HIMALAYA: KHUMBU

"That afternoon we climbed to about 17,000ft on the ridge that descends south-west from Nuptse to the fork in the main valley. The glaciers of the eastern branch seemed of no great size and terminated well above the fields of Dingboche, which we now looked down upon. On this bright afternoon with hardly a cloud in sight, we beheld a vast panorama of mountains; from Lhotse, Pethangtse and Makalu in the east, south to Chamlang and Kangtega, west to Taweche, and north to Cho Oyu and Gyachung Khang. In this galaxy, which included a host of named epaks, neither the lesser nor the greater seemed designed for the use of climbers." 

HW Tilman, Nepal Himalaya 1952 

The Khumbu was the first place I trekked to in the Himalaya, in March 19844. I did not return to the Everest region in Nepal until November 2008, and it was both chastening and refreshing. Chastening in that the pace of development has been so swift, and refreshing in that the mountain scenery is every bit as awesome as I remembered.