda in our backyard, I knew we should try to go. This region is a bit of a trek to get to and not as accessible as other areas. It also has one of the world's most famous airports, Lukla! We spent about 10 days trekking, heading to Everest Base Camp and back and made memories along the way. We ended up taking a helicopter up and a plane back.

Our first day was a pretty easy, short walk and nice hike. Since you fly up to 2,860 m, you start descending on the first day. We spent the day in Phadking and felt good. We knew the second day would be challenging so we got a good rest in Phadking. it is a great city to start at and we were able to enjoy our first day in the mountians.

Our second day was from Phadking to Namache Bazaar. This day is a good climb and over a crazy high suspension bridge (which are not my favorite!). The kids did great and we passed a couple hikers that were having problems with the altitude. It is a good reminder to always hike with a friend/guide and to drink lots of water. We carry an O2 sensor and check our Oxygen rates as we climb. We also make sure to drink lots of water and stay hydrated! We ended up staying at Nirvana Home in Namache Bazaar. It was very comfortable. It is a friend of a friend's hotel and a great place to stay! Tshering's father (he is the owner of the hotel) was on the original expedition that Hillary and Tenzing made when they summited Mt. Everest for the first time. He is the only surviving member of the group now and many people come to meet him.

There is a great monument to the expedition in Namache. The statue there is Tenzing and he is holding his axe under Everest(which is known locally as Sagarmatha). We had a rest day here and went to see the statue. 

When we trek in the Himalayas we try to get an early start so that we can relax in the afternoon and miss any possible storms. We woke up and headed to Tengboche. I was not anticipating it to be a hard day, but man, it was harder than I expected. It was only 430 meters higher than Namache, but the trouble is you go down about 400 meters and then head back up. So you actually are climbing a lot more elevation! Whew. The kids did well and we tried to find a point on the trail and then walk until that point, stop, and rest and do it again. We arrived in Tengboche and it was quite cold. We were not able to find a place with 2 rooms, so we settled on one room with a large bed. For one night we slept all five in one bed. We were so cold we kept each other warm! Again, we had someone who had to be airlifted out of the town because of altitude sickness. Altitude sickness is no joke, but luckily there are helicopter pads along the way if an emergency comes up. We woke up to SNOW! We were all so excited, but especially the kids. It was beautiful, but this is where the kids and I and Jeff parted. Jeff headed up towards EBC, and we headed back to Namache. We both took a porter with us so that we were not alone.

Jeff continued up and he climbed Kalapathar for great views of the sun rising with Mt. Everest in the background. We stayed in Namache Bazaar and Jeff met up with us there. Below are his pictures which was a winter wonderland and so cold!! The pictures are beautiful and stunning in person.

We headed back down and I think the kids were done! They will enjoy looking back at what they saw, but this was a ton of work for us! If you have read this far, then kuddos to you!