Day 5 (31/Mar/2026): Phakding (2610m) - Namche Baazar (3440m)
Memories from our trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC)
Typical day would be wake-up at 5:30am, breakfast at 6:30am, get our bottles filled with water for the trek, take Diamox and leave tea house by 7:30am. First tea break around 9-10am, lunch around noon and reach the next tea house by 3-5PM. Gather in common area for a drink (GLT/Tea/Coffee), place order of dinner, get into our rooms, shower (depending on availability of hot water) and weather (skip if super cold), change into thermals, gather in the common area, play cards/chit chat/chat with other trekkers/read/call family, have dinner, briefing by trek lead for the next day (this would help us with packing, what to wear and what a day would look like), place order of breakfast, get our bottles filled with water and then bed-time by 8:30pm. All lights would be out by 10pm. I never stayed up until 10pm to see this 😅. On longer hike days we also stopped at some amazing cafes in the late afternoons.
One of the rules on high altitude treks is to not stay in the room for long time during the day. This is to avoid falling asleep which can further trigger AMS. So during the entire trek when we reached the tea house after a daylong hike, we would just go to our rooms, freshen up and head to the common area to play cards, read or chit-chat until dinner, then have dinner, get briefing for the next day from trek leads, get our bottles filled (room temperature/mix of hot & cold/hot water) depending on the temperature outside. Post dinner, we would either stay back for more card games, or make calls and update family (based on connectivity) and head to bed by 8/8:30pm.
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| Team before leaving Phakding |
Today our day started at 5:30 wakeup; 6:30 breakfast and by 7:30 we were ready to start. We did some warmups in the open area of the lodge before we got on the trail. We had a group picture with Adventure Pulse banner. This was fun. Initial 15-20 minutes of the trek always seem more tiring until we get into our rhythm and pace. When we started our day, it was a bit cold, but soon the day turned sunny and we didn’t need additional warm layers. It was a bright, clear sunny day. Today is going to be long day of hiking until we reach Namche Baazar late in the evening.
The trail was beautiful with Dhudh Kosi river flowing all along, the snowcapped mountains popping every now and then, though it was mostly Nepali flat, there were large stretches of flat path which made it easy to walk. There were mule crossings which by now was a norm. When we see a group of mules – we move to the mountain side until they clear. Couple of hours into the trek, we got the first glimpse of mount Everest and it was site to cherish.
Nepali flat trail continued. The trail from Phakding to Namche Baazar had a lot of stairs and sharp descents. Adding to this, the trail was mostly uneven stones exerting pressure on knees and ankles. We came across many stupas and rocks with prayer scripts.
After walking for about two hours we took a break for tea at Sherpa Garden Lodge. A short 20 minute break gave us time to refresh and get back on the trail. We would soon be entering the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP). Everest is known as Sagarmatha in Nepal. We need permits to enter SNP. Chirring (one of our guides) went ahead to procure entrance passes. We crossed a couple of suspension bridges before we reached Monjo – the area where SNP starts.
Right at the entrance to SNP there is a model showing all the mountains and surroundings in SNP. There were a few military personnel at the entrance to check the passes. Sam gave us a brief about the area using the model. This was enlightening – we got a sense of how huge this park is and how gigantic the mountains are.
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| SNP Entrance |
A 30-40 minute walk from here was our lunch break at Everest Guest House (Jorsalle). This is a beautiful tea house overlooking the river. They have an open area seating and in-doors and almost private sit-out with tables overlooking the river. Since it was clear sunny day, the open area was full. This was the first glimpse of many trekkers at a single tea house. Tables for our group was arranged in the sit-out at the back. Between Pankaj and me we ordered a DBT and a Chowmein. After lunch it was time to start walking. After lunch the walk slows down for a bit, until we get back into the rhythm.
The weather was getting slightly windy and cloudy. Around 3 PM we reached Hillary suspension bridge. This bridge is the longest bridges on the EBC trail and is relatively new. This apparently reduced the trek time by hour and a half. The old bridge also hangs below Hillary bridge. As we started walking on this we saw dark clouds hovering on the side and we were walking into it. We knew it was matter of time before the rain starts.
Once we crossed the bridge it got really windy, chilly and dark. In few minutes slight drizzle started. We wore our wind cheaters. From her on it was an only incline but slow ascent with steps. Training on stepper with incline and doing stairs really helped to cover this stretch. After some time it started raining so we had to remove windcheater and wear our poncho. All these breaks allowed us to hydrate and catch our breath. Trekking in rain is not a great experience. You are cold, wet and also have to watch the trail as it get slippery. It not only slows the pace, it also gets annoying walk with wet shoes and the water dripping on the face. The poncho inside get very hot and humid.
After two hours of walking in rain with constant ascent was tiring. Not only was the trail long, today we also gained a lot of altitude. Only savior were the views and having Pankaj by my side all the time. I was happy that I was not feeling uneasy like the previous day nor super tired. Finally at 5:30 PM we reached Namche Baazar.
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| Namche Baazar Entrance |
Once you enter the Namche Bazar arch, it’s a different world. You see a stupa, water flowing through 5 huge prayer wheels which are one below the other, shops and café lined up. People moving around. We were pretty tired and soaked to appreciate the beauty. We would explore and enjoy more of this next day as we would be staying in Namche Bazar for 2 nights.
Our tea house Kumbhu Lodge was another 10 minute walk from here. Everything seems far and long when you are tired. This last stretch seemed never ending. I wanted to just get to the lodge, get out of the poncho and soaked shoes. We checked into Kumbu Lodge which apparently is one of the first tea houses setup here in Namche Bazar. Later learnt that the family which runs it are descendants of who settled here some 500 years ago. One of the US presidents also has stayed in this lodge. They have pictures of important people who have stayed at Kumbhu Lodge.
Like most lodges in the mountains, Kumbhu lodge had their reception and dinner area in the first floor. There were few rooms on the ground floor and more rooms in lower floors below ground level. Pankaj and I were allotted room in the ground floor and others got their rooms in the lower levels. At higher altitudes moving up and down can get quite tiring. Our room was cozy, it had an attached bathroom, beds had heating facility which was just what we wanted. Our duffle bags were already left outside the room.
Our shoes were soaking wet. We had to find a way to dry them before we start our next day. We left them drying. Sam gave us some tips on how to dry shoes. Apparently taking the insoles out, stuffing the shoes with paper balls and rolling them in paper will help dry them quickly. We used one full tissue roll to dry mine and Pankaj’s shoes. Thankfully the tip worked and we had almost dry shoes by next morning. Though there was hot water available to shower we were too cold and tired to take a bath. Later during dinner time got to know Shobita had dared to shower even in this cold weather 😀. We freshened and went up to the common area. Bukhari was on and it was nice to sit around it to get the required warmth.
Everyone gathered for dinner in the warm common area. Kumbhu lodge is an amazing place. They have photos framed all around, small library and very clean tea house. It was great to have hot food and warm bed after a cold & tiring day. Our next day was an acclimatisation day and we would get a little extra sleep time than the usual days. Our schedule would be 6:30 (wakeup) - 7:30 (breakfast) - 8:30 (start trek). We gave our breakfast orders, Sam and Dorge Dai gave us briefing for the next day and it was time to bed.
