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Published: November 7th 2008
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this is one of the harder entries for me to begin. it's hard to know where to start or how to sum up the past few weeks. i guess for personal relfection's sake and for your understanding's sake, i should just start.
about a month ago i left kathmandu and took a 10 hour bus ride (3 1/2 of which were spent in stand-still traffic) to the nepali city of pokhara. its a pretty touristy destination, a lot of people hit it on their way up to the annapurna trekking circuit. we spent the night there and took an early flight into the airport at jomsom. jomsom is the first town in the region known as mustang, where i spent the next 20 days. we began walking that day, about 3-4 hours until we arrived that the next closest village, kagbeni, where we spent the night. 26 students, one academic director, 4 assistants, a bunch of sherpas (trip guides), cooks, porters, and many many mules with hiking backpacks, sleeping bags, and tents strapped to their backs. for the next 6 days we walked. up hill, down hill, over sketchy looking bridges, through freezing running streams, across narrow loosely graveled pathways,
walking closer and closer to the himalayas. our destination was lo manthang, the walled city which is the capital of musthang. though it is part of the country, the region is not politically tied with nepal and is run by the king (whom we eventually met). because of its close proximity with the tibetan border, most people that live there are culturally tibetan, speak tibetan, and practice buddhism. i spent four days in lo manthang, saw a really sweet ceremony take place that warded away evil spirits, physically chased them out of the village, danced while the nepali sherpas, cooks, and porters that took care of us played the flute and drums, interviewed people in town, and healed myself. though it was an awesome week to get there, we were at 12,000 feet and it was physically really hard to walk all day with blistered feet. i also got really dehydrated a few days in and though it meant i got to sleep in a bed in a guest house instead of outside in the tent, i felt shitttty.
when we eventually turned around and started making our way back down, out of musthang, the task seemed extremely daunting.
a lot of people were sick, everyone was tired, some people were frustrated, homesick; ailments that have plagued us the entire semester but were intensified by the remoteness and harshness of our environment. everyday was hard but i tried to remind myself every time i could see a village off in the distance but knew it would take 3 more hours to get there, or when i stood at the bottom of a huge mountain pass with endless false summits, that people really LIVE here. this is real life for these people; when they want to go to the next village they have to walk for 7 hours, when they want to build a house they have to first collect enough sticks and logs to build the roof, and if they want a snickers bar they either have to snag it off the back of a truck from the chinese border, or take the week long trip back to jomsom to get one. and it was a completely beautiful place, but it was not romantic and the lives of the people there were in no way simple.
so of course the trek was hard; we were walking all day
most days; sometimes it was flat but it was pretty rare. the last 4 days were the hardest. on halloween i walked for 10 hours, starting at 7 and arriving in the next closest village at 5. the last 2 hours were downhill, the steepest way we had to go the whole trek. it was the first time i was actually scared. but, as he had the day before, my guardian angel in the form of a nepali sherpa appeared just as the steepness began and helped me down the mountain. hand in hand most of the way, (i like to believe that) we helped each other down the mountain, though i definitely lost my footing way more than he did. i was so tired at that point though that i am worried to think what it would have been like without him. if i hadnt tumbled down the face of the mountain, i probably would have sat down for a while to rest and run into serious trouble like a few other students did and ended up being stuck on the mountain after sundown without a flashlight. everyone made it there that night and other than some knee pains
and psychological shake-ups, no one was seriously hurt. but it was scary as fuck and it took some people 13 hours that day.
it was hard to be so out of touch for a time period that went by quickly but also felt never-ending. because so much was happening everyday it made me feel really distant and separated from everything at home. what it helped me gain though was a sense of complete presence that doesnt compare to anything ive felt before. there was no where to be but there, in musthang, walking up that hill. of course my thoughts took me to other places, often far away and in the united states, but i didnt forget for a second where i was nor was there any chance in pretending i was somewhere else. (though when i was sick, i tried really hard.)
we were there with a WONDERFUL staff that took outstanding care of us. 3 meals everyday that were carried on the backs of the porters and cooked hot when we arrived somewhere for lunch or at our camp at night, help setting up and taking down our tent (actually we had to ask them to
let us help do it). the mules carried all our shit. the trip would have been so different and so much harder without these people.
the last day of the trek, we were provided with the option of taking a one hour jeep ride instead of walking out the last four hours. i walked. through three hours of the most intense wind/sand storm i could have imagined. i was surprised not to see a cow fly by in the sky. but i made it.
a couple of plane rides later we were back in kathmandu and it was kind of a shock to the system. the scope of the city, the noise, pollution, population in comparison to where we'd just been was a bit overwhelming though somewhat appreciated. it brought with it showers, beds, computers, long awaited phone calls, and food options! pizza never tasted so good, let me tell you.
on election day i went to an american embassy sponsored event to watch the polls close. when the decision was finally announced there was a joyous uproar from the crowd. people were cheering and many were crying as obama spoke. it was the first time i
think i've ever felt truly proud to be an american.
so now i'm kathmandu and will be for i don't know how long. my plan when i woke up this morning was to fly out of here tomorrow morning to the lower mount everest region to begin my independent study on agriculture in a tibetan refugee community and how its influenced by buddhism. of course i'm still planning on conducting this research, only i discovered this morning that i'd purchased tickets to the wrong airport. GOOD ONE. had i flown there it would have taken me 3-4 days to walk to the settlement as opposed to 1-2 hours. so my teacher/personal savior tinley and i rushed to the travel agent and told him what was up. for now, i'm still waiting to hear back about a flight.
i'm going to try to spend the next few days focusing on the details and directions around me. these are things i think i've been overlooking. there are a lot of subtle importances about the present that i now realize are essential to make note of in order to head in the right direction.
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Priscilla
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Helen, This is just inspiring. Your life is forever changed by this experience, and I admire your guts, stamina and insight. Though I've always loved who you are, I can't wait to see the person you will be when you emerge from this. xoxo