Change At Any Cost

Namche Bazaar -- Day 2 -- 3440m (11,280ft)

If you are a Trump supporter, you may want to skip the first couple paragraphs.

At 1:00 in the afternoon (11 PM California time), we got the final confirmation that Donald Trump had indeed won the US election. Poor Kylie, reacting to Meg’s previous pronouncements of doom (and promise to move to Canada), literally had tears running down her cheeks. For those who consider Trump a bully, an opportunist, a fear monger, and a sexist -- with only a fragile grasp of reality -- it is a sad day.

I can confidently say that the international community here in Namche is in disbelief. I only hope that his rash, erratic behavior does not lead the country down a dangerous path. I do realize, however, that half the country -- plus or minus a few tenths of a percent -- are cheering his improbable victory. A huge number of people have been energized by his nationalism. They have applauded his insults and offensive behavior. He is clearly neither a politician nor a diplomat (really, neither Democrat nor Republican) and that, apparently, is what many people are looking for -- change at any cost. I just fear what that cost may be.

In any event, at 6 a.m., I got up after a too-long, nine hours in bed, though I broke it up nicely with a bathroom visit every two hours! Apparently, I'm well hydrated. Unfortunately, Meg awoke with a headache again, so we may need to think twice about heading higher tomorrow.

I had remembered being able to see Everest from Namche, so at 6:30 I headed out up the stone walkways in town until I reached the Sagarmantha Park office. From the statue of Tenzing Norgay -- the Nepali Sherpa that accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary to the top of Everest on May 29, 1953 --there were clear views of Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. True, only the peak of Everest can be seen sticking up behind the Nuptse ridge, but there it was nonetheless.

Tenzing Norgay, Everest (left) and Lhotse (right)

Then, however, I saw a trail leading steeply up the hill on the other side of town that surely must offer even more spectacular views.  I couldn't resist, so I huffed up the rocky, twisting trail and half an hour later was treated to another magnificent view, plus a look down the valley we'd climbed the last couple days.

Namche from above

When I got down to the lodge, Meg, Dex, Kylie, Craig, and Kevin were already enjoying warm drinks in the restaurant. The rest of the day was not too eventful. Meg had a headache again, so spent the first half in bed trying to sleep it off (the election results didn't help). Dex and Kylie did an awesome job occupying themselves playing with their Kinder toys and drawing pictures. I, meanwhile, sat in the restaurant and finished reading Into Thin Air and caught up transferring photos to the cloud. It's pretty amazing that we’ve had 3G service so far. It’s not unusual to see a guide or yak herder chatting on his phone as he’s hiking up or down some crazy steep trail.

While Kevin and Craig were out hiking around, the four of us splurged with a couple pizzas and a apple pie at the Everest Bakery & Pizza Hut down the stone path. The Nepali man behind the counter who had apparently lived in San Francisco, strongly recommended we spent a third day in Namche to help the kids acclimatize.  Hmm, not a bad thought. I'm just not sure the kids are the problem....

Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam in background