Day 6: Deboche

Hiking time: 4-5 hours

We’ll continue on and climb to the village of Tangboche (12,683 ft./3,865 m), the cultural and religious center of the Khumbu. At the monastery we’ll attend Buddhist ceremonies and rituals performed by local monks. Vistas from Tangboche are spectacular. The jagged peaks of Thamserku and Kangtega stand to our south, as Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam are visible to the north. The Monastery at Tangboche is one of the most well-known in the world, as the Rinpoche is revered throughout the Buddhist community, and has authored a number of books and essays. In the past our groups have had an audience with the Rinpoche and received his blessing.

Views from this locale (one of the finest on earth), include Kwangde (20,293 ft./6,185 m), Tawachee (21,457 ft./6,540 m), Nuptse (25,843 ft./7,876 m), Lhotse (27,883 ft./8498 m), Everest (29,029 ft./8,848 m), Ama Dablam (22,487 ft./6,854 m), Kantega (22,235 ft./6,777 m), Thamserku (21,674 ft./6,606 m).

Day 4 of EBC Trek

Daily Gratitude:

Today we trekked from Namche to Deboche, and encountered a “yak jam” aka yaks blocking our passage on one of the many suspension bridges we cross en route to EBC. We are thankful one runaway yak didn’t run into anyone from our crew, though we had a semi-close encounter 😂 We also had the opportunity to tour a Buddhist mountain monastery, about 30 minutes from the tea house where we’re staying tonight. Some of our crew received blessings from a monk and we’ll continue on our way with “good luck” spoken over our group! We are grateful for the opportunity to experience Nepalese culture on the way to EBC.

Daily Highlights:

⁃ Symone dodging runaway baby yak, and she says the verdict is still out as to whether Michael was trying to save her or whether he was trying to push Karen in front of him as a human shield.

⁃ Ramen for lunch + biscuits at Debouche tea house.

⁃ Clouds cleared just in time for us to see the sun setting on Mt. Everest. Seeing the alpenglow on that mountain was amazing.

Daily Reflections:

We walked in the clouds for most of the day today. Though it meant missing out on the spectacular views that surround us here, it just builds the anticipation for trekking the next few days!