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September 21, 2006 - Shopping in Namche
This is Leila Silveira reporting from Namche Bazaar, our rest day! We woke up to a foggy day which meant no hike to the Everest viewpoint for this team. It was no problem though, we will have plenty of opportunity to view Everest during this trip. We will even sleep at base camp itself, where we will have a personal and up close look at Chomolungma (the Tibetan name for Everest). We had a great breakfast together with members experimenting with all types of options. I actually should mention a new recipe that Karen created which in my opinion soon might make the main menu. Tibetan bread with a layer of cheese and tomato. It sounds good and is really good especially here at our lodge where they make great light and fluffy Tibetan bread.
We all enjoyed his visit and we couldn’t help but be amazed that he does all his paintings without a finger, he lost all of his fingers due to frostbite when he was a climbing Sherpa. He is certainly a talented artist and we were honored to have the opportunity to purchase some of his work.
Even though the weather was unstable that didn’t stop the members to enjoy Namche to its fullest. Shopping was the plan and shopping we did. Lots of bargaining, playing, talking and making friends with the store owners and as Maria said, ‘before I buy anything I need to first like the owner of the shop’. Of course after all the shopping there is nothing like a visit to the local bakery where many BAI trekkers have come to enjoy. Chocolate cakes, apple pie, you name it, we had it. Now, we just need to relax, have dinner, pack our bags and move on tomorrow to one of my favorite places, Thame. Located off the beaten path and not as often visited as the usual trail to Everest base camp, Thame is certainly a place to see; home of the oldest Monastery in the valley and close to the Nangpa La; that’s the pass the Tibetans use to come to Nepal.
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Right after breakfast we had a visit from Pasang Sherpa, who is famous in the valley for his beautiful tankas, which you may see often as a reproduction on local postcards. Actually when I visited the Pangboche monastery last month together with our Everest team and met with Lama Geshi, he gave each team member one of Pasang Sherpa’s postcards and asked the members to carry always in their pack, even to the summit. When you are there you see on the wall lots of photos of different climbers on the summit of Everest carrying the post card.