The plumbing kid of Namche.

by Dave Mauro
Mingma arrived in Namche with plumbing on his mind. Though I had not gotten around to asking about the toilet, shower, and sink at his home, Mingma found them in want during his brief visit to Phortse. He led me to an unremarkable purveyor of trekker’s gadgets and distillates then set about discussing toilet options in Nepalese. I drug a Coke off one shelf and cracked it open, still unsure what we were doing in this place. Then a young Sherpa boy suddenly stood and ran out of the shop, peppered with directives by the woman behind the counter even as the dust settled in his tracks. Five minutes later he appeared with a toilet in his arms. 

The next hour passed with this process repeating over and over again. I would explain to Mingma that we needed a six inch Y joint for the bathroom drain system and the kid would take off burning sneaker rubber. He always came back with exactly what we needed. I wanted to test his abilities and say “we need a holy grail” but it seemed pointless since I quite fully expected he would return with one. PVC, elbow joints, and strangely ornate fixtures piled up on the floor before us as the woman behind the counter and the boy with smoking shoes worked in perfect concert. I handed over four thousand rupee while Mingma called in an airstrike of porters then we eased down the stone pathway in search of green paint. Only green paint. Must be green paint.


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