Day 13: Namche to Tengboche

Today was a much tougher climb than I remember. First up out of Namche, then down to cross the river then all the way back up to Tengboche (3,860m). We walked for close to 5 hours, but it felt more like 8 or 9. Time just seemed to pass very slowly, although we could do the climbing despite the altitude. We had great views of Ama Dablam early on, but after we crossed the river the clouds moved in and by the time we reached Tengboche we could not see very much at all.

We stayed at the Trekkers Lodge behind the monastery in a tiny room at the edge of a cliff, but it was the most reasonable place we could find (and yes those are yaks outside the front door). Even so, prices have taken a jump. Dahl Bhat is now 300Rs, an apple pancake 180Rs, and milk tea is up to 50Rs.

At the guesthouse I also met one of the most interesting people I have ever met while travelling. While he and I talked away the evening a couple of monks came in from the monastery for a cup of tea and they invited Sara over to talk with them. I think that was fun for her.


One of the treats of Tengboche, besides the monastery and the magnificent views is a German bakery with lots of cakes and pies (at about 300Rs a slice) and even a cappucino machine. They even have battery charging at Rs150/hour. We both decided we could use a bit of a treat.