Biography of Wangchhu Sherpa (Your Host in Nepal and Tibet)

Wangchu Sherpa - on the news:

Wangchhu Sherpa is one of the senior guides and tour operators in the Himalayas. He was born in October-2, 1954 (the monkey year of Tibetan/Sherpa calendar) in a Sherpa family of Tapting village, which lies in the Southern foothills of the Mt. Everest region. This small village is isolated from modern development, the nearest market from Tapting being as far as one full day's trekking, and to the nearest road at the village of Jiri there are three days of walk. Being off from the main trekking trail, this area is not even mentioned in many of the trekking maps of the area. Somehow, one of the recent trekking maps, called "Pike Peak", mentions this tiny remote village.

In 1950, the historical and political movement had thrown the dictatorship of the autocratic Rana regime, and the foundations of a democratic age were laid in Nepal. Education and socio-political awareness was unknown to the societies of that time. So, the Sherpa community along the neighboring communities was underdeveloped. Somehow, the first school of the area was build in a distance of half an hour from Wangchhu's house, but he had no opportunity to join the school, because of this lack of awareness and financial support. So, he never had a chance to receive a formal education. In the age of 25, he started his journey to Kathmandu, to search for a better future for himself and his family. Like many other Sherpas, he found a job in the Trekking Industry, working as member of the basic support staff (kitchen boy, Sherpa staff for supporting the guiding team).

In his early days in the modern town of Kathmandu, Wangchhu found himself struggling for living and adjusting. His dedication to his duty, friendly nature to his co-workers, kindness to the clients and restless efforts made him able to become a trekking guide in 1982. After becoming a guide, Wangchhu had the opportunity to serve for many different clients from different countries, for their various walks of a lifetime. He worked for Culture Trekking P. Ltd. one of well know trekking agency in Kathmandu as guide for more than ten years.

He was the first Nepali guide to lead a trekking group into the Mustang region, when the government announced the opening of this forbidden Himalayan region for foreign tourists in 1992. He was also among the pioneer guides, who accompanied tourists in Tibet, especially to the Mt. Kailash region, when the government of the autonomous regions of China, Tibet and Nepal had decided to launch trekking tours from Nepal to Tibet since 1985. Since then he has been in Tibet 2-3 times every year.

He visited all of the tourist destinations in the Nepal Himalayas. All of his struggle and dedication for the job has made himself a legendary person. His friends, who had come to see the mountains, culture and people of his land, have so many stories to tell to others. Many of these stories are compiled in their books, movies, and documentaries and in their personal journals.

Since 1997 he has started organizing treks personally, and also, as part time, he kept working for other trekking companies. He lives in Kathmandu with his family, accompanied by his wife Mrs. Sani Sherpa, two sons (Ang Tsering, born in August-30, 1984, and Ang Phurba, born in December-1,1985) and one daughter (Sonu, born November 2003). Ang Tsering goes to the college in Kathmandu, and Ang Phurba has started helping his father in the trekking business. In the off season, when there is no tourism business, he keeps visiting his village back in the mountains from time to time and contributes to the social works in favor of his community.

Wangchhu employs good teams for each of the tours he arranges. This has helped him to grow in the business of trekking, the fastest growing in Nepal. Some of the enthusiastic visitors, who had the opportunity of experiencing the warm welcoming and service by Wangchhu, his family and his company in the past, are:

01: Mr. Cresci Romano, President, Club Alpino d'Italia.
02: Prof. Manfred Gerner (Germany), President of the Bhutan-Himalaya-Society, writer of "Schneeland Tibet", "Architekturen im Himalaya" and "Bhutan" first time to Tibet in 1980, among others 4 parikramas around Mount Kailash with Wangchhu Sherpa.
03: Dr. Wendelgard Gerner (Germany), collaborator of comparative science of Frankfurt University, author of "Hemifest" and "Das Bodhisttva-Ideal im Mahayana-buddhismus". First time to Tibet in 1987.
04: Dr. Helmut Strararrach (Germany), writer of “Spring in the Kingdom of Mustang”, 1992, was among the first Western tourists to get the permission from the government of Nepal.
05: Hajo Bergmann, Producer of the documentary on the first tourist excursion of Mustang, 1992, along with Dr. H. Strararrach.
06: Franz Binder (Germany), author of “Kailash”. A book that has compiled the legend of the tour to the holy Mt. Kailash and Tibet.
07: Winfried Rode (Germany), associate writer of “Tibet Land and Culture” with Franz Binder.
08: Robin Maurice, Dai and Bev Didi (Canada), in 1999 (Kanchanjungha) and 2002 (Makalu)
09: Dr. Uwe Meya, (Switzerland), Trips in Tibet and Nepal.
10: Dr. Wolfgang Woellmer and Gabriela Wallner (Germany), West-Tibet and Saga Dawa Ceremony at Mt. Kailash
11: Ashish K. Sengupta, Group Executive Director, Air express Group, (Nepal).
12: Sam Satya (Australia), Mt. Kailash, Tibet
13: Larene Woodward, Tour Leader (Canada), Mt. Everest and Langtang, Nepal
14: Peter Schaffranek (Germany), Tibet, Mt. Kailash

Here are some of the reference letters from some of Wangchhu's visitors and friends, as token of thanks for his service. There are many to list here, who have visited Nepal and Tibet with Wangchhu and had this experience of their lifetime.