Oregon man surprised to find Herald story hanging halfway around world

An Echo, Ore., man wanted to see how much Nepal had changed since he last visited 15 years ago and recently returned as part of a travel group.

Jake Broyles noted much was different and the effects of several devastating earthquakes earlier this year were still evident in places. But what he found in a lodge threw him for a loop.

“I was kind of surprised to see the Tri-City Herald in the mountains of Nepal,” he said of a yellowed two-page spread hanging on the lodge wall.

Broyles recently returned from his three-week trip with REI Adventures.

On the trip to Everest Base Camp, Broyles’ group stopped at the Namaste Lodge and Restaurant in the Khumbu Valley. When Broyles saw the May 2008 Herald story, he realized the story was about Ang Dorjee Sherpa, a former Richland resident who regularly led climbers up the mountain along with other Sherpas.

Broyles struck up a conversation with the lodge’s owners and discovered one was Ang Dorjee’s sister and her husband. They talked about the family, with Broyles learning that Ang Dorjee and his family are living in Holland, and that the earthquakes weren’t as destructive at the lodge as they were in other parts of the country.

That wasn’t the only copy of the Herald in the Himalayan nation, though. Broyles brought a copy of an October edition and held it up for a photo in the shadow of Everest.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Oregon man surprised to find Herald story hanging halfway around world."