Besant Nagar to Base Camp

We woke up to lovely views of snow-capped mountains on a clear day at Namche. At our usual departure time of 7 am, post breakfast, we left Kamal Guest House, Namche Bazar for our next destination, Debuche. The tea house had been a bustling place, and we saw a group of Westerners, returning back to Lukla, being felicitated with shawls for having completed the trek. Among them was a kid of around 7-8 years!                                                                            We set off again, up hills and down valleys, with the scenery around us gradually changing. The coniferous trees, the pines were becoming fewer, as indeed were any shrubs of reasonable height, and the land around was gradually showing glimpse...

 Today was the Acclimatization day at Namche Bazar. This is a day reserved to acclimatize yourself to the height and the relatively low oxygen levels, before you proceed to even higher altitudes. Typically, a short acclimatization hike of say half a day is scheduled, after which one comes back to the Tea House and has the afternoon free to oneself. Also, the hike allows for the "Climb High Sleep Low" principle to be followed on acclimatization days as well, as it is on days of the trek. We woke up (relatively) late and set out at 8 am for a hike to the Everest View Point at 3775 m and then a bit further upwards to 3840 m. Its time now to elaborate on the "We". The reason for waiting till the write up of this day to introduce the dramatis personae of this trek is that before the hike to Namche Bazar the previous day, we really did not know each other all that well, even those who were particularly of Bessie Flyers. The trek to Namche from Phakding brought us all toge...