Sherpa community has to be one of the most hospitable communities that you will be coming through during your tours to Nepal, Sikkim, or Tibet. There are different types of hospitality that you are going to experience when you are with your Sherpa friend, guide, or whoever is looking to give you a hospitable service. It is with no doubt that we can say Sherpa people have excelled in the hospitality sector with years of training in the mountains and serving the tourists and visitors visiting the mountain. Moreover, Sherpa people are mostly responsible for guiding and acting as porters for the visitors in Nepal. Teahouses in the mountainous parts of Tibet, Nepal, and some Himalayan parts of India have also trained the community in sectors of hospitality.
If you want to know more about Sherpa hospitality, make sure to read till the end of this article! We have summed up everything you need to know here.
Sherpa hospitality in mountaineering
Since Sherpas have long been engaged in mountaineering activities, they have always been hospitable to the people who have stretched their hands out for help. Whether it is as guides or porters and even people serving food in the most rural places in the mountains, Sherpas are the only community you will find. Mountains and Sherpas are closely associated with one another. Sherpas are just as experienced in mountaineers as many accomplished mountaineers in the world. Therefore, a lot of people from the community have started a business as well as a profession in mountaineering itself.
Mountaineering is possibly one of those sectors in Nepal that has succeeded in bringing in a big amount of surplus in the economy. If mountaineering activities take a halt in the country, it is possible that more than half of the money coming from tourism activities in Nepal will also stop coming into the country, hence worsening the condition of the country. Therefore, a lot of mountaineering activities cannot take place without Sherpas working actively as hospitable members of the mountaineering community in Nepal. These people have a lot to provide not just for their living and for the ease of the visitors in the mountains but also in the overall hospitality sector in mountaineering.
What are the qualities of Sherpas?
Sherpas are strategic mountaineers who will tackle even the most difficult routes such as Everest Expedition or Trek to Everest Base camp without much trouble. Sherpas have always been known for their genetic skills in climbing mountains. Hence, a lot of people from the community have been successful in earning money from these activities. The Sherpa community is also famous for their warm personalities and the way they contribute to the hospitality sector of Nepal and Tibet. These people have been serving as mountain guides, porters, guest house owners, etc., for visitors in the mountains for several decades.
What are the duties of a Sherpa?
Sherpas are bound to duties like;
- Guides
- Porters
- Loading and unloading equipments as well as mountaineers in and out of base camp
These are some of the responsibilities that make this community the most respectable among all the hospitality communities in Nepal, Tibet, and Sikkim. Sherpa people are very often trained to work in the hospitality sector from a very early time in their lives. Hence, they know how to excel in their duties. When there are no means of transportation in the tallest of mountains, the Sherpas are responsible for carrying both loads and people in and out of the mountain without any help from any form of transportation. While many Sherpas get help from yaks and mules to support their work, no modern means of transportation can ever replace the service of the Sherpas.