untouched by Westerners. A place where I
would like to go next. He showed me a jade ring hanging from his
neck. A gift from the king of Mustang for services rendered.
Mustang is an autonomous region within Nepal with it’s own
Monarchy. Dawa later advised me to listen to these tales with a
grain of sand. People do seem to be essentially the same
everywhere grabbing bragging rights when they can.
The
French speaking guide was very interesting and he invited me to
his ancestral home, which he described, apologetically, as being
small and dirty. He lives in Paris and comes to Nepal to guide
French treks. His family home is on the way to Lukla. However, I
don’t think we’ll make it.
Having traveled and lived abroad, he has brought back to Nepal
dreams of a better future. He wants electricity everywhere and he
would like to see a cable car system installed. He decried the
lack of a radar system for Kathmandu’s airport. And health care
still does not exist much outside of Kathmandu and Pokhara. In
most cases, when a baby is born it is born at home. When
considering the sanitation of the average house, it is no wonder
that infant mortality is amongst the highest in the world. The
government just does not have the resources to reach all the
isolated communities.
Today I walked through my first rhododendron forest. Even though
nothing was in bloom the sheer size of the trees were impressive.
The trees stand eight to ten feet with some going to twenty. When
they do bloom they canopy the trail in a sea of red.
It rained today, so no view of the Himalayas, and few pictures. My calf muscles still hurt from the constant stress of going up
steep terrain. But, I am gaining strength. In another week I will
be bounding up the trail like a young gazelle. Ya, right!
