The Sherpas

The name of the Sherpas translated literally means "easterner", and the Sherpas originate from an area of Eastern Tibet. They stared to settle in the Khumbu area about six hundred years ago. However, not all Sherpas live in Khumbu, but are also found through out Nepal and in India, Bhutan and Tibet. These days many Sherpas live in Kathmandu. Traditionally they live in sparsely populated areas of high Himalayas and share many cultural links with Tibet including their language, religion, dress, architecture and agricultural practices. The Sherpas also historically traded with Tibet rather than the south. The main trade was in salt and wool. Kathmandu was, until recently, a difficult long journey and to a place where the culture and climate are very different. In fact Sherpas make up only about 1% of the predominately Hindu population of Nepal. It is estimated that there are about 250,000 people who call themselves Sherpas but only about three thousand live in Khumbu. The Sherpas from Khumbu became world-renowned when a Sherpa, Mr. Tenzin Norgay climbed Everest for the first time with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.

Subsequently Sherpas have often worked with mountaineering expeditions and trekking groups and this is one of the main sources of income and employment [and death] in the area.

The Environment

Nepal has one of the most diversified environments in the world, ranging from the hot dusty Indian plains to the tops of the Himalayas. Tengboche is in Khumbu, a district north east of Kathmandu on the Nepal - Tibet boarder. It is over 1,1000 sq. meters and covers altitudes from 2800 meters to some of the highest mountains in the world. More than 95 % of this region is above 4000m. Powerful forces have created Khumbu and the awesome mountain range that surrounds it. For over 50 million years, the Indian continental plate ground up against southern Asia, and then finally slipped beneath it. The resulting uplift of the Asian plate is what created the Himalayas, including Mount Everest. This continental collision continues today, and India is pushing 18mm towards Tibet each year resulting in the Himalayas growing upwards by 5mm annually. Periodic earthquakes and landslides are a result of the incredible changes being wrought in the Himalayas.

Climate

The climate varies from temperate to arctic depending on altitude and aspect. The area is somewhat protected from the worst extremes by a wall of ridges which surround Khumbu. This gives it its hidden valley quality and creates partial rain shadow conditions that keep out the worst of the torrential monsoon rains coming up from India and the icy winds that blow across the Tibetan plateau from the north. The climate also reflects its relatively low latitude; it is further south than Cairo, still in the winter temperatures drop well below freezing. Thus Khumbu has a relatively low snowfall though avalanches are still a hazard and people and livestock sometimes lost to storms. The climate varies considerably. In monsoon, it rains heavily and temperatures rise up to 20 degree Celsius. In winter the climate can be extremely hard, dropping below 20 degrees and snowfall is frequent.

Forests and Flowers

Most of Khumbu is high alpine country, an area of ice, alpine tundra and lichen. The snow line is at 6000m on southern slopes and 5800 m on northern aspects. Only 2 % of the district are forested and these follow the valleys by die out higher than 4000m. The lower valleys are conifer country, higher up come the fir, pine, birch, rhododendron and juniper. Above 4000m come the dwarf and a highly scented incense rhododendrons, alpine shrubs, herbs and grasses. It is in the clean pristine alpine meadows that most of the herbs used in Tibetan medicine grow.

Tengboche lies just below the tree line it and is surround by many mature trees including rhododendron, pine and birch. Higher up the trees thin out until there is only scrub and a few junipers left. The forest below the monastery was placed under the care of Lama Gulu when the monastery was constructed in 1919 as so has been spared some of the worst felling, but that is changing as other areas of forest become depleted and wood increases in scarcity and value. Higher up there are only scattered larger trees, many smaller scrubs and dense undergrowth.

Wildlife

The Sagarmatha National Park was created in 1976 in response to an increase in tourism and subsequent increase in demand for natural resources. In the east is the more recently created Makaklu-Barun Conservation area and to the north the huge Qomolangma Reserve in Tibet. Within this area are some rare and protected animals. Sadly there is still poaching and illegal cutting of forests despite National Park regulations. There have been a few sightings of the elusive snow leopard. However it is more common to see musk deer or Himalayan Tahr and Goral, both species of wild goat. In the skies above Lammergeiers, choughs and ravens soar freely on the mountain winds. However the growing numbers of visitors and pressure on natural resources is threatening wildlife.