The next two days we were steering off of the main EBC trek a little bit to visit the village of Khumjung and Phortse.
Khumjung
Some exciting helicopter action as it was landing on one of the sketchiest landing strips I have ever seen. On this landing strip, helicopters had to land like airplanes gliding through the entire strip.
Right after we arrived at Khumjung, we visited the school which was built by Sir Edmund Hillary in appreciation of the Nepalese people. Despite located in the middle of Himalayas, this school is considered one of the best in Nepal with students constantly achieving the highest average scores on exams.
Khumjung is most famous for the Yeti skull in the main monastery. Yetis are rumored to be gorilla-like creatures that roam in the mountains of Himalayas. Its skull had been carefully kept under the watchful eye of the Buddha to keep the mountains safe.
Inside the monastery were also many books that contained prayers sang for the deceased. The sons of each family will pay the monks to sing the prayers. The more you pay, the more books or prayers they will chant to bless the deceased. The price is steep. You are considered well off if you can afford more than 20 of these books.
One of my teammates spinning one of many prayer wheels on the trail. Every time you spin the wheel, you say the prayer once.
In Nepal, there are a lot of stray dogs laying around. Many locals will feed them as dogs are often celebrated for their loyalty. Nigma even told me that many Sherpas dream to be a dog in the next life. The reason? They sleep all the time and don’t need to walk. Whether it was a joke or not, there is some truth in it. Sherpas live in the Everest region on a tough terrain (to put it mildly), even the 70-year-old grandmas have to climb up and down. The moment that some one cannot walk anymore is the moment that they may not be able to work and eat. A harsh reality.
Local kids excited to get on pictures.
