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The Sounds of Thyangboche
Thyangboche - Tuesday, April 4, 2000

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Berg

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Good morning Mountain Zone, it's Wally Berg. It's a beautiful morning about 8am at Thyangboche. We've been up for a long time; we got up early, got our [Unintelligible] tea and rolled out, took some photographs, went into the monastery where the monks were praying — kind of sat in that peaceful setting for a while.

We're just enjoying a beautiful morning at what — in our world of mountain adventure anyway — is certainly the most famous monastery in the world. This place was established as a site for a monastery most people feel like about 1911 or something like that in the early 20th century. The first monastery was destroyed in an earthquake in about 1933 and as many of you are aware in 1989 there was a fire that destroyed the Thyangboche Monastery that the first generation of climbers and trekkers got to know so well. Since 1989, a beautiful new monastery has been built and as I've watched it over recent years this sort of new gloss has worn off and it has taken on a really classy setting —classic kind of setting up here.

Very well-used religious place, certainly, but trekkers from all over the world make their pilgrimages here, pass through on their way to higher areas or sometimes just come to Nepal to just visit the Thyangboche Monastery. It's a bit crowded here always, with trekkers, traffic passing through. Dick in our group made that comment to me this morning about how much of the Thyangboche experience is about the sounds you hear: you lay in your tent and you hear the tinkle of yak bells, the conversation of other trekkers, laughter of the Sherpa staff, and then you'll start to hear the conch shells blowing, perhaps the clang of symbols, and the guttural chanting of the monks coming from the monastery — and it's time to go up and check out what's going on.

Really a great scene here, we're camped in a little tight area with a Danish Everest expedition and with a group led by my old buddy Sergio. So we're all crowded in together here, but we'll be moving on. Sergio's group actually...their high point is Thyangboche; they'll be heading back. Of course the Danish expedition theirselves will be moving up closer to Base Camp.

Sergio and I have done a lot over the years together, run into one another in Nepal all the time. I had to laugh yesterday when I saw him out at the Thame Monastery with one of those ferocious Tibetan Mastiffs that you always hear about —those big dogs they chain at the monasteries — and Sergio being the type of character he is had some kind of bond with this dog and I saw this fierce dog that everyone kind of gives a wide berth to happily licking Sergio's face as he was being petted. There's some kind of bond there and I have to admit I've got a bond with Sergio myself. We're two old mountain guides and it's always good to run into him.

I also on my own this morning walked out to the memorial for Jake Breitenbach that I've visited every time I've come to Thyangboche over the years and of course now there are memorials there for Barry Bishop and Lute Jerstad as well. Real special spot for me, I always go there. Those guys were my mentors, those guys from the '63 Everest expedition been heroes to me all my life and in later years became friends. Last time I saw Barry Bishop was actually right here at Thyangboche at Mani Rimdu, I believe in the autumn of 1993 — the 30th anniversary year of the 1963 American expedition. So a lot of memories of old friends and companions up here and that's still growing every year. We always run into great folks up here and that's part of what this trip is about.

Our little group's getting along great, having a fantastic time. All 14 members are still doing well and the adventures are waiting to unfold as we move up the Khumbu. We'll keep you posted with stories as we do that.

— Wally Berg, Alpine Ascents Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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