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 o ...

(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, Limbuwan, Khambuwan, Sagarmatha, Birat and Koshi) is the easternmost of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. The province covers an ...

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 ma ...

. It is located within the Khumbu area at at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most Sherpa 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. The mountain is classified as a trekking peak The term "Trekking Peak" is a commonly misunderstood colloqu ...

at and to the east is Thamserku at .

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 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 s ...

, 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 10 ...

. 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.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, nota ...

''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 freez ...

(

''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) is a Canadian folk musician/songwriter. He is the son of Stan and Ariel Rogers. His father, a folk musician and songwriter, died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797 on June 2, 1983. R ...

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