|
|
| Tuesday: 7:04 PM
What a day! I am writing this by candle light in a Sherpa’s
home. It is dark. The flickering flame plays shadow games on the
wall.
It seems Dawa knows everyone along the trail. I feel fortunate in
having him as my guide.
We were only going to walk six hours today, but I slowed him up so
much he marched me for nine hours. I thought it was going to be my
own private death march. |
|
One fact about much of northern Nepal: It is either
straight up - endlessly; or straight down - endlessly.
Dawa wanted to reach a particular home, so he pushed me to my
limits, and then some. I am in fair shape for a 47 year old, but
this is tough.
Today, walking rapidly across a short wooden bridge, wet by the
rains, my boot hit a leaf as slick and as effective as a banana
peel. The terrain we were contouring was steep and heavily
forested and the stream danced down the slope under the bridge.
My foot flew. The heavy weight on my back, in a
thoughtless instant, pulled me backward. As I left the
bridge, arms wind-milling the air, I pivoted and fell. The
pack in the water, boots on the bridge, sheepish grin on my
face, there I laid. Dawa’s anxious look gave way to laughter as
he saw that no harm was done. |
|
|
|
After a photograph of my predicament and a hefty pull we were on our
way. It would have been a different outcome if my fall would
have taken me down the other side. A twenty foot fall with a
50 pound pack would, in all likelihood, have ended the trip. |
|
Dawa
Carrying A Heavy Load |
|
|
The big joke amongst the Sherpa's and porters is that Dawa, the
Sherpa, has himself an American porter, since my pack is bigger
than his and heavier. This will be corrected in Lukla!
I am going to rent him the worlds biggest backpack and fill it.
It seems that I am the butt of more than one joke in this good
natured society. They call me the strong American who carries a
Christmas Tree. The "Christmas Tree" refers to the pack
because of all the gadgets that I have dangling from it.
Items like my Swiss Army knife, lotion, altimeter, glacier
glasses, so forth and so on. Ease of access is the reason
they are there but I am becoming a bit self-conscious and each
passing day I remove another item from the outside. |
|
|
Dawa says that Indo-Europeans are called "Qeere" or "Quirea." Their
word for white person. We are called this because when the clouds
come in we blend in, and when the sun comes out we turn red |
|
Page 14 |
 |
|
