Day 3 Part 1: Namche Bazaar to Syangboche – Everest Base Camp + Video
Everest Base Camp (5,600m)
Khumbu Glacier, Nepal
April – May 2016
Namche Bazaar to Syangboche
We stayed an extra day at Namche for our acclimatization right up to Syangboche’s highest point (3,841m) which granted us a clearer view of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. The trek took us approximately 2 hours, but we stopped by at few locations such as Syangboche’s airstrip, and some of the resorts up there to have a cup of tea. We were lucky enough to encounter an army helicopter that landed to collect supplies and fortunately managed to record the whole event.
Syangboche, one of the most lovely and enchanting places throughout the world, lies at the lap of Khumbila and on the top of Namche Bazaar. This place can be reached by one hour’s helicopter and Pilatus Porter plane flight from Kathmandu, an hour’s walk from Namche Bazaar, three hours walk from Thame, 30 minutes walk from Khumjung, 30 minutes walk from Khunde and four hours walk from Tyangboche.
– everestresort.com
– everestresort.com
Leaving Namche Bazaar for Syangboche.
Photo by John Teh
We started our Syangboche acclimatization around half past 10 in the morning after our breakfast. Using the similar route we explored the day before, we aimed to gain close to 400m of elevation by the end of the hike. On the next post, I’ll show you a photo taken at the top of Syangboche, giving you a glance of how “small” Namche got and a rough idea what approximately 400m of elevation can influence the size of an object.
Going up – not sure if this can be considered as a Stupa.
Photo by John Teh
Not sure about the rest, but I started to slow down a lot at this juncture. Besides fitness level, the altitude has definitely started to take its toll on my body. You’ll notice that both of them were mostly ahead of me most of the time. Fortunately we had the whole day for this, so I took it easy, one step at a time.
This is probably 2/3 of the way and the view has never failed us.
Photo by John Teh
The landscape did carry a unique sense of volume and mass. The only sense that could comprehend and handle such elegance were our vision. As our sight digested this enormous and vast region, it calmed our other body parts from any further indulgence. The beauty of such view created a conflicting idea where objects did appear closer than they were. In fact anything we saw beyond our view could easily require weeks or months to reach. A truly humbling experience.
It was too easy for Nabin – so he spent quite a bit of time waiting for us, especially me.
Photos by John Teh
Syangboche is also a distinctive location within this region as it hosts an airstrip / airport. Helicopter and Pilatus Porter Flight services operate regularly to and from this place. Having said that, to our greatest pleasure, we manage to catch the arrival of an army helicopter, at our best assumption, landed at this area to collect supplies for their task at hand. You may find the video of this event at the bottom of this post.
The airport was constructed in 1971 by a team lead by Takashi Miyahara and was opened with a test flight by Royal Nepal Airlines on June 1, 1973. It was built to serve Hotel Everest View, the then highest placed hotel in the world.
– Wikipedia
After this point, we soldiered ahead to reach our destination. It was definitely a slow uphill task for me, but the view and weather helped me to push on.
Witnessed a live army helicopter landing.
Photos by John Teh
At the “highest point”, we were blessed with an establishment (Everest Sherpa Resort) which got us one of the best hot cup of tea, ever. Nepalese brewed tea with a billion dollar view. Nothing beats sitting down here with an empty mind, sipping a hot cup of tea, talking to buddies about everything and anything on Everest. Obviously I couldn’t sit long, as I had to move around, searching for the best angle to capture this previous moment.
Taking a short break at Everest Sherpa Resort.
Photos by John Teh
We reached the top around somewhere close to noon and left around 40 minutes later, back to Namche. A good thing about acclimatization is that the going down part is much easier than the going up part. So it was a very chilling, nice slow-paced descent, enjoying the view facing at the opposite direction. One of the most symbolic period of this part was being able to view the whole Namche and other neighboring towns at a greatly reduced size. It’s basically a 3D map view of Google Earth, zoomed out – but in real time.
As usual, to get more of the recorded footage during this round of trip, feel free to view it from the video below. The main highlight probably be the arrival and landing of the helicopter.
Day 3 Part 1 – Namche Bazaar to Syangboche
Everest Base Camp – Visit my Youtube Channel for more videos.
This post / video is a part of a 21-part series, covering everything from:-
- Day 1 (Kathmandu to Lukla)
- Day 1 (Lukla to Phakding)
- Day 2 (Phakding to Namche Bazaar)
- Day 2 (Namche Bazaar)
- Day 3 (Syangboche Acclimatization)
- Day 3 (Back to Namche Bazaar, dropping by at Sagarmatha National Park)
- Day 4 (Namche Bazaar to Tengboche)
- Day 5 (Tengboche - Dinboche)
- Day 6 (Dingboche & Nangkartshang - Acclimatization)
- Day 6 (Getting down from Nangkartshang & Snow)
- Day 7 (Dingboche to Lobuche)
- Day 7 (A Heart-Wrenching Stop at Thukla Pass and Scott Fischer’s Memorial)
- Day 8 (Lobuche to Gorak Shep)
- Day 8 (Kalla Phatthar Acclimatization)
- Day 9 (Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp)
- Day 9, 10 & 11 (Gorak Shep to Pheriche, Namche Bazaar and Phakding)
- Day 12 (Phakding to Lukla)
- Day 12 (Flying back to Kathmandu from Lukla Airport)
- Day 13 (Kathmandu - Swayambhunath Buddhist Temple)
- Day 14 (Kathmandu City Adventure)
- Journey to the Roof of the World: A Trekker's Final Post and Summary of the Epic Everest Base Camp Trek
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