Day 3 of Trekking--To Khumjung At Last!, Clic to view FULL set with captions on Flickr.
I loved Namche. It was all hills and houses and markets with lots of wonderful colors , just like my colors. We didn’t even have to wake up early, but got up and got going around lunch! We packed up and said goodbye to our new friends at the Namche Hotel.
Then Phurba took us to a new museum all about Sherpa culture. It had just opened the day before, and our friend Lhakpa Sherpa helped organize it and open it for everybody. There was lots of stuff about the old Sherpa ways he writes about in Through A Sherpa Window, so I knew some already. I liked the gigantic horns there and the great big cymbols. (I’m sorry it was a "no pictures" place so I can’t send you any.) It was in a monestery, though, and I have pictures of that.
Next we went to another learning place. It was the big center for the Sagamartha Park (Sagamartha is Mt. Everest in English), and there was a new special part all about Phurba Sherpa’s husband! Phurba has been our class friend at The Agnes Irwin School where the 6th graders have learned all about the Sherpa and me! When she was a little girl, she lived in Khumjung, and now she lives near Washington, DC in the USA. Phurba’s husband, Mingma, was in charge of the whole Sagamartha Park and helped make the park clean and healthy for everyone. Then he helped people all over the world learn how to do that in their parks too. When I grow up, I hope I can do something really helpful like Mingma Sherpa did. (I’m sorry he died about five years ago, but his teaching is still helping people today.)
Mrs. Crow took me to all these places with the group, but Mr. Harlan went a different way. He told me he learned some things too, though. He had his lunch in a place with cooking in the old Sherpa way and said it was very tasty! (I think he likes food a lot.) He said he had a potato pancake with yak butter and onion sauce. The place where he ate it looked like this:
All of us had to go up and up to get to Khumjung, though. I was really glad Mrs. Crow carried me so cozily. I still felt tired when we finally got there. It was so amazing to see the school I’ve just heard about for so long. It was right there when we walked into the village, and I saw kids practicing flips on the grass with a really nice man who’s a circus performer. He came for the celebration just like us!
Walking into the village, we went along the school grounds, and Mrs. Crow introduced me to lots of kids. They were so friendly and liked to hold me.
Then we walked along a big big row of mani. (Mani are stones carved with prayers for good wishes from the Buddhist religion that most people here have.)
It was so great to get here. Phurba went to stay at her mom’s and we got settled in our nice lodge. It’s called the Ama Dablam, and that’s the name of a gigantic mountain right near the village. The mountains here are everywhere. I made new friends while Mr. Harlan and Mrs. Crow got the Dream Flags ready for their big day.
Sorry for the long entry—so much to tell! See you later.
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