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. |
