Following on from my previous posts about traveling to Nepal, in this post I’ll briefly talk about the amazing village of Namche Bazaar.
Without doubt Namche Bazaar at 3,440 meters (11,286 feet) is the gateway to the high Himalayas. It’s a small village that any trekkers or expeditions to say Mt. Everest or Gokyo regions will very likely stay and rest. The village sits on a plateau and rises up the side of a hill and because of its altitude (3440 metres), it’s a good place to start your acclimatization for the high Himalayas. As shown in the photo here, immediately after leaving Namche you are faced with an exhausting, severe steep uphill climb that will take some 2 to 3 hours to ascent but once at the top, it’s a great place to take photos.
Caption: Namche Bazaar rising up a steep hill (Local Guide: @AdamGT )
Because of it’s geographic location, Namche Bazaar is a village that only a very small percentage of people will ever get to in their lifetime. Have you been to this village? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience there.
Hi @KyleZhang and thank you for your message. Yes, for a number of reasons there are usually many trekkers and mountaineers that come from around the globe and rest in Namche Bazaar. I think the main reasons for this are:
At 3,440 meters and with the number of teahouses and other available accommodation, Namche Bazaar is the perfect place to start acclimatizating for high altitude. For example I stayed here for 2 days and acclimatized well for higher altitude.
There are not any towns and villages further along the trek route with facilities like Namche Bazaar.
Namche Bazaar is the shortest trek you can take to Mt Everest.
Thank you @vijayparadkar . I’m really happy that you enjoyed the photos. Stay tuned as I have many more exciting photos to come from my time in the Himalayas.
I had this same dream as you from a young boy @AnikSetyawati . I saw every movie about it that I could get my hands on. I read every book and article about it that I could. I had opportunities to go for short visits, a week or two but resisted. I waited until I knew it would be a trip of a lifetime and I am so glad I did. I have tons of amazing photos and plan to progressively add some of the best of these in future progressive posts. The country and its geography is amazing, and the people are beautiful. I look forward to sharing more!
means the same as me, right now I can only enjoy the beauty of the Himalayas only from films or photographs, please post your other photos when you are in the Himalayas, so that I can have more of an idea of that place … thank you@AdamGT
Yes Namche Bazaar, the Sherpa Capital, would indeed be mentioned in just about every climber’s biography. As I mentioned in one of my replies above, for a number of reasons usually many trekkers and mountaineers that come from around the globe rest in Namche Bazaar. In fact, I don’t know of or have read about anyone that hasn’t so in this regard, it is indeed a very famous small village. I sometimes think about the theory of six degrees of separation, and although it is more about the connection of people to others, I sometimes think of it about the connection with people through specific places that I have stayed at, or seats in an plane that I’ve sat on, or beds in a hotel or lodge that I’ve slept in. Through such experiences I ask myself who else am I connected to. For example, who else before me slept in this bed in Namche Bazaar!!! Did they get to the summit? Did they make it back? Weird I know but it’s a thought that I’ve often had when traveling lol.
I’m sorry that I don’t fully understand your firts paragraph but I will try to reply to each of your points:
Yes this certainly was an adventure! Overall I stayed for approximately 3 months in Nepal and 2 days resting and acclimatizing in this beautiful Sherpa village. Your must keep in mind that this village is above the altitude sickness line and its about a 1000 metre slow climb to get to Namache so it is recommended that everyone stay at least 2 to 3 nights acclimatizing. Because of altitude sickness, many can’t go any further, this becomes the end of their journey to the Himalayas, they must go down, they must go home. I saw this myself, with a member of our group. He was a 6’4" experienced Canadian trekker who had climbed the rockies 6 times. He collapsed and ended up at nearby Kunde Hospital. AFter two weeks there he went back home to Canada.
I arrived in Nepal at the end of Barkha, the Summer Monsoon. Yes the blue, brown and green brightly colored zinc roofs are interesting and when you get your first glimpse of them, with still many steps to go when climbing up the mountain you think you can see a rainbow but it’s just all these stone lodges, guest houses and Sherpa houses (hand-built from local granite) rising up the terraced mountain side in an amphitheater formation. I was led to believe that they have colored roofs so that their homes and lodges will be more visible in times of heavy snow.
You asked about food well other than in Kathmandu, the daily food was Dal Bhat andn ot every now and then, but every single day! I have to add, that while I didn’t suffer from altitude sickness, Dal Bhat, and havng it every day, took quite some time to get used to
Hi @heekongyap and thanks for your message. I’m pleased you like the photos. Over two days I took many photos at Namache Bazaar but in the few I selected for my post I tried to show how this small Sherpa village is surrounded by snow capped rugged peaks of the high Himalayas, how the village is set in a natural bowl or amphitheater with the colored roof topped houses running up the steep terraced mountain side, and how you are faced with a severe steep climb in your journey immediately after leaving the village!
Regarding travel from Kathmandu to Namche Bazaar, a distance of about 140 km, firstly there is no vehicle road access between the two, which makes the journey initself a bit of an adventure. You could take a bus to Jiri and then trek for say 7-10 days. Alternativey, like most travelers and as I did, you fly from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport to the infamous airport at Lukla and then trek for 2 days along the Dudhkoshi River for approximately 18 km to Namche Bazaar. You could do the Lukla to Namche Bazaar leg in one day but this is not recommended; it’s a 1000 metre uphill climb all the way and it’s really dangerous to trek through this elevation without taking a good rest in between. However you decide to get there, please take care and enjoy your journey. We look forward to seeing your photos.
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