Hotel Everest View

At around 3,880 metres above Namche sits one of the highest hotels in the world. I am going through my photos again from its terrace, looking out at Everest and the elegant Ama Dablam.

Looking through these images now, the thin, clear air of that morning comes straight back. You climb a good stretch higher again from Namche, and then you are standing on this terrace, as if someone had built a hotel there specifically for this view — which, in essence, is exactly what happened. No single peak crowds the foreground; instead the whole panorama simply lies in front of you, Everest in the background and the slender, almost elegant shape of Ama Dablam standing ahead of it.

That is exactly what makes this place so special to me. You no longer have to climb or hike to earn this view, you can get it with a cup of tea on the terrace instead. It felt almost unfair, receiving so much altitude and mountain panorama for one quiet morning.

Going through the photos, I notice how completely that single view outshone everything else from that day. Some places you don’t need to photograph for long; one look is enough to know you will never forget it.