Nepal I - Culture

We began our journey at Lukla where we traversed towards Pakding. It felt unreal, unlike the city life in Singapore, you experience the humble livelihood of Sherpas as we trekked through the Himalayan region.

The Sherpas pride themselves on their rich culture and excellence in mountaineering.  Living in simple agrarian villages, they own farms and lodges where they host travelers from around the world. Their humble lifestyle is a complete juxtaposition to the risks they take to assist climbers in ascending the peaks. After spending a night at Pakding, we traversed through Namche Hill towards Namche Bazaar.

Namche Bazaar is a historical trading hub, an entire town with schools, shops, museums, and medical facilities high up at 3400m. We had the privilege to meet Kancha Sherpa, the last surviving sherpa from the first expedition to summit Everest. He shared stories of his encounters with Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

From the time Namche was a small village, to now a bustling town, he had lived through the ebbs and flows of the region. Kancha is a highly respected man in the mountaineering community. 

We embarked on our first acclimation trek up to the Everest Hotel at 3800m. The team needed to hike high and sleep low to adapt to the limited oxygen. The visit to Namche Bazar made me realize this climb was more than just an adventure, it was an immersion into the heritage and culture of the Sherpas. We climb not to put our flags on the peak, but to appreciate how vast the world is.