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Feasting in Namche Bazaar
Namche Bazaar - Wednesday, April 12, 2000

DISPATCHES

Berg

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Good morning Mountain Zone. I'm calling you from a beautiful morning in Namche Bazaar, from a corner room at the top of the Panorama Lodge — Peter Potterfield's favorite room. I'm looking at the sunrise on Kwangde and the hustle below as we get ready to move down the trail to Lukla.

Namche Bazaar is a world of gastronomical and commercial delights and distractions and on our rest day — quote rest day — here yesterday, our group was busy getting lost in this world and having a great time. I saw Bruce last night, after he finished a really big piece of yak steak, look up at Cherub Zombu and say, "I'll have another." And this is towards the end of the day after I watched people at various points around Namche Bazaar partaking of pizza, cinnamon rolls, chocolate donuts, and I could just go on and on — all kinds of wonderful, civilized things down in the bustle of Namche Bazaar.

We will be heading out today — before we go — actually I just saw Phil and Mike and it looks like someone else, eagerly heading out for Lukla as we speak. They had a quick breakfast and they're on their way. I have a feeling some of the rest of us might be a little more waylaid. When you walk out of Namche Bazaar friends you've made often will pull you in for a cup of tea and a farewell — give you a kata or a silk blessing scarf and wish you the best. It's certainly the case with me. When I start out of town — when I start out of Namche Bazaar, it usually takes a while.

So we'll enjoy that and I certainly am going to enjoy the last day of trekking as we head back to Lukla. Everyone's excited about our next big stop at The Yak & Yeti, of course. But as many of you know and as many of us may find out soon these schedules of flying out of Lukla are basically all done on Kathmandu time and Nepal situations with weather and everything else, so we're going have to take it easy and just see what happens.

That Yeti Airlines flight will eventually leave. If it's clearer tomorrow we may be on it. If there's some valley fog in Kathmandu or any number of other things going on we may just be hanging in Lukla. I'll let you know how that goes and I'll let you know how the last evening with the Sherpas go when we get down to Lukla.

— Wally Berg, Alpine Ascents Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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