Everest Expedition (Day 7) - Khumjung

Khumjung, Nepal

I've now arrived at Khumjung, a small village known for its Sherpa culture. If you're attempting to climb to the top of Mount Everest, this is where you'll probably find the porters and guides to get you there.

One of the tourist attractions here ...

is a 600-year-old monastery
containing a rather unusual
relic, a supposed scalp of  a Yeti, "Abominable Snowman".






I made a small donation to see the glass case with the artifact and was allowed to take a couple of pictures.

Judge for yourself.

 

Is this part of an Abominable Snowman?

Khumjung is located at 12,475 feet (3,790 meters). The 1,000-foot gain in elevation took me about two and a half hours of serious, uphill climbing.

The higher I hike the colder it gets. Down jackets, down sleeping bags, and hats are now a necessity. Mornings are rough. With no heat, the second I unzip my sleeping bag the frigid air chills my bones and leaves me seeing my breath each time I exhale.

The accommodations in the Himalayas are called tea houses, simple structures with a common bathroom and a communal dining room.

The only temporary reprieve from the cold is a cast-iron stove that gets lit in the dining room each evening for a couple of hours, which is why you'll find trekkers, guides, and porters alike seated around the stove struggling to keep warm.

Speaking of the dining room, the food has been quite good and quite abundant. I can choose anything from rice dishes to pasta dishes to pizza. I've never had so much food piled on my plate, which makes sense because I need the extra calories for hiking, but my guide told me that digestion slows down at higher elevations, so it's a real guessing game to eat enough food without overdoing it.

The national dish of choice is called dal bhat, a platter of soupy lentils, rice, and normally some type of vegetables, such as potatoes. As the saying goes, "dal bhat power 24 hours." Dal bhat has powered me up my share of mountain passes.

Although 80% of the population is Hindu, Buddhism still permeates all aspects of life in Nepal. Believers turn prayer wheels to obtain blessings and for good luck. The wheels contain scrolls inside with mantras written on them. Buddhists believe that when someone spins a wheel the mantras are activated and released, bringing positive benefits to all.

Travelers often turn the wheels upon leaving or entering a village, a practice I've embraced, seeking any assistance I can get.

In many ways, I feel like I'm living hundreds of years ago, as far as transportation. If a person wants to get to another village, he walks because there are no cars, buses, or even roads. The only alternative is a rather expensive helicopter ride, which is out of the question for most.

At this point in my trek, I've passed the last major outpost, Namche. From here forward, the climbing gets harder and harder, but each step is bringing me closer to the Everest base camp.