We have really wound down the intensity of our itinerary, not that we’ve ever gotten really hard-core. We don’t have any more great ambitions for personal accomplishment or setting any records. In effect we’re making ourselves at home at Pema’s lodge and we’re preparing for the transitional we’ll be making back to our hectic lives. Richard has always held as the top priority for this trip to be making bonds between his family and Pema’s, for Richard’s two sons to become great friends with Pema’s sons. We all have gotten familiar with the scenery and with the day-to-day lifestyle of a Sherpa family here. About the only thing that has enticed us to lace up our hiking boots lately has been to make the climb up and way down the Khumjung hill to Namche. That village is like a magical kingdom for us because it’s our connection with the outside world through the internet cafe, some variety in our diet with the delicious Western style bakeries, with the well-stocked variety stores, and the lively atmosphere as the staging area for all the hikers. There is a stereo near the Everest Bakery that plays decent music, such as The Police, to pull you back into your old paradigm. As a group we’ve gone down to Namche a number of times for shopping and just to relive our old comforts. The only thing is that it is really a tough hill to climb, it takes us well over an hour each way, and it’s a workout. I made the hike 3 times in 4 days, so I’m worn out from it. All the work isn’t quite worth it just to get a doughnut.

In my precious visits to Namche I’ve gotten to know the German-style bakeries lining the main alleyway. On a recent trip I tried out the Pumpernical Bakery, and I was impressed with their secret weapon – cakes and pies. The other bakeries were pretty amazing with their croissants and danishes, the Pumpernical has plum cake, carrot cake, applesauce cake, apple crumb, banana cake, and lemon cake, and… etc. See what I mean. This goes way beyond the apple pie at Everest Bakery. Granted, the recipes are not quite as rich and sweet as you’d get at an American diner, but compared to chapati and porridge, it’s an indulgence. After a recent comment we got on this blog about enjoying gluttonous American food we decided we just had to get a hamburger at the Pumpernical. You can imagine our anticipation and our salivating chops. They promised us a delicious bun with fresh tomato, onion, nak cheese, and yak meat. On first sight is was a little off of our expectations, but it was interesting. The bun was cut into thirds with the top compartment decked with tomatoes and purple onions. The lower compartment held the prize, the nak cheese and the meat. The meat was extremely well-done and it turns out nak cheese just doesn’t melt at terrestrial temperatures. So the result was like eating a jerky burger with cut up strips of odor eaters. Nevertheless, the fresh tomatoes and the purple onions really hit the spot – they were really delicious. It wasn’t the same kind of feeling you get on gorging down a juicy McBurger with secret sauce, but it was a good exercise in stretching our imagination.

On our recent hike down to Namche, as we passed the school yard for the Hillary School, we happened to witness what must have been their organized muster and calisthenics period. All the kids were lined up, rank and file, out on the yard, and a drum was beating to lead them through a routine. It was such an interesting scene as we passed the mammoth Stupa and the vast stretch of mani stones, the stoneworkers chipping at the rocks, seeing the hill leading up and the down to Namche, with clouds settling through the edges of the valley. Compared to what we’ve seen, Khumjung is a very prosperous Sherpa village. In contrast to the skew towards Western tastes in Namche, Khumjung feels very much like it is isolated from the outside world, but it is an industrious and culturally rich community. A major factor is the effect that Sir Edmund Hillary has had here. Beyond his great accomplishments in mountaineering, he has done a great deal to help the Sherpa people progress in a way that helps them be very self-reliant. Sir Hillary has not used his resources as a philanthropist to give aid to people in need, rather he has organized the resources and required of the people themselves to make the plans and do much of the work. He has been a partner with the Sherpa people to build the infrastructure with them. The results include the school in Khumjung, the hospital in Khunde, and the airport in Lukla. He is vastly admired in this region and his historic summit of Mount Everest in 1953 is practially a footnote to his great effect on the Khumbu.

Today, the 25th, we worked up a leisurely plan to hike just a few hundred feet above Khumjung on the sacred mountain Khumbila. Normally it just isn’t done to hike up and summit the mountain, but we wanted to see some of the memorials and prayer flags. Pema also promised us a clear view down the southern valley to Lukla, where we could see airplanes coming and going from the airport (so we could be even more mentally absent from this trek). As we got up on the ridgeline though we saw the fog rolling in unusually early. By the time we were at the prayer flags there was no view at all for us. Nima, our guide for the morning, offered to take us to a higher ridge, but as a sign of our resignation, we opted to take the trail back down. We made it to the neighboring village of Khunde to see Nima’s home, which is an amazing structure relative to most of the others in the area. He introduced us to his wife, and we learned a little more about his family. He is Pema’s nephew and Nawang’s cousin. When Nawang still lived in Nepal Nima was actually studying as a monk. Since then he changed his plans and his parents arranged a marriage from him. Nima and his wife have been together for about 3 and a half years, and I think they finished the final stage of the marriage about a year ago. Nima has been very good for our group with his cheerful personality. He speaks English really well, so we’ve been able get his instights on a lot of things.

[Tashi] I am wating for game boy. I din’t got it because to get game boy from Danil, Matthew must finish his homework. I have to wait until mathew finished his homework. So I am feeling boared to wait about 12 hours.
[Dan W.] That’s right. All of the boys are extremely anxious to get ahold of my GameBoy so they can play Donkey Kong, but I’ve set a condition in place that Matthew has to get through all of his homework before anyone can play any games. Now that we’re getting close to the end we’ve really encouraged John and Matthew to crack the books and get through all of their assignments. If they can do that it will be a very fun and relaxing trip back home. I have been coaching both of them on their math homework and it’s going pretty well. The end is in sight, but Matthew was getting a little discouraged. Tashi is driving me nuts though because he desperately needs to have his Donkey Kong. I’ve been using that sense of urgency to get him to encourage Matthew to finish, and I think it’s working.

[John C.] This small paragraph is about the games that I John taught the kids of Khumjung. Tonight was very dark and misty, the perfect setting for the game, Ghost in the Graveyard.
I taught Tashi and Tenzing how to play this, they taught the others, and we had a great rumble. Matthew and I also taught them a few scout camp games we picked up over the years. I now think we have started a new fad in Khumjung. It is just cute to watch the small little kids play the indian foot game and rumble in the dirt. I love the great thought that half way across the world there is a small village that is playing a game i knew since i was a small little lad. I have now figured out that they are more addicted to gameboy then i ever was and they are bugging the crap out of Daniel.