Day 5: Monjo to Namche Baazar
Starting Point: (27.8154, 86.7139)
End Point: (27.8069, 86.7140)
Total Miles: ~6 miles (4–5 hours)
Today started at our campsite in Monjo. I woke up early and started packing my gear and decided today would be a good day to get cleaned up. I opened my toiletry bag and… my shaving cream exploded everywhere. I don’t know if it was the altitude, but every last inch was covered in shaving cream.
I spent about a half hour cleaning that all up in the dark, which was fun, but it gave me a good laugh to start my day.
Today started off at the gates of Sagamartha National Park - this is the gateway to Everest. We checked in with our trekking passes and then started our long, long ascent to Namche Baazar.
We followed the Dodh Kosi River for a bit until we hit today’s challenge - 600m of elevation gain. Let me tell you something, nothing and I mean NOTHING prepared me for how difficult today would be.
There are stairs the whole way and I learned something about myself today - I HATE STAIRS. It was never ending and I felt myself pushed to my absolute limit.
At one point, I turned to my guide and said, “Am I doing ok?” I needed some confirmation because I could feel myself crashing out over how slow I was going and just how incredibly difficult it felt.
That did not end in that moment, the whole day was just a grind and I slowly put one foot in front of the other over and over and over again.
The first milestone moment of the day is when we crossed the Sir Edmund Hillary suspension bridge. This bridge is 135m above the river and I am absolutely terrified of heights like this. However, I pushed forward and made it to the other side. I was greeted by some mountain goats who effortlessly navigated the mountainside.
The next milestone was that I was able to see the peak of Everest for the first time. In the image above, it is on the right. The mountain in front of it is Nupste. It was one of those moments you will never forget, and in six days - I will be standing in front of it. That is not lost on me.
And with that, I pushed on.
After a long day, we eventually reached our destination, Namche Baazar. I admit, I got emotional - today almost broke my spirit but I stood tall and through whatever determination I had, I arrived.
I will be staying in my first lodge tonight. It's really beautiful, there is an Everest Sherpa Museum here and I will explore that this afternoon.
I’m also going to take a hot shower because this is my last night to do that.
I’m really doing this - tomorrow will be an easy day, it’s just a short walk to our next campsite and a day to acclimatize.
Here is the first and only cat I have seen since arriving. I hope it brings you as much joy as it brought me.
