The name itself evokes a sense of mystery, the
wild and the unexplored. It brings up images of
vast mountain ranges, rugged mountain people,
doey eyed yaks and of course the towering King
of them all, Mount Everest. The area is one of
the main region’s that is home to the famous
Sherpa people, those bandy legged sturdy men and
women that traverse the mountain trails and
reach to the peaks carrying heavy loads and
unassisted by oxygen. The region is located in
Nepal’s north east and is the home to Namche
Bazaar, the bustling Sherpa Settelment that is
the hub of the area. Namche is a busy and
colourfull market town, and for most people,
it’s the first real taste of the Khumbu they
will experience when they enter the area.
The elevation of the Khumbu region ranges from
3,000 metres all the way up to the top of Mount
Everest at 8,848metres and it houses Sagarmatha
National Park, a protected wilderness area. The
Khumbu is also birth place of the most famous
Sherpa of them all, Tenzing Norgay, whom
accompanied Hillary on the first ascent of Mount
Everest.
The geography of the area covers, rugged rocky
valleys, alpine forests and meadows, neat Sherpa
Villages, Glaciers and icefalls. The most
prominent Glacier in the area is the Khumbu
Glacier, which can be found at the base of Mount
Everest. At the head of the glacier is the
Khumbu ice fall, which is regarded as one of the
most dangerous parts of the climb up the
mountain. The ice fall is a spectacular
arrangment of ice towers, crevasses and huge
blocks of ice that are constantly moving and
changing, the ice fall and the glaicer can be
viewed from Kallapatter and Everest Base Camp.
For many years this region has evoked romantic
images of adventurous mountaineers and intrepid
explorer’s, rosy checked Sherpa People and
hairy, sleepy eyed yaks. You can explore this
area today, take in the culture and loose
yourself in the wilderness beauty of this
himalayan paradise under the watchful shadow of
Mount Everest. |
