Namaste!
I now write from Munzu, a small town about 5-6 hours of trekking from Lukla, the town our 20 seater plane landed in yesterday morning. We are at 2840 meters!
Ever heard the saying 'a journey with a thousand miles begins with a single step?' Of course you have. Well, wrong. The journey of a thousand miles begins with hurry up & wait, hurry up & wait. Not to bore with the details, but we passed through luggage scan and 'security complete pat down' quite quickly and then ended up waiting almost 2 hours to get the weather 'ok' from Lukla. A bunch more hurry up and waits later, and we were squished into a tiny plane, (with a stewardess!) being passed around small candies and cotton to put in our ears to block out the sound.
The view from the plane was absolutely fantastic.
The view from the plane was ridiculously fantastic.... Valley on one side, gorgeous cliffs on the other.
(Notice the mountain peaks behind the clouds)
(And the shadow of the airplane on the ground)
The landing, all 10 seconds it took from beginning the descent to the landing, was epic. It came without warning, and it felt like we were plummeting, which we did, onto a tiny, 12 degree uphill runway.
And then we were here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And then the trek began.
Two thoughts / themes of the day:
1) Walking through people's lives... Ie the trekking path wasn't just a trekking path, it was the same path the people from Lukla did their clothes-washing, their praying, where children cried or played games, or women gathered potatoes from the fields. It was the same path with prayer towers & flags which had to be passed on the left (or else you had to go back around to 'undo' and then re-pass on the left), the same path yaks (actually, more likely 'zopkio' or 'dzum' which are crossbreeds) carry up and down supplies, and the same path that Sherpas carry up to 250 pounds of supplies.
It was difficult to feel totally comfortable taking pictures of these lives- on the one hand it is so different from our lives and one wants to have the memories, but on the other, a definite intrusion.
(That little girl decided to throw the oatmeal/porridge stuff in her bowl at Eric, pretty hilarious)2) The more you climb, the more there is to climb. Literally: the higher we got, the more mountain peeks we could see, and the higher those we could previously see, appeared. Metaphorically: the more we all learned about the culture, the people, the food, the language, and the education of the Nepalis, the more there was to know. Or, in any subject matter. And of course, a personal metaphor.
The one story that touched me the most was when I went to sit outside our lodge to read, write, look at the view. I sat down on the stones, back to a rickety gate, fully content. The elderly Nepali man leaning on a large rock, playing with some beads, seemed distraught, so I asked him if it was ok that I sit there. He nodded yes, but left the area anyway. I was a bit confused, but did not know what to make of the situation. Within seconds he returned, carrying a small stool and cushion for me to sit. This is one of but many examples of the kindness of the Nepalese.
To complement this story, we have learned a few Nepalese words on our trek, and the one we use most frequently is 'danyabad' meaning 'thank you'. And by most frequently I mean at least 40 times a day, no like 100, these people are just SO kind and SO thoughtful and caring, it is something to aspire to.
Sleep time, we wake up 6 to head to Namchee base camp, where we will be staying at our guide's home, eating more delicious Nepalese food, and staying for 2-3 nights while we do day trips to higher elevations.
No comments:
Post a Comment