The Himalayas
The Mountains
The Himalaya is of course the grandest of all. Back in the early 1960's there were no tourists and on the rare occasion when one met a European one could safely address him as "Doctor" or "Professor". Since then the hippies and tourists have flooded in, many paying a fortune to be pushed and pulled up Everest. One doubts that the Sherpas are still the honest, hard working cheerful lot they were. Somehow our civilisation seems to only affect people badly. While Sir Edmund Hillary's hospitals have done good work, the schools may have simply made the Sherpas discontented with their lot.
This >> is the path from Kunde in a high little valley, down to Namche Bazaar which is as far as the Yaks coming over the Nangpa La from Tibet can go. Thamserkhu on the east side of the Dudh Kosi valley lies ahead.
To cross the Dudh Kosi to Thyangboche Monastery, one descends about 3000ft down a steep path and the climbs another 3000ft on an equally steep path. Near the monastery Kantega shows up a side valley. The shoulder of Thamserkhu shows on the right.
A bridge over the Dudh Kosi. It may be the one on the way to Thyangboche or the one between Namche Bazaar and the Lukla Airstrip
Behind the Thyanboche Monastery rises Amadablam, about 23000ft and one of the steepest peaks known, It was first climbed by Dr Mike Gill of Auckland.
Two days north of Thyangboche we make our way up the moraine beside the glacier on which lies the Everest Basecamp. A minor peak rises on the West Ridge of Everest and the far side of the Western Cwm. I thought at first it was Everest itself.
At least Everest is revealed, though it may be only the Low peak. The Western Cwm lies between the ridges. Nupste rises to the right. We are here at about 22,000 ft.
On the (I think) Kyetrak Glacier on the trade route over the Nangpa La to Tibet. View is to North-west, the pass is to the right. The man is sitting on the "road"
Tibetan with Yaks laden with bags of rice return from trading at Namche Bazaar. The Yaks move very slowly but never stop, by the end of the day one is exhausted trying to keep up. Here we are at about 16,000 ft.

The People

At a small grazing alp between Thyangboche down to right, we spend a night. This alp is only used in summer. Kantega centre right and probably Amadablam slightly left, Thamserkhu to right.

Lakhpa Tsering supervises breakfast (crushed ting potatoes fried on a stone slab.
The summit of the Nagpa La ( "La" is a pass or col) at 18,000 ft. View south, the prayer flags mark the border, ahead to north is the barren brown hills of Tibet, The twenty yaks we were travelling with have already passed and are well on down towards Tingri.
The Tibetan traders in a tent stacked with hand-woven yak-hair bags of rice.
"Hey sahib", they called "Aili kati char? "(tea)

I asked what they thought of the Chinese invasion. They shrugged, "We've had them before and got rid of them. Now they have come again and we will get rid of them again!"
Da Tenzing at Thyangboche where he lives. One of the most famous sirdars. He was sirdar for Norman Hardie and Evans Sahib on Kangchenjunga
Then he was sirdar for the Swiss and for the successful Everest ascent.
Evans Sahib invited him to Wales for an anniversary and he showed me the letter. "Come out to Kathmandhu and Colonel Roberts Sahib will put you on a plane". Do Tenzing who had never seen an aeroplane unhestitatingly went, "Evans Sahib say I come, I go!" He cannot of course read and when I asked if he understood what the letter meant, he shrugged again "Oh, yes I know, Lama reading!"
On the fortnight's walk in from Kathmandhu to Namche Bazaar and Kumjung-Kunde, the sherpas would pack up at 5 am, walk ahead for 2-3 hours and then stop and prepare breakfast. A sleeping bag would be spread on a rock for the comfort of the sahib, chappaties with ghee handed round. Maybe even raspberry jam!
Two sherpanis returning from a trading trip to Kathmandhu, with their two brothers, kept us company most of the way in. The girls were quite flirtatious and obviously enjoyed different company. They owned two houses and a herd of yaks and were regarded as being quite prosperous.

[ Back ]