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| Over-all, the trail is really quite good, stepped in many places; it has been used for centuries and even now is the main route of supply for the Khumbu, tread by trekkers and tourists, but also by villagers and hundreds of porters, yaks, zopkios, and even a few horses; there is no wheeled travel, however; the only wheels you see after Namche Bazaar are prayer wheels |
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| And much of it is lined with culture; Mingma, our Sherpa guide, had excellent English, kept us safe and well- informed, and answered all our many questions about the land, its people, religions, customs, history, flora, fauna, and much more |
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| Back finally in Namche Bazaar, in time for its weekly market |
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| Why you don't want to order yak or beef above Namche... |
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| And why you don't want to fly in to Namche; the place is a graveyard of aircraft, including this Russian helicopter, in which a couple dozen people died |
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| And then there is the on-going Tibetan market, goods hauled over the Nangpa La, the route to Tibet, with a 21,000 foot pass; Chinese customs folk evidently look the other way (or are avoided) and the prices are pretty good (we surmised) |
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| A trader's tent in the Tibetan market; note solar panel |
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| So after a few days' rest in Namche, at the Hotel Norling (a guest-house), warmth, hot showers (our first in weeks), some better food, and even some beer, we continued on to Lukla and the flight back to Kat |
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| Khanza, our porter; we hope we treated him with dignity and generosity |
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| Vicki and Mingma at the Lukla airport, Vicki sporting her trophy Everest pashmina |
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| We flew out stand-by and had a few hours' opportunity to observe landings and take-offs and bolster our confidence |
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| Typically terraced terrain between Lukla and Kathmandu |
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| And so there we are, back in the comfort of the Gokarna Forest Sheraton, outside Kat, tired, hurting, but pleased and proud of doing our Everest trek |
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