Namche Bazaar Explained

Namche Bazaar
Native Name:नाम्चे बजार
Settlement Type:Neighborhood
Nickname:The Sherpa capital
Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map:Nepal Province1#Nepal
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Province No. 1
Pushpin Relief:1
Coordinates:27.8167°N 129°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Nepal
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Type3:Rural Municipality
Subdivision Name1:Koshi Province
Subdivision Name2:Solukhumbu District
Subdivision Name3:Khumbu Pasanglhamu
Elevation M:3,440
Population Total:1647
Population As Of:2001
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:56002
Area Code:038
Timezone:NST
Utc Offset:+5:45

Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; Nepali: [[:ne:नाम्चे बजार|नाम्चे बजार]]) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Koshi Province in northeastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3440m (11,290feet) at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most Sherpa in the tourism business hail from the Namche area. Namche is the main trading center and hub for the Khumbu region.

At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,647 people living in 397 individual households.[1]

Geography

Immediately west of Namche is Kongde Ri at 6187m (20,299feet) and to the east is Thamserku at 6623m (21,729feet).

Transport

On a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is the Syangboche Airport (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, located 13 km south of the town.

Tourism

Namche Bazaar is popular with trekkers in the Khumbu region, especially for altitude acclimatization, and is the gateway to the high Himalaya. 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, said to be the highest and most remote Irish pub in the world.[2] 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 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.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Climate

Namche has either a relatively cold dry-winter subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification Cwb) or an unusually mild dry-winter warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dwb), depending on if you use the 0°C isotherm or the NaN°C isotherm. The city features pleasant, wet summers and chilly, dry winters mainly affected by its altitude and the summer monsoon season. The average precipitation is 11100NaN0, and the average temperature is 6.11NaN1. The average rainfall in Namche per year is 1,050 mm, with more than half of rainfall occurring in between June and August.[7]

Pop culture references

"Namche Bazaar" is the name of a song by Nathan Rogers on his album The Gauntlet. The song was inspired by the mixing of culture along the silk road.


External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nepal Census 2001. Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. November 14, 2008. October 12, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081012163506/http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/nepalcensus/form.php?selection=1. live.
  2. News: World's remotest Irish bar: 'We will survive Covid'. Owen Amos. 7 August 2020. BBC News. 8 August 2020. 7 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200807183813/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53675741. live.
  3. http://www.pap.co.at/index.php?id=63&tx_ttnews%5Byear%5D=1985&tx_ttnews%5Bmonth%5D=01&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=137&cHash=a6ff6cf6ce1e3cb9f28548bd230380d7 Small Hydropower Plant Nanche Bazar
  4. Web site: Kleinwasserkraftwerk Thame - Namche Bazar im Sagarmatha Nationalpark . 2016-11-27 . 2016-11-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161127152125/http://www.ecohimal.org/index.php?id=19 . live .
  5. Web site: Khumbu Bijuli Company . 2016-11-27 . 2017-04-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170416142109/http://www.kbc.org.np/ . live .
  6. http://www.ecohimal.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Energy%20from%20the%20top%20of%20the%20world.pdf Small Hydropower Plant Thame-Namche Bazar, Nepal
  7. Web site: Bold . Himalaya . Namche Bazaar .