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| Tuesday - 10/20
It is good to be free of Dawa’s relatives. Isolated by
language and in a very personal environment, I tried to
pay attention to the conversations and smile when they
looked at me and laugh when they would laugh. But, it was
stressful not being able to interact. Dawa was gone much
of the time with family and friends and being my
interpreter, it left me alone - as an observer only.
Dawa’s brother-in-law has decided to go on to Lukla with
us, so I am again without the pack. From the village to Lukla is considered a two day trek; but,
we stopped just below the town. The day was
running out of light, and I was running out of "omph".
I have suffered my first case of height fright. It was
something that I gave some thought to before leaving the
States. Even though I have a fair amount of
experience climbing the peaks of the Cascades, it is
something that I always must work through. |
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The trail was straight up and took a hard right.
My right eye focusing on the trail, the left eye,
looking down thousands of feet, numbed my brain.
The trail was narrow, made up of steps carved in hard
rock only a few feet wide. A stumble here, as on
the bridge, and I would have had a long time to think
about it before I hit the bottom. Looking to the
wall, not able to take the picture the scene deserved, I
pushed on, hoping a water buffalo was not in my
immediate future. The houses here use more woven bamboo mats for walls and
roof. The terrain is so steep that very little farming
occurs. There are lots of goats and some sheep, and still,
the ubiquitous water buffalo, which seems odd to me way up
here.
The sun came out today briefly, and allowed me a glance
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