The typical trail for a Himalayan hiker is to lead out to the northeast beyond the luxury outpost of the Hotel Everest View. Directly north, of course along a winding, downhill path through the pine forest, you will pass between the villages of Khunde and Khumjung, and you’ll be met with a steep incline leading up the face of the holy mountain Khumbi Yul Lha. Several mountain peaks are revered as holy lands and are not defiled with errant footsteps. Khumjung itself is a holy gathering point for Buddhist monks and other faithful Sherpas. Below in the village is an enormous stupa, a wall of mani stones that leads on for what seems to be hundreds of meters, a monastery (with an ancient yeti scalp on display), and Pema Dorje’s personal pride, a Buddhist chapel he has crafted in a corner of his own home. Pema has enjoyed spending some time there in his home region this winter without having any white monkeys to watch over.

After all of this talk about hiking formidably steep trails we’ve earned a respite for breathing some crisp, pine air and for gazing out upon a wide valley view and a peek at the distant wisps of jet stream clouds being scraped from the stratosphere by the tip of Mt. Everest. While we’re still in the vicinity of Khumjung this must be in reference to the Hotel Mt. Everest, hidden away at the edge of a ridge line overlooking the deep gash of a river valley leading up to Mt. Everest. Making your way to the immaculate stone structure wrapped in pine trees and tufts of fog is a stroke of luck if you can find the right path. There is hardly a marked trail, much less a pulsing strobe light with a garish marquis drawing in visitors. Wandering across this hilltop may lead you northwest to the village of Kunde, a nudge west to the defunct Shyangboche airstrip, downright south to a tumble down to Namche, or serendipitously to the secret back entrance to the hotel, although there doesn’t seem to be a proper front entrance to this exclusive luxury resort. There is no driveway loop to pull through and no valet to catch your keyring in a dash.

Stepping off of the plane at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport from an international flight you will pass through the visa checkpoint. This is your last opportunity to unload some of your US dollars before entering the realm of the Nepalese Rupee (NPR) in paper and coin. The exchange rate has hovered around 75 NPR to 1 US dollar for the past five years. In early 1995 it was just under 50, and in January and November of 1998 there were sudden jumps (or drops from the Nepalese perspective) in the rate of exchange, with a shift of 11 NPR within a year. This is probably not the most telling statistic when it comes to describing the state of Nepal’s economy and their international trade, although it is of interest to tourist who make up a significant part of Nepal’s revenues. The most significant trading partner with Nepal is India, and considering the relative magnitude of their neighboring economy it seems that India could easily crush Nepal with any misstep. Nepal does have a heavy trade deficit, and that is primarily (~55%) with India. Nepal does not have that much to offer as export, but relies on many industrial and foodstuff imports.

Over the last several months I have been fully engaged in learning about the culture and the experience of Nepal. I certainly haven’t touched on every side of life in Nepal but as far as getting to know all about Pema and his life of leading treks up and down the trails past his home in Khumjung I have involved myself very intensely. I spent over a month just talking with Pema and recording all of his stories, then I spent a month researching and setting up this website, then a month in Nepal living the experience first hand, and now it has been over a month since I’ve been back. I’ve written lots of blogs and articles on the subject and I’ve wandered the topics widely in my writing. It’s amazing to think of all that I’ve learned and how familiar I have become with the ways and viewpoints of the Nepalese people, especially the Sherpas. It looks like the others from our group have settled in and adjusted back to the world, but with slightly changed perspectives. Actually the Stranges (Steve and John) may not be back to normal just yet. Their plan was just to rest up for a couple of weeks and then get back out on a trekking route to Patagonia way down at the bottom of South America. Of course it’s actually summer down there now, so I don’t feel so bad for them, but they sure don’t have any luxuries where they’re going.