Best Hike Goes To The Himalaya: Day 4 - Acclimatizing in Namche

Best Hike editor Rick McCharles brings us another installment of his recent Himalayan adventure, in which he went trekking in the Khumbu Valley. We're up to Day 4, in which he takes a breather in Namche Bazaar, a popular acclimatization stop along the trail.

While in Nachme, Rick took a stroll through the popular market place, in which Tibetan traders were selling any number of cheap, strange, and wonderful goods, mostly brought across the border from China. He also visited a nearby Nepali market which offered up local foods, before taking in a Buddhist gompa.

Just because it's an acclimatization day, it doesn't mean that you rest on your laurels. Rick did take a four hour tour dubbed the "Sherpa Villages of the Khumbu" that offered him an opportunity to see some more of the local sights, while working on that acclimatization process. Following an "off-trail scramble up to the quarries of Zarok", he visited the seldom used Everest View Hotel, and hiked over to Khunde and Khumjung, two towns in the area.

Rick called the "rest day" one of his best of the trip, and judging from his photos you can see why.