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Day 3 route overview

The thrid day on the trek consists of a rest day, but you certainly won’t be resting. A rest day on the Everest Base Camp trek consists of a day of hiking high to acclimatise and then descending again to rest low. This speeds up the process of acclimatization and will help you on your way to higher altitudes. Regardless, I’ll call them rest days throughout this blog. 

This rest day consists of a short but very tiring hike to the Everest View Hotel where you’ll get your first view of Everest nestled between the peaks of Lhotse and Nuptse far in the distance.

Elevation

The most elevation gain on the day is at the start as you ascend out of Namche Bazaar. The route then flattens out along the way to the Everest View Hotel after the Sherpa Lodge on the hill.

Epic mountain views

Waking up in Namche, I was greeted with the most awe-inspiring views. The cloudy evening the day before shrouded the mountain tops. Listening to the yak bells and business of the town was soothing and relaxing, but the day ahead would be anything but.

We took a short trip down to the market to buy some extra memory cards for my camera and some supplies from the pharmacy. I was developing a strange rash in my underarm which was quite painful.

We swiftly made our way to the northeast side of Namche and began the ascent to the Everest View Hotel.

Up, up, up!

The route to the top of the hillside was steep but made from large stepping stones mixed with dusty tracks. There were lots of people hiking along the route who were stopping to rest, myself included. Stopping to rest every 5 or 6 steps was the only way to tackle the hill with the altitude. The sun started really beaming heat down and warming up the soil making it one of the hottest days on the trail.

Some way up the trail I came across a sign stating the altitude. “You are 3,775 meters,” it said, meaning this was the highest I’d ever hiked. The next highest I’d hikes was to the summit of Gunung Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia at a height of 3,726 meters. I’d smashed it and it felt good. The only way was up and the further I went with every step, a new personal record was being set.

First views of Everest

Coming around the side of the hill, the gain levelled out and we came to a Sherpa Lodge which seemed all but deserted. Strolling around the side of the lodge the view opened up and in the distance, all I could see was a wall of ice topped with snow and impressive peaks. “That’s it, that’s Everest,” Kalyan said. “What that’s Everest?” I shouted. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at! 3 tall peaks towering over this massive wall of ice and rock. The peak on the right was Lhotse, the one on the left, Nuptse and the one in the middle, shrouded with a ring of cloud was Everest. Nothing could describe the feeling of seeing such an awesome sight with my own eyes.

I was finally looking at the highest piece of rock on earth, it took a while for me to soak it all up and contemplate what I was looking at. 

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