A beautiful moment, another sad story. Brother and sister, 3.5 and 2.5 respectively, tough and loving.
A scene from Deurali teahouse, Machhapuchhre, also known as 'Fish Tail', on the right, our new favorite icon in Nepal. Watch below for a close up.
After a long hike and climb, we get closer to the Holy Mountain, Fish Tail. ("Only" about 23,000 feet high but distinctive.)
The natural world is indeed beautiful; it is also inhabited by many wonderful people notwithstanding the enormous amount of cruelty, killing and acrimony existing...Then there is Nepal, its people and land. Depending on which part of the critical eye one uses to view the country, it will influence the observations enormously.
It's as if we are dreaming, something occurring frequently, and then after thinking for a few seconds, realize we are in Nepal. Visiting this part of the world was always a possibility but was not undertaken until now. An error. However, the thought of getting close to Mount Everest is, we think, an inbred desire for many, certainly ourselves. Having stood at the peak of Kala Patther and looked over at Lhotse, Nuptse and Everest and some of the many other attractive giants, we realized Everest is only a small aspect of the experience. Nevertheless, Peak XV is unique, the world's highest and effectively, the high-point of Earth. At times, it and many of its fellow peaks stop one in one's tracks and move one to various emotional states. These are not just mountains; they're much more than that. They are legends with 'personalities' of their own.
There are a myriad of 'must sees' in our world and yet we seem to only talk about visiting these places and before you know it, we've moved on from the world, grown old and sluggish or just lost interest. It took us a while to realize this phenomenon and determine we did not want to reach the end with excuses and/or regrets. What a waste. I suppose that's when we decided to pursue our passions which we mentioned in our book, "A Life Experience as no Other..." . The beauty of the concept, we call it Hike-about, led to finding additional experiences, passions and activities combined with learning, discovery and understanding. It is trite and certainly not a cliche but we, the human species, restrict ourselves. We tend to fight change and challenges by placing stumbling blocks conveniently in our paths. Of course, this is an opinion but in our moments of honesty and introspection, it makes sense, certainly to us.
Sunday morning, 6.05am. Mardi Himal viewpoint, a spectacular hike of nearly 3,000 feet commencing at 4:35am to reach near on 15,000 feet altitude with the rest of the gang. This is the culmination point of the trek. The Annapurnas are to the left.
If the canine fellow is in awe of where he sits and what he views, how much more are we stunned. (15,000 feet above sea-level one fine morning. Two hours later, visibility became poor.)
While the action was at the peaks, this caught the eye.
We've often mentioned the effect the many people we meet have upon us. This in of itself has been enlightening, broadening of our minds and introduced us to many different cultures, ages and ways of living. It has been, contrary to our expectations, another highlight of Hike-about. Years ago we realized that no one has the monopoly on how to behave best, what religion, culture or way of life to follow. Far better to live and let live. Our credo might be at it's most basic, "Do no harm" although in the current, extremely over-sensitive times, it might be more appropriate to insert 'deliberate' before 'harm'. Ideally, the next step up is to endeavor to do good. The third aspect is not to concern ourselves too much with fixing the world for this invariably ends in misery. History has illustrated this repeatedly. Instead, our aim is to try to fix ourselves, a far more modest ideal which is also a better concept for the world. Whilst we realize we often fail to reach the objective, we do try.
Following these words and thoughts, we find we are meeting and enjoying the company of many young people from all over the world. Our discussions with them, the times together and exchange of ideas have been surprisingly uplifting, stimulating and just plain fun. The Nepalese youth have been particularly enjoyable to engage in conversation. Their fears, strengths and outlook make sense in the context of an environment we are beginning to understand, if only a little.
We met three young local civil engineers, and like so many of these engagements, it seems so natural to bloom into a feeling of cameraderie. (We recall two Spanish engineers we met in Romania last year, Lluiz and Sergio, too. ) We agreed that life seems so unfair to the Nepalese when viewed against a typical Western backdrop. It's a feeling we've had ever since arriving in this fascinating land. There's no way around it. Life is tough in this part of the world. We could not help offering them some solace or an alternative view. While they don't have the material comforts of the many who do in the US and who have it in abundance, they have something that cannot be purchased--strong and kind hearts, humility, gentleness and respect. Sometimes, a person should be careful for what is wished, you may just become spoiled. When we parted, which was from the spectacular view point of Mardi Himal at close to 15,000 feet, we exchanged words that I don't think we'll ever forget.
Bless you, Sagar, Sagar and Susani ("S-cubed").
It dawned upon me that the only time I wish we had more money is when we are in the company of poor people. To this end, we have a few thoughts but that's for another time.
Jenni and Krishna, after returning from the peak (viewpoint), headed down some 5,000 feet for the day.
Last light for the icon, Fish Tail, from High Camp. Not much to add.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
At least we can take a shower 'in a few days...'
It has to happen the way they drive or play 'chicken' on the roads...roads? And South Africa thinks its roads are filled with potholes...it has a long way to reach the enviable depths of Nepal's craters.
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