Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar is situated at 3440m, and most trekkers take two days to walk there from Lukla. The name Namche is actually a Nepali mispronunciation. It is called Nauche by the Sherpa people and Naboche by Tibetans. It is referred to as a bazaar because of the weekly market, started in 1965.

Namche is the Sherpa ?capital? and administrative centre for the Khumbu district. The headquarters of the Sagamartha National Park and a military post are both situated above the town. There is also a Sherpa Cultural Centre and Museum at the Sherwi Khangba Hotel (the Lodge the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Laboratory is based in). Although Namche is technically a village, it feels like a small town and contains a Gompa (or monastery) and several chortens (small stupa).

It used to be widely populated by pine forests but these are mostly gone, although some reforestation has begun. The village has grown up around a magnificent spring at its centre. The Saturday market is a popular weekly gathering for Sherpas. Tibetans sell dried meat, Chinese made clothes and a few souvenirs, and lowland porters sell food and goods carried up from lower down the valley.

For most trekkers Namche has a special appeal. There is a real sense of achievement in having got this far. The bakeries, cyber cafes, money changing sites, and shops that make up the village give it a real buzz. For so remote a location, it is amazing what you can purchase in this place. Most trekkers will spend a couple of days acclimatising at Namche before heading up the trail towards Pheriche and Everest Base Camp.