Asia Adventure 2012: Namche Bazar to Lukla

Greg captured a great shot of the full moon over Namche Bazar last night. So it must mean tomorrow will be a clear day.

With a bit of time to digest breakfast, my tummy tolerated the trekking quite well this morning. I certainly felt a lot more energetic. Of course, starting off with a lengthy descent probably helped as well. We took some more pictures of Everest at the second view point, just in case the different positioning of the sun may provide a better/different shot. Although we were descending, the view was still amazing from that perspective. And since we’d been trekking up, the rhododendrons had bloomed at the lower altitude.

We had lunch at the same restaurant in Phakding (Kalapathar Lodge and Restaurant). It was much quieter today without a dogfight to liven things up. Although there were some trekkers that had to bee-line it off path when a wayward pony gave his master a difficult time, stubbornly refusing to go in the direction demanded.

The remainder of our trek back to Lukla was uneventful, except when a fox or wolf suddenly came round a bend on the trail, took one look at us and exited stage right as fast as he could. It was a rather large animal with a head shaped more like a dog than the typical narrow tapered head of a fox. So fox or wolf? Whew knew?

We stayed at a 3^rd location of Everest Summit Lodges in Lukla. Located literally steps from the airport, it was in a very convenient location. I just love the service and gourmet-style meals at these hotels, not to mention the in-room heater, heated mattress, and gas-powered hot water. I can honestly say for the first time during this trek, I was way too hot. We celebrated a successful trek with a Himalayan punch; rum, fruit juice honey and hot water. Yummy.