October 16, 2010
Acclimatization is super important, as the team prepares to move higher up the valley. IMG guide Mark Allen reports on the second full day in Namche that the weather has turned rainy and overcast, so they are exploring the town today, before moving up, tomorrow.
Yesterday the team trekked north towards to Thamo, where they had lunch while waiting out a rain storm and enjoyed Sherpa Tea and veggie soup in one of the local Sherpa tea houses. Then, half of the group headed back to Namche to spend the afternoon in town while the remainder continued a few more hours north to the quiet town of Thame and the Thame Monastery.
Mark says: “we walked in and out of light drizzle following a wild river in an open gorge with high rock walls on either side. All along the way lots of evidence of Tibetan Buddhism with monuments and prayer flags and kata scarfs on bridges and passes wishing us safe travel. Above Thame we trekked to the Monastery, perched on the hill nestled into a rock cliff. We managed to time it perfectly with the service and watched about 20 monks perform the daily chants dressing in traditional monk attire. They played horns and bashed symbols and drums at the end of each chant. We made the long walk back to Namche and had a big yak dinner and started our nightly card game to determine the Champion of Namche. Everyone is in good health. The forecast is set to improve tomorrow for our trek out to Deboche tomorrow, so the group is looking forward to seeing the mountains for the first time.”
One of our Ama Dablam climbers, Mark Ursino, is also blogging about his experience on this trip – you can check out his site at www.markursino.com.
Eric Simonson
Follow IMG's Mark Allen & IMG climbers in Ama Dablam