Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 1 | Page 23

Rolwaling and Everest
While this region is famous for its high peaks and its Sherpa
inhabitants, just to the south is a wonderful opportunity to swap
mountain experiences for cultural ones. There is an Indigenous
People’s Trail here where you can try to play the Tamang’s
‘damphoo’, consult a Thami shaman or fish with Majhi peoples
and enjoy a fresh fish BBQ on a sandy riverbank. This is also a
goodplacetoexperiencethefestivalsofSauneSakranti(middleof
July),SorhaShradda(middleofSeptember),Janai-Purnima(end
of June), Maghi (middle of February) and Lhosar (February).
The trek to Everest’s base camp is a popular classic and it’s
easy to reach its starting point by a short flight. However the
beautiful walk in from Jiri is highly recommended. Jagged
white peaks surround you from day one and comfortable,
well-stocked lodges run by friendly Sherpanis are sprinkled
along the wide and even trails. And busy! In peak season, you
could be sharing the trails with hundreds of others. If you
add a little of the GHT route to your journey, you can find a
little solitude and enjoy a more intimate experience of Sherpa
culture. The‘Three Passes Trek’will take you on an adventure
across the heart of the Sagarmatha National Park—with its
quiet monasteries and turquoise glacial lakes, it has arguably
the most stunning viewpoint of Everest atop the Renjo La.
Plan your trip carefully to coincide with the colourful Mani
Rimdu festival in Thame after October’s full moon.
True GHT adventurers will look further east and west. Shipton
and Hillary first trekked to the east in their exploratory 1952
expeditionviatheformidable‘threecols’intotheMakaluregion.
This must certainly Ʌ