Namche Bazaar
Neighborhood in Solukhumbu District, Koshi Province, Nepal
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Per the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,647 people living in 397 individual households.
Geography
Namche Bazaar is situated 137 km (85 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, 366 km (227 miles) north of the provincial capital Biratnagar, and 13 km north of the nearest Tenzing–Hillary Airport in Lukla.
Immediately west of Namche is the Kongde Ri peak at 6,187 metres (20,299 ft) and to its east is the Thamserku peak at 6,623 metres (21,729 ft).
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Transport
On a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is Syangboche Airport (3,750 m / 12,303 ft). It is no longer used for passenger flights, though helicopter flight is the option to reach directly to Namche Bazar. The heliapd is located to the right north part of Bazar on the day to Dole. Airbus helicopter, Bell and MI17 helicopter operate flight to Namche.
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, stores and internet cafés catering to the needs of visitors. There are German bakeries, little cafés and many restaurants. There is also an Irish pub, 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 town. There may also be a daily Tibet market where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the main articles for sale.
Namche receives electricity from the nearby Thame-Namche hydropower plant (600 kW), opened in October 1995 near Thame.
Climate
Namche has either a relatively cold dry-winter subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification Cwb) or an unusually mild dry-winter warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dwb), depending on if you use the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm or the −3 °C (26.6 °F) isotherm. The town features pleasant, wet summers and chilly, dry winters mainly affected by its altitude and the summer monsoon season. The average precipitation is 1,110 millimetres or 44 inches, and the average temperature is 6.1 °C or 43.0 °F.
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.