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Dawa
Spinning a Large Prayer Wheel |
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| I had
Yak cheese again today. Dipping it in
coffee has helped the flavor and dryness somewhat. Yak
milk, on the other hand, is great. Much sweeter than cow’s
milk and rich.
I am convinced that every virus known and unknown on earth
has now set up residence in my body. Even though I have
taken precautions such as drinking only boiled water, or
tea and coffee, and bottled water when it is available,
the sanitary conditions in the homes leave much to be
desired. The children in the poorer homes often urinate on
the dirt floor, and even though dishes are washed, the
water is not boiled. The towels used to wipe the dishes
dry are dark with dirt, and hands go unwashed. So far I
have been fortunate and not gotten sick. Before I had left
the states I purchased a state-of-the-art water purifying
system that not only deals with the bigger bugs but also
the little virus. To this point it has not been used. I
have been fortunate.... so far. I have not gotten sick. Not all places that I have stayed at have been trekking
Tea Houses. When one stays with local families is when one
leaves oneself open to various illnesses. It is a risk I
happily take. To isolate oneself from the people,
removes a large part of the reason to be in this beautiful
land. |
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Observation: for the extreme poor, two modern items have
made a difference in their lives; flexible plastic hose, in
which through gravity feed they bring water into their
homes, and plastic sheeting. The hose has allowed the
dwellings on steep sided slopes to bring the water to them
and must save an amazing amount of time hauling it in.
Going over the Junbese pass today, I placed a flower on the
Mani stones to receive good luck from Buddha. When in
Rome........!
We are staying in a "too" nice Tea House. I guess I don’t
mind as long as the budget is met at the end of the week.
The kitchen in Nepal is a special place and outsiders such
as myself are not, as a rule, invited in. At the poorer
houses it is a moot point since the "kitchen" is the open
pit fire place which is in the only room. Thus I find myself
now surrounded by three Sherpa guides, Dawa and family
members, discussing Nepalese politics. What a dream come
true! One Sherpa speaks English quite well and French fluently. The others speak English fairly
well and German so-so. Guiding has become such an international
business that many of the guides have picked up a smattering of
other languages.
One of the guides was telling of his exploits in the Mustang
region of Nepal. Mustang is situated next to the
Tibetan border on the Tibetan Plateau. It is desolate,
and mostly
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