You are at the same time cold from the low temperature, and hot from the intense exercise. Parts of your clothes, the back and chest, become damp and cold. Other parts, such as socks get damp and hot.
When you pause you get cold, when you move you get tired. It is an experience like no other.
This was an acclimatisation day. We were staying the night at Namche again and had headed out to explore the hills nearby. Unfortunately the mist of the night before hadn't cleared, and the ascent to the ridge at the top of the town was in very low visibility. To be honest though, it was such hard work, we couldn't have seen much anyway.
At the top, Indra turned to us apologetically. 'I saw the weather report on the internet this morning. its going to get worse over the next few days. We might not be able to see Everest today either'. He looked almost ready to cry, anticipating our disappointment.
'Its not your fault if the weather is crap', Mark said.
'Anyway, Everest isnt a mountain out there, I added pretentiously. 'Its in here', I thumped my chest. 'Like Vegas or Gracelands'.
'What do you want to do?' Indra asked. 'Its ten o'clock now. We could go back to the hotel?'.
'Where are we now?' I asked.
'This is Namche airport. They dont use it now, since Lukla opened, except in emergencies. Its too dangerous.'
'Your not kidding!' I said. The short sloped runway ended in a rock field, with some extremely large boulders a few yards after that. Landing here would take a genius. Or a madman.
'LOOK!' Mark called out from the far end of the runway. 'There is a patch of blue sky. Lets try and catch it'.
'Yes, its that way to the viewpoint', Indra added excitedly. 'Lets go'.
So we started scrambling up the slope as fast as we could, this time not noticing the physical exertion. At the top was a half ruined Buddhist monument. Everything was still wreathed in billowing fog.
'Wheres the blue sky gone?' Mark asked.
'Over there, Over there!' Indra was pointing and shouting.
And then, suddenly in a patch of blue, appeared right above us, a massive peak, towering over us, snow capped in glory.
'And there too!' I pointed in another direction. The clouds lifted a second to reveal another peak.
All at once, it seemed as though the clouds started boiling away. Peak after peak appeared surrounding us in the most unearthly and divine beauty.
We stood dumbfounded. To have this landscape revealed to us in such a way was astonishing.
'There is where we are going'. Indra pointed. 'Everest'.
Through a gap in two nearby mountains, a valley went off to the North. At the end, a range of impassable mountains It looked like a lost kingdom in hidden valley at the end of the world. At that moment, the journey came alive for me in a completely new way. I was desperate to get to that remote area.
We carried on over the ridge, and spent the next few hours wandering round, still in a bit of a daze. The landscape looked a bit like a western film - shrubs and rocks and pines and paths meandering through them.
On a ridge with a great view of Everest was a Stupa with an inscription to Hillary. He is worshipped in this area for the amount of philanthropic work he did, opening up schools and hospitals and bringing economic prosperity to the sherpa people.
Below was the town of KumJung, a collection of stone houses, small fields, and dry stone walls. It was a lot less touristy than Namche, and a lot flatter too.
After lunch, we went to the small Buddhist Gompa. Inside, next to the statues of Avelokiteshvara and Manjushri Buddhas, in a small cabinet, they had an alleged Yeti Scalp. It looked for all the world like an antique wig.
We walked back, still on quite a high. It had really been an incredible day. To have the views we had, after such a unpromising start was fortunate in the extreme. The trek had been beautiful up till now, but today it took on another dimension.
After the vision this morning, I want more than anything to head up to the lost kingdom in the hidden valley. And tomorrow, I will.
No comments:
Post a Comment