Happy New Year and be safe!

I know it may seem I’m repaving the old pathways up through the Khumbu trek with my review of the villages and sights from last October. Yes, it’s entirely true that I’m passing through all of the same trails in my mind and mentioning a lot of familiar areas and ideas from before, but consider that this is now the time to look back on the experience and draw out deeper impressions of our experiences trekking in Nepal and perhaps to remember it more the way I want to rather than how it really happened. In any case the real benefit is just to make sure I adequately covered all the angles and experiences to bulk out the overall coverage of this blog and to give a complete collection on the topic to keep the search engines fully engaged in this site. If I repeat myself enough times I’ll get the details right and the site crawlers will finally figure out this is a blog about travel in the exotic land of the Ghurka tribes and has nothing to do about alcoholism counseling. I mentioned alcohol in one entry and for a month I was drawing ad slots about booze and interventions and mormon.org. Anyone following me during that time may have wondered why I wrote “Trekking in Nepal! Trekking in Nepal! Trekking in Nepal!...” for days on end. I was sending a subtle message to try to place myself in the travel listings instead of among the 12-step program industry.

Now to follow the logical trail up beyond the bustling bazaar of Namche village, the hike upward to the Shyangboche airstrip, the Everest View Hotel, and to the village of Khumjung. Fortunately we have just spent a day or two resting, acclamating, and fattening up on Sherpa-style German pastries. Remember the hill up to Namche was pretty strenuous; relentlessly steep and ongoing. Welcome to the sequel as you are about to gain another leap of elevation and to wander into a new ecological and cultural realm above Namche. The foliage begins to thin out imperceptibly, you start to see furry yaks instead of the trim hides of dzos. Maybe you’ll see one of the yaks from our group, the black one was named mungi and he likes to lick grass off of the ground. One of the busiest trails between Namche and Khumjung is very steep, rocky, and tiring.

It gives you a fantastic view of the valley, but if you’re hiking even in the early afternoon hours you’ll have to make your ascent only instruments only; the fog rolls in thick by 4 p.m. There is another hike up that is less of an urgent incline, but it’s tricky to find it. You have to swing all the way around to the north end of the village and hike up past the monastery. This path takes you directly through the airstrip above, and you’ll pass a couple of tea houses for a break in the middle. That takes you closer to Kunde, the sister village right next to Khumjung. Taking another much more circuitous (and I mean by hours) it a low route heading to the east up and out of Namche. This follows the winding, convoluted path around the base of the hill and leads around to the east entrance to Khumjung. This path is much less of a strain, but the anticipation of actually arriving anywhere do strain your nerves. Pretty views though for certain, you can share a moment of beauty and chewy grass with Mungi.