Morning came early in Phakding. We stayed up later than we should have playing cards. Mark taught Kim and I new game that was a lot of fun. Maybe too much fun, somehow we owe him money now! A lot of money. Seriously, it was a wonderful night's sleep with the lullaby of the Dudh Kosi in the background. The team met for breakfast at 7:30 and Mark surprised us with French press Kona coffee. What a great treat; it made the already great day even better. We hit the trail around 8:30 heading for Namche Bazaar - about 1000 meters higher than Phakding. So this was to by our first day with serious altitude gain. We made good time in the cool of the day with Mark giving us a refresher on pressure breathing, rest stepping and pace. We stopped for lunch in Jorsale. It was nice to linger in the shade watching the zoks and donkeys go by. They certainly weren't in any hurry to be anywhere - unlike some of the trekkers we saw. The afternoon's journey started with a meandering walk along the Dudh Kosi. But it was getting hotter and dustier, too. After crossing the Hillary Bridge the trail began climbing steeply and it was obvious that it wasn't going to let up anytime soon. The temperature seemed to rise along with our altitude; but we settled into a nice rhythm and in no time we rounded a corner and got our first view of Namche Bazaar. It was a big deal for both Kim and me, as it was something we had both wanted to see for a long time. We're settled into the Camp de Base now with the evening in front of us. Tomorrow we'll spend day acclimatizing and hike to some of the surrounding villages. Onward and upward. An update to yesterday's blog from Phakding. We would have included it then, but there was some disagreement among the team. Anyway, we stopped in a little coffee shop in Lukla. While we were there the owner's 3 year old little boy, Tashi, was sitting in one of the chairs playing with the "Flatulence" app on an iPhone. Oddly, I have the same app on my iPod, so I couldn't resist pulling it out. In seconds we had a round of dueling "flatulence" going. When he got bored with that (I was still having fun) he came over and took my iPod and started reviewing my collection of apps. I guess some things transcend culture. John G

On The Map