Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

(formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in

Solukhumbu District Solukhumbu District ( ne, सोलुखुम्बु जिल्ला , Sherpa: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu and Khumbu. ...

Province No. 1 Province No. 1 (proposed names: Kirat Autonomous State, Kirat, Limbuwan, Khambuwan Rashtriya Morcha, Nepal, Khambuwan, Mount Everest, Sagarmatha, Virata, Birat and Koshi River, Koshi) is the easternmost of the seven Provinces of Nepal, province ...

of north-eastern

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. It is located within the

Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Province No. 1.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ( ...

area at at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

who are in the tourism business are from the Namche area. Namche is the main trading center and hub for the Khumbu region. At the time of the

2001 Nepal census The 2001 Nepal census ( ne, राष्ट्रिय जनगणना २०५८) was conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics.National Report 2001 -> Introduction Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics According to the census, the po ...

, it had a population of 1,647 people living in 397 individual households.

Geography

Immediately west of Namche is

Kongde Ri Kongde Ri (sometimes Kwangde Ri) is a mountain in the Himalaya of eastern Nepal. The mountain is located four km west of Namche Bazaar Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is ...

at and to the east is

Thamserku Thamserku is a mountain in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal. The mountain is connected by a ridge leading eastward to Kangtega. Thamserku is a prominent mountain to the east of Namche Bazaar and lies just north of Kusum Kangguru. The first ascen ...

at .

Transport

On a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is the

Syangboche Airport Syangboche Airport is a domestic airport located in Namche Bazaar serving Solukhumbu District, a district in Province No. 1 in Nepal. The airstrip is the closest airstrip to Mount Everest and Everest Base Camp. However, it is not often used ...

(3,750 m / 12,303 ft). It is no longer used for passenger flights, though Russian helicopters make occasional cargo flights. The nearest open airport is

Tenzing–Hillary Airport Tenzing-Hillary Airport , also known as Lukla Airport, is a domestic airport and altiport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu Pasanglhamu, Solukhumbu District, Province No. 1 of Nepal. It gained worldwide fame as it was rated the most dangerou ...

, located 13 km south of the town.

Tourism

Namche Bazaar is popular with trekkers in the Khumbu region, especially for

altitude acclimatization The effects of high altitude on humans are mostly the consequences of reduced partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere. The oxygen saturation of hemoglobin determines the content of oxygen in blood. After the human body reaches around above ...

, and is the gateway to the high

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. The town has a number of lodgings and stores catering to the needs of visitors as well as a number of internet cafés. There are German bakeries, little cafes and many restaurants. There is also an

Irish pub An Irish pub is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Irish pubs are characterised by a unique culture centred around a casual and friendly atmosphere, hearty food and drink, Irish sports, and ...

, said to be the highest and most remote Irish pub in the world. A popular local meal is yak steak. On Saturday mornings, a weekly market is held in the centre of the village. There may also be a daily

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

market where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the main articles for sale. Namche has electricity from the nearby Thame-Namche hydropower plant (600 kW), opened in October 1995 near

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...

.Small Hydropower Plant Thame-Namche Bazar, Nepal
/ Energy from the top of the world. Austrian Development Co-operation, ed. Dieter Rachbauer, Eco Himal, 2001

Climate

Namche has either a relatively cold dry-winter

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cwb'') or an unusually mild dry-winter warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

''Dwb''), depending on if you use the isotherm or the isotherm. The city features pleasant, wet summers and chilly, dry winters mainly affected by its altitude and the summer

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season. The average precipitation is , and the average temperature is .

Pop culture references

"Namche Bazaar" is the name of a song by

Nathan Rogers Nathan Rogers (born July 16, 1979 in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadians, Canadian folk musician/songwriter. He is the son of Stan Rogers, Stan and Ariel Rogers. His father, a folk musician and songwriter, died in a fire aboard ...

on his album ''The Gauntlet''. The song was inspired by the mixing of culture along the silk road.
Namche Bazaar-Ausblick-10-2007-gje.jpg Namche Bazaar from above, Nepal.jpg Namche Bazaar-30-2007-gje.jpg Namche Bazaar, Shopping street, Nepal.jpg Namche Bazaar-Gompa-08-innen-2007-gje.jpg Namche Bazaar-Tibetermarkt-08-2007-gje.jpg

References

External links

*
Shrine at Namche Bazar
{{Authority control Populated places in Solukhumbu District Tourism in Nepal Bazaars in Nepal Hill stations in Nepal Tourist attractions in Nepal Khumbu Pasanglhamu