We left Namche Bazaar at 7.45 am following a brief goodbye ceremony during which the owner of the lodge tied silk scarves around our necks for good luck.
Some of the older members of the group were not looking forward to the steep walk from Namche - 700m of unrelenting,knee jerking descent, but in fact all went well. Panadol and ibuprofen work wonders on aging knees, it would seem. Most of the younger members had no problem at all.
Once we had descended to the Dudh Koshi river everybody felt much more energetic, with so much more oxygen in the atmosphere to breathe, we felt that we could almost run up the small hills. Almost.
The trail is getting busy now. There is a constant stream of trekkers heading up towards Namche and there are many porters and yaks carrying expedition kit up to Gorak Shep in preparation for the mountaineering season.
It has only been two weeks since we left Lukla, but this has made a difference to the landscape. Bellow the treeline the flowers are coming out - rhododendron, magnolia and primula denticulata; it is a pretty time of year.
It just took us 7 hours to walk from Namche to Lukla and the kids arrived in good spirits and with energy to spare. They are now expending this around town. Lukla is a one street town and there are no motorvehicles at all. We have a special dinner planned tonight.
We fly to Kathmandu tomorrow morning.
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