Hi folks,

Due to thunderstorms taking out the phone lines in Namche, here's yesterday's blog today :-)

This morning the cloud lifted and the mountains began showing themselves precipice by precipice! On our acclimatisation walk we got to 12700ft, higher than our own Aoraki Mt Cook and into the next valley to Khumjung Hillary School, the first school built by Sir Ed. Naturally he is revered here. There's a statue of him in the school grounds with a beautifully written plaque. Herwin videoed Ed reading it out which brought a lump to our throats. The first indications of the effects of the school's education to Khumjung are that the people are thriving, they're cleaner and better dressed, the stone walls of the paddocks are in good order, and the value of the real estate is higher.

We stopped there for lunch at (12460 ft) the highest cafe in the world, Mt Everest bakery. Very cosy and a popular stopping off point for trekkers. A quick visit to the Khumjung monastry. Then the rain started and our trek back "home" became wetter and more slippery. There's always activity on the trail, the bells on the yaks and jopkey (yak/cow cross) give us enough warning to move the hill side of the track - termed by the group as " Yak-zillas in the mist"..

There's a sharp contrast between the locals and the trekkers, most notably the size and weight of the loads carried, and the pace and the breathing especially on the up hill bits! Then home to our warm welcoming teahouse dining room, a large thermos of hot sweet milky tea and lots of laughs as we settle in for the evening.

A few of us have had funny tummys with varying degrees of severity - it seems to last about 24 hours but with Mike's attention to detail, and the constant care and supervision from and our wonderful Sherpas, Ang Nuru and Nawang we are in good hands. We're totally having a blast and an experience of a lifetime. Wish you were here xx Liza