Frolicking In Sherpaland

October 25, 2025

Frolicking In Sherpaland

There is really nothing like discovering a place than with someone who calls it home. The last time I was in Namche Bazaar in the Everest region I was doing an acclimatisation stop en route to Everest base camp about 8 plus years ago. I stayed for a few days with my guide, felt dreadful as I adjusted to the thinner air, with 30 percent less oxygen than sea level, and it was foggy, rainy, and I didn’t really know where to hang out. This time I was hosted by my Sherpa family friends and my experience was completely different.

Namche Bazaar is the center of the Sherpa tourism industry in the Khumbu region. It was traditionally a trading hub with dramatic views of the Himalayan peaks. Mountaineering and trekking expeditions stop and stay to adjust to the thinner air before ascending to higher destinations and thus it’s known as the gateway to Everest, as well as the other impressive 8000 plus metre peaks in the Everest region.

And it’s changed a lot since the last time I was here! Though it still retains the famous Sherpa hospitality and traditions, it’s kept up with the times. Strong WiFi and local sim roaming means you can keep constantly in touch, bars are aplenty with a wide selection of alcohol, rösti is very popular with yak cheese (the Swiss brought their cheese technology to the region), pizzas, pastas, and even Japanese food can be had.

Trekking and climbing equipment is still sold everywhere and you can find familiar brands in the shopping streets, like elsewhere in the world. Accommodations have changed, too En-suite bathrooms abound, hot water for showers, numerous charging plugs in the rooms, heated beds though the rooms are still cold even if living rooms/dining rooms have radiators to keep you warm and toasty. I’m sure it’s 5 star compared to lodges in higher altitudes until perhaps you get to base camp. Apparently in base camp now you can hire these pods below for a very large sum of money where you can relax and dine with fresh produce that is helicoptered in from Kathmandu daily. Luxury travel and experiences can offer you anything nowadays

Sherpa people are very warm, frank and quite honest. Buddhism is deeply ingrained in their daily lives and believing in keeping good karma gives them a positive and generous spirit. Plus they’re fun loving, enjoy a tipple or two, dancing, a bit of gambling and story telling. The best way to describe them is happy, chilled, and hardworking.

They’ve moved so much with the times that there are techno festivals, wedding receptions with an Everest backdrop, and other events You can’t begrudge the commercialisation of the region, the once bustling historic trading route was shut down after the closure of Tibet, and tourism has brought prosperity to the once struggling Sherpa region. It’s been transformative, the Sherpas are now the busy entrepreneurs and the porters arrive from other non Sherpa areas for their income.

The atmosphere is very lively in the bustling hub, the climbers are full of optimism and those returning jubilant with what they’ve tried or have accomplished. On a side note, it’s amazing what you can see at high altitude without much light pollution, meteor showers!

I continued my research for my book, hiked up to see some views and get much needed exercise (too much rōsti) went to a few very interesting museums: the Culture Museum of Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa, the photographer and climbing historian with a body of work of 40 years of research and photos of the Sherpa people, of course one dedicated to the famous Tenzing Norgay, and Sagarmatha Next, an art collection utilising waste left on the mountain to make waste management an important focus, managed and co founded by Swedish Tommy Gustafsson.

I also encountered a couple of Swedes Oskar Normellu and Möns Sjögren filmmaking,mountaineering, skiing group of Projekt Om Haglöfs and they were on their way to climb and ski down a 7126 metre mountain Himlung Himalayan for a film to benefit Kanata Basic School in a Sherpa village. They have already scaled Aman Dablan (photo above, second mountain below Everest).

And finally I’d like to thank Maya and the two Tserings for my wonderful stay in their hotel Namaste. It was a lovely experience, staying in comfort at almost 3500 metres, spacious rooms with en-suite facilities and the hottest showers and warm beds, a very lively warm dining atmosphere with the best crispy rōstis with yak cheese and crispy chilli chicken. Well travelled, European educated, multi lingual, incredibly helpful and efficient owners of this establishment, I hope to see them all soon again. They’re the embodiment of Sherpa hospitality.