Day 3 - Namche Bazaar to Khumjung

After a long and tiring day yesterday, today’s route is thankfully relatively short, with only a modest height gain. This is intentional in order to aid our acclimatization to operate at high altitudes. I feel much better this morning, and hope that I have put any health issues behind me. As we move farther from civilization any health issues or injuries will become more difficult to manage.

After breakfast we leave camp and contour round above Namche Bazaar before heading fairly steeply uphill past the airstrip at Syangboche. The airstrip is used much less frequently than the one at Lukla due to its altitude of 12,360 feet. This is too high for most of the aircraft that bring trekkers into the Khumbu region, and bringing people straight into this altitude makes altitude sickness problems more likely.

A little way north of the Syangboche airstrip we crest a saddle, which is our high point of the day, and drop down into the valley containing the villages of Khumjung and Kunde. We enter Khumjung by a large Chorten next to the school at Khumjung that was built by Sir Edmund Hillary’s Everest Foundation, before arriving at the camp site, where the tents have already been set up and a cup of tea is waiting.

Elevation Profile

Namche Bazar from the trail to Khumjung

Approaching Khumjung

Chorten and Mani wall - Khumjung