Everest Base Camp Trek Dispatch

April 3, 2009 – Team Does Complete Khunde Day

Ang Temba called BAI’s Canada office this morning to report that Kit, Bob, Ed, Jim and Janet had all had a great day in Khunde. Khunde, elevation 12,600 ft. (3840m), is a Sherpa village that is perhaps more central to Everest climbing history than any other. Khunde’s neat green roofed houses and its well-tended fields are the home to families that have been involved with Everest climbers and trekkers from the beginning. Edmond Hillary was especially fond of Khunde and he and his family have been intimately involved with the village since the 1950’s.

Temba told us that the group started the day by making the long climb above the village to a beautiful ridge crest where prayer flags and chortens (rock monuments) form a memorial to Edmond Hillary’s wife Louise and daughter Belinda, who were killed in a plane accident on takeoff from Kathmandu in 1975. This spot has been very special to the Hillary family, Sherpas of Khunde and to BAI trekkers who make the climb for many years. The views of Khumbu Valley, the Bhote Kosi valley toward the village of Thame and the surrounding peaks is stunning. Fog drifting around the peaks usually gives the spot a spiritual feeling.

Later in the day the group visited the Khude Hospital, which was founded by the Hillary Trust more nearly 50 years ago. Later they walked to the neighboring village of Khumjung and visited the first Hillary School, which was founded in 1961 and still operates to this day. A visit to Khumjung monastery, which houses the famous “Yeti Skull”, rounded off a very full day.

The team is staying at the lodge and home of Tsering Sherpa, brother to Ang Temba. Tsering served as Base Camp Manager for both the 2003 and 2006 Berg Adventures Everest Expeditions. He is an electrician for the Khumbu Bijuli Company, which provides hydropower the Sherpas of Khumbu. Temba told us that as an end to the group’s day they watched Everest videos, including the National Geographic film Surviving Everest, on which Temba worked in 2002.