Qui habite le Khumbu ? (Co-)habiter dans la mobilité touristique : pratiques touristiques itinérantes et mobilités habitantes dans la région de l’Everest

Abstract

Through a micro-geographic analysis of a tourist place located on the way to the Mount Everest, this paper shows how space and human mobilities allow the cohabitation of the tourists, their porters and the local residents (Sherpas and other ethnic groups living in the Khumbu region). In geography, « to inhabit geographical places » has a meaning wider than the simple fact of being a resident. It refers to the notion of appropriation of the space and of identity, but also to the spatial practices and the economic, symbolic or emotional investments of the individuals in places. Taking note of the strong mobilities and the polytopical way of inhabiting of both the Sherpas and the tourists, but also of the existence of non-Sherpa dwellers in the Khumbu, this paper argues that tourists and residents are all temporary inhabitants of the Khumbu, with different levels of implication in this region. In conclusion, it questions the role of each category of population in the co-construction of this Mecca of International Tourism: who, in the end, can claim to be a legitimate inhabitant of the Khumbu?

Keywords

• polytopical way of inhabiting
• legitimacy
• mobility
• tourism
• Nepal
• Khumbu