Left to Right : Deepak, Tempa, Tshering & daughter
A dear friend of ours, Tshering, informed us before the Chinese New Year that his younger brother Tempa was in town recently. We agreed to meet up for dinner after our Sabah trip.
Although I have long heard of Tempa (his full name is Tempa Tsheri Sherpa) who is the youngest Nepalese climber to summit the Mt Everest in May 2001, I have never met him personally.Face to face, Tempa exudes warmth and was really nice to talk to. He spoke really good mandarin and we could converse with this common language.
He is currently pursuing his Degree in Business Management in Wuhan, China. Interestingly I found out there is a huge cohort of Nepalese who are pursuing their Medical Degree at Wuhan University.Tempa showed me his five fingers which he had to part with due to frost bite. It was just too cold up there at the South Summit. It is a real pity for a smart lad like him but he showed a lot of courage and nonchalance.
I asked Tempa “Did you ever regret overcoming Everest but losing your fingers?”He answered: “No, I do not regret. I am a Sherpa, my father climbed, my brother climbed. Climbing is in our blood.”