Namche Bazaar


Namche Bazaar is a town in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. 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 with many Nepalese officials, a police check, post, a bank, and even a beauty salon.
At the time of the 2001 Nepal census, it had a population of 1,647 people living in 397 individual households.

Geography

Immediately west of Namche is Kongde Ri at and to the east is Thamserku at.

Transport

On a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is the Syangboche Airport. 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. A popular local meal is yak steak.
On Saturday mornings, a weekly market is held in the center of the village. There may also be a daily Tibetmarket where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the main articles for sale.
Namche has electricity from nearby Thame-Namche small hydropower plant, opened in October 1995 near Thame.

Climate

Namche has either a relatively cold dry-winter subtropical highland climate or an unusually mild dry-winter warm-summer humid continental climate, depending on if you use the 0°C isotherm or the -3°C isotherm. The city features cool, wet summers and chilly, dry winters mainly affected by its altitude and the summer monsoon season. The average precipitation is 1110 mm, and the average temperature is 6.1°C.

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.