Namche Bazaar day trip: Hike to Thame village

Thame is a small farming community with a long history

The hike from Namche Bazaar to Thame village takes you off the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek route and into an entirely different valley, namely the steep and beautiful Thamichho. The trail you follow runs along the northern side of the valley's powerful Bhote Kosi river.

You pass religious murals of Green Tara, Guru Rinpoche and Thangtong Gyalpo on the hike

The hike to Thame leads you through a handful of Sherpa villages, including Phurte, Samshing and Thamo, where you can perhaps greet some of the locals who are busy with their own versions of normal life. At Thamo, which is about halfway to Thame, you might like to make the tiny detour to visit its gompa (monastery).

Thamo Gompa

Finally, after visiting Thame, you can happily diversify the return route a little by exiting the village via the trail that runs along the south side of the Bhote Kosi. This path then meets up with the familiar, main one in Thamo.

The first half of the hike to Thame takes you through a pretty forest of pines, Himalayan birches, junipers and rhododendrons. You should spot grazing yaks in open spaces. But also keep your eyes open for musk deer among the trees.

The Himalayan monal is the national bird of Nepal

Closer to the Thame, the vegetation thins out and conditions are drier. Keep your eyes peeled during this section of the trail for mountain goats and beautiful Himalayan monals (also known as danphes or danfes).

The hike to Thame is the most challenging of the established routes one can do as a daylong acclimatisation hike from Namche Bazaar. It's a nearly 10 km roundtrip, and involves a significant altitude gain of over 500 m (1,649 ft) if you visit the monastery above Thame.

You should expect to feel the strain on the thinning air on the hike to Thame. Then, on the way back down, you can anticipate feeling stronger and more yourself.

The trail to Thame is well established

Note that overnighting in Thame is also an option, and has the bonus of letting you enjoy a glorious view of the morning sun illuminating the peaks about you. But only spend the night if you're already well acclimatised to the altitude in Namche Bazaar, meaning your body is ready to sleep at an even higher elevation.

For most people trekking to Everest Base Camp via the classic route, Thame must, by necessity, remain a daylong acclimatisation hike.

One-hundred-percent yes!

We have a few reasons for saying this:

One of the big charms of the day hike to Thame is that you steer away from the highly popular classic EBC trek route and so enjoy a break from the crowds.

The valley you hike is steep and very beautiful, and you cross a handful of bridges, including one particularly epic and picturesque suspension bridge over the Bhote Kosi near Thame.

The Bhote Kosi river in Thamichho valley with Mt Thamserku in the distance

Once you near Thame, things become truly remote. It's a real treat to experience a part of the Khumbu region that hasn't been so noticeably impacted by the growth of trekking tourism. That said, Thame does see trekkers who are nearing the end of the challenging Everest Base Camp and Three Passes trek route.

During the hike to Thame you pass various religious items that speak to the long influence of Tibetan Buddhism in the region. You can look forward to seeing stupas (shrines) of different sizes, various colourful prayer wheels, and some mani stones and boulders, which are rocks that have had Buddhist mantras carved or painted (or both) onto them.

A stupa forms part of this view of Mt Thamserku and Mt Kangtega

You can also expect to see plenty of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags; there's not only the well-known lung ta (multicoloured flags attached to a rope that's usually strung up horizontally or diagonally) but also the darchog (a long, thin flag attached lengthwise to a tall pole planted in the ground).

A white darchog prayer flag in Thamichho valley

Obviously, doing such a hike in the company of a local guide not only enhances your safety, but also means learning about the history and significance of all that you see along the trail. A guide can also prove helpful with translating should you wish to strike up a conversation with any of the locals you encounter along the way.

Thame is an isolated and historic village that sits at the base of the sheer mountain wall of Kongde Ri (6,187 m or 20,299 ft). Its position is important as it sits at the junction of trails running west towards the mountain pass of Tesi Lapcha (5,755 m or 18,111 ft) and north towards the mountain pass of Renjo La (after which comes Nangpa La and then Tibet).

Kongde Ri presides over Thame

Understanding this geography, you can appreciate why for centuries Thame served as a critical stopover on the historic salt trading route between India and Tibet; it was the highest village on the southern side of the Himalayan crossing into Tibet to be inhabited year round.

A misty view of Thame

Thame can also lay claim to some very famous residents, like Apa Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Ang Rita Sherpa. One of the local restaurants even has the goggles on display that Norgay wore on his Mt Everest summit with Sir Edmund Hilary.

Thame Gompa sits on a ridge above the village

Perched on a ledge in the mountainside at 3,970 m (13,025 ft) above sea level and overlooking the village is Thame Gompa, properly known as Dechen Chekhorling. Built in 1667, it's one of the three oldest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in all Khumbu.

The monastery consists of a series of stone buildings, all of which survived the devastating 2015 earthquake, unlike the buildings in the valley. You can take a peek at the murals inside, which were retouched at the end of the last century. But the main reason visitors climb to the monastery is to appreciate the gorgeous view down to the village on the floodplain below.

Looking up at the monastery

Hiking to a higher altitude during the day and then dropping back down for the night is a very effective acclimatisation (acclimation) strategy. So if you're trekking to Everest Base Camp, doing the day hike to Thame from Namche Bazaar before pressing on will help to prepare your body for the next jump in altitude.

Near the start of the hike, looking back down towards Namche Bazaar

If you decide now or on the day that you'd actually like an easier (but still rewarding!) acclimatisation day hike from Namche Bazaar, then we recommend doing the hike to Hotel Everest View instead.

We recommend that you treat this day hike the same as you would any other day on the EBC trek in terms of what you wear and carry. This means wearing or putting into your daypack:

* Alternatively, you can buy a super tasty cooked lunch in Thame.

As mentioned, the hike to Thame is a tough one if you're not yet acclimatised to the altitude in Namche Bazaar. If you decide on the day that you're not actually up to the hike, here are some great things to do in Namche Bazaar to ensure you still have a memorable day!