“I’m on your side, when times get rough. And friends just can’t be found, like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down…(Simon and Garfunkal).

Today’s trek was due to last about four hours and, once again, the timescale given at the commencement of the walk was, more or less, spot on. I awoke after a wonderful night’s sleep and felt fit for the trek ahead and, once again, the weather was ideal for walking.

The village of Monja (2835m).

Within ten minutes on the trail we came to the entrance of the Sagarmatha National Park which contains some of the most incredible scenery in the world:

Once again the terrain underfoot was good and progress was made at a steady and even pace. One of the main features of this stretch of the trek to Everest Base Camp was not only the glorious weather that we were privileged to walk in but the number of suspension bridges we had to cross as we made our way to Namche Bazaar.

A bridge over the Bhote Kosi River.

The trail took us along relatively flat ground along the banks of the river. As we ventured further north we began to ascend where I looked back from whence we came and saw the above bridge from a different angle:

As we moved further we stopped occasionally for a bit of a breather as the ascent began to have an impact upon the lungs. I still managed to raise a smile mainly due to feeling so fortunate to be in such an amazing place:

As we continued to follow the bank of the Bhote Kosi river we came across a couple of other bridges crossing the expanse of the water. It was at this point where the Bhote Kosi and Dudh Kosi rivers merged. The sight that beheld us was quite an awesome one as the bridges over the two merging rivers came into view.

Guess which of the two bridges we had to cross? Yes…you are right. The one at the top!

At this point most of us shed a layer of clothes as the sun was quite high and was radiating some quite intense heat. We also had a bit of a climb to get to the bridge. It was here that I decided to do what I always did on the Camino when the going got pretty tough. I put my iPod on. It didn’t take me long to decide what album out of the 500 I have to choose from on my device to help me with this particular challenge..good old Georgie!

To the strains of ‘Long Gone’ I began the ascent up to the bridge with a smile instantaneously on my face with memories of the Camino coming flooding back to my mind. The music of George Thorogood and the Destroyers got me up many a hill and I have a sneaky feeling I will be tuning in to the music of Georgie in the days ahead as the altitude REALLY begins to kick in. With his music booming in my ears it wasn’t long until we came to the bridge itself:

I can’t remember what song I was listening to as I crossed but it certainly did the trick and, actually, I enjoyed the whole experience. Just as long as I didn’t look down….

When I got across to the other side I decided to ask Mingma the Guide to take a photo of me on the bridge itself:

After a breather we continued on the trail where we eventual came to the point I had been waiting years to see….

There she is….I’ve seen her in photos, documentaries and films. I’ve read countless books about her but now I see her with my own eyes…Mount Everest. It was quite a moving moment….

After another steep ascent we eventually arrived at Namche Bazaar. As we came into its’ outskirts I came across this rather sober sign:

Just some judicious words of advice for any of you out there who might be passing this way any time soon…

Following on from here we had our first glimpse of Namche Bazaar which was a very welcome sight…

Namche Bazaar with the local ‘stupa’ in the foreground.

It was so good to finally arrive here. However, their was a slight ‘sting in the tail’ as our accommodation was right at the top of the village which meant MORE steps to go up….

We eventually arrived at our digs for the next couple of days. The Khumbu Resort is at the top of the village with wonderful views of the mountains:

The view from the bedroom window. Not bad eh?

So tomorrow is a ‘rest’ day but we will have a two hour walk up and down to help with the acclimatisation process. I will have a wander around in the morning to get a ‘feel’ for the place before we go for our trek. I will, of course, write an account of tomorrow’s proceedings but at the moment I’m enjoying some really nice pizza and chips (home made and very scrummy). Later on I’m hoping to see if I can get a ‘live stream’ of the Sunderland Man City game that kicks of here just after 8pm. That’s something to look forward to…

So dear Reader…

Until tomorrow….