Shopping, Khumbu Style

??One of the highlights of my first visit to the Khumbu in 1997 was the Saturday morning market at Namche Bazaar.

Here, malady Sherpa and Tibetans traveled for sometimes days to and sell all sorts of goods. It was an amazing scene of vegetables, store meat, clothes – anything one would need to survive. Neatly laid out on blankets, weighed with medieval scales, commerce took place efficiently. Today, Saturday April 2, 2011, I was fortunate enough to repeat this experience.

Namche is the largest village in the Khumbu and generally considered the capital or commerce center. It is located in a natural amphitheater at 11,200′.

After a short walk to visit the Sherpa museum above Namche, we returned to take the market in. So without any further words, here are some scenes of the day:

Click on any picture to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the market we regrouped at the Namche bakery to enjoy some coffee and apple pie! Yes, it was as good as it looks!!

Several other expeditions are also here in Namche – Adventure Consultants, Alpine Ascents, Altitude Junkies and Himex. RMI and Jagged Globe are already up valley and others are still in Kathmandu and soon will be on their way. By the way, I understand that IMG has the largest team on the south this year.

Teams looking to climb the north continue to struggle to receive their permits but word has it they will get them on Monday and be allowed to enter Tibet on April 10th. Business as usual on that side and a reason many teams now prefer the south. Remember their season goes into June because they do not have to contend with a melting Icefall in late May which usually halts the south side season.

Of note is the increased interest in climbing Lhotse. This is the 4th highest mountain in the world at 8,414 meters or 27,605 ft and shares the same route with Everest most of the way to the South Col. It is considered slightly more difficult than Everest with a steep technical climb the final few hundred feet to the summits and a rapell on the way down. Himex has 6 climbers and IMG 3 for Lhotse this year.

In talking with the teahouse owners, they feel this is a quiet season. My earlier guess that there are 25% fewer climbers is starting to feel about right.

The weather continues to be great after a snowy end of March. We are seeing the normal clear mornings with cloudy afternoons and the temps are actually a bit mild right now in Namche.

Tomorrow we continue our stay in Namache with a trip to the Everest View Hotel and hopefully a great view of Everest and Ama Dablam. Then on Monday, we continue our trek north. I am hopeful we will meet with Lama Geshi along the way.

Climb On!
Alan