Namche Hospital Instead of the Everest View Hotel

This was acclimatization day. Two nights in Namche, one day to let your body catch up with the altitude. The plan was to use it for a day trip to the Everest View Hotel: terrace at 3,880 meters (12,730 ft), expensive tea, views of Everest. Pokin had been excited about it since Kathmandu.

The problem was that Nicholas sounded worse, and now Pokin had developed a cough too.

Nicholas said the Everest View Hotel wasn’t a good idea. Nicholas is usually right about these things, even when you don’t want him to be. Missing a day trip is annoying. Missing the Three Passes trek because you pushed too hard on a rest day is a different kind of regret. Pokin knew this. She didn’t like it, but she knew it.

So instead we hiked to the Sagarmatha National Park Museum, a shorter climb to about 3,550 meters (11,650 ft). There’s a statue of Tenzing Norgay up there, and supposedly a view of the big peaks.

Laden dzo carrying white sacks on mountain trail — Trail traffic. Dzos have the right of way. Always.

Pokin and Po On selfie on the trail in sun hats and face buffs — The hiking duo, fully protected from sun, wind, and any possibility of being recognized.

Pokin hiked so slowly up the hill that she lost sight of the group entirely. This is a recurring theme. She leaves early to compensate, everyone passes her anyway, and then she yells at Nicholas for walking too fast. The circle of trekking life.

Panoramic view of Namche Bazaar amphitheater from above with Himalayan peaks — Namche from above. Somewhere down there is a hot shower we already miss.

Decorated mountain pony with red tassels outside hotel in Namche — This pony outside our hotel was dressed better than any of us.

The Museum
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Pokin and Po On selfie at Sagarmatha National Park gate with decorative Buddhist motifs — The Sagarmatha National Park entrance. The Eyes of Buddha are watching. No pressure.

Mountain panorama from museum viewpoint with snow-capped peaks and bright sun

We walked to the viewpoint, and for the first time on this trek, the clouds cooperated.

The Giants
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Every day since Kathmandu, the big peaks had been hiding. Overcast, fog, clouds thick enough to walk on. We’d been told the mountains were there. We believed them in theory. But until this moment, the highest thing we’d actually seen was the ceiling of a teahouse.

Group photo at viewpoint with Mount Everest and Lhotse visible in background — The whole crew. And behind them, casually, Mount Everest.

There it was. Everest, dead center, with Lhotse beside it and clouds rolling around their bases like they were being dramatic on purpose.

We’d been to the Alps. We’d been to Patagonia. Those are big mountains. This was different. The Khumbu Himalaya has the greatest vertical relief of any continental interior on Earth: roughly 7,000 meters (23,000 ft) of elevation change over just 20 to 30 kilometers. You’re standing at 3,500 meters (11,500 ft) looking up at 8,849 (29,032 ft). Your brain doesn’t have a reference frame for it. You look up and something feels wrong, like the scale has been edited.

Nicholas holding Sumi Bear with snow-capped Himalayan peaks in background — Nicholas and me with the view. He’s supposed to be resting. He is not resting.

Tenzing
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Tenzing Norgay was born probably in 1914, possibly right here in the Khumbu. He worked his way up from porter across six Everest expeditions before the one that mattered. On May 29, 1953, he and Edmund Hillary became the first confirmed people to stand on top of the world. Neither one ever said who stepped up first. They agreed it didn’t matter.

Time named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. His statue stands here, above the town where he may have been born, looking toward the mountain he climbed when everyone said it couldn’t be done. Not a bad spot for a statue.

Nicholas on trail with Sumi Bear in backpack strap and Namche amphitheater behind — Heading back down. Namche waiting below with its opinions about how much dal bhat should cost.

The Hospital
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After the museum, Pokin still wanted to push on to the Everest View Hotel. Nicholas said no. Rather than argue about it on a mountainside, we decided to do something useful instead: go to the hospital.

All three porters were dispatched to escort us there, which felt excessive until we realized they weren’t really asking.

Walking down to the hospital complex with solar panels and snow peak in background

The Um Hong Gil Namche Community Hospital sits above the main town, funded by the foundation of Um Hong Gil, a Korean mountaineer and first Korean to summit all fourteen eight-thousanders. He built this hospital in 2017 to serve both the local Sherpa community and the trekkers who show up at altitude and discover their lungs have opinions.

Nicholas outside Um Hong Gil Namche Community Hospital with sign in English and Korean — The hospital. Korean-funded, Nepali-staffed, treating American tourists who didn’t listen to the altitude.

X-ray door and hallway inside the Namche hospital

Doctor examining Nicholas in the clinic exam room — Nicholas being examined. He’s pretending this is no big deal. His lungs disagree.

Dr. Binod Kr Sah confirmed what we suspected: early-stage respiratory infections, both of them. The prescription was rest and a frankly impressive quantity of drugs.

Desk covered in medication boxes and hospital forms from Um Hong Gil Namche Community Hospital — The haul. ‘Once a day after dinner.’ ‘Thirty minutes before breakfast.’ They left with a pharmacy in a bag.

Sumi Bear in foreground with pharmacy dispensary shelves behind

The porters sat outside the entire time. We tried to tell them to go. They wouldn’t budge. We asked the hospital assistant to tell them it was OK to leave. She said they’d get in trouble if they did.

Total bill: $103. Exam, diagnosis, every medication, credit card fee. For two people. At a hospital built by a Korean mountaineer in the Himalayas.

Pokin, Dr. Binod, and Nicholas taking selfie inside pharmacy — Dr. Binod giving the thumbs up. Cleared to keep trekking. Take the meds, take it easy, you’ll be fine.

We walked back down with bags full of pills and instructions to rest. Take it easy day it is.

Pokin never got to the Everest View Hotel. But she got her first look at Everest from the museum viewpoint, and she got antibiotics that would keep her on the trail for the Three Passes. Sometimes the boring decision is the right one.

Not that she’ll admit that.

The Museum#

The Giants#

Tenzing#

The Hospital#

The Museum
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The Giants
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Tenzing
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The Hospital
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