LANGTANG part two

The morning I left the Buddha Guesthouse and the comfortable village of Syabru Besi I was feeling quite confident about doing the two week trek on my own (without the support of a guide) and the spring weather helped add to my good mood. It was sunny and cool, perfect for trekking in the mountains. Walking to the outer edge of the village to begin my journey, I came across a large number of other hikers starting to gather in an open field. They were all coming together, taking pictures, visiting, and slowly preparing themselves for what seemed like a group departure. I inquired about them in passing and was told they were a tour group of around 50 from Korea. As a large group they had decided on bringing their own food for the journey which meant hiring the same number of guides and porters (women and men) from surrounding villages to help pack there belongings and cook for them. A small army really!
I must admit being taken aback and somewhat disappointed hearing there was going to be such a large number of others moving along the trail at the same time as myself. This completely dispelled any romantic notion or idea that it was just going to be me and the Himalayan mountains and my initial selfish reaction was, "had I'd wanted to be in an ocean of humanity I would have stayed in Kathmandu".  I quickly snapped out of this self induced funk with another thought "I've got to start moving and try stay ahead", and this is exactly what I did for that first day out.


I followed a narrow, well used pathway that would sometimes climb up high beside the Khula River and other times stretch out right along beside the fast running water. I occasionally made crossings on iffy makeshift bridges and other times found myself wandering through jungle like forest that seemed more like something I might see back home in the dark thick forests on Vancouver Island. There were spots along the trail where the ground was filled with blankets of new light green cannabis growing like yard grass (unlike back home) and other spring growth that included an array of wild flowers popping, the lovely vibrant colors most of which I'd never seen before. Despite knowing there was a long line of trekkers behind me, I found myself becoming totally absorbed and slowing down considerably. I found a great joy in losing myself to it all including my sense of time. As it turned out I hardly saw or crossed paths with anyone on the trail that day, so my personal solitude wasn't compromised in the least. As a matter-o-fact I came to the conclusion that since I was traveling solo having people following along behind was probably a good thing.

After a good 4 hours of steady hiking I stopped at a very tiny place called Bahboo and checked myself into the Shurpa Guesthouse which was nestled down beside the very loud fast moving river. I decided to stay there for the rest of the day and night for a couple reasons! The first reason was earlier I'd spoken with a couple on the trail who told me they'd stayed there the night before and thought the food was tasty, especially the dal baht (lentils, rice and vegetables), and my other reason for not pressing on was I didn't want to be in a hurry and was wanting to ease my leg muscles back into the work of climbing again. Four hours of hiking was enough and relaxing my afternoon away just observing, journal writing, and enjoying being tucked in the mountains was the perfect way to finish off the day.

That afternoon while I was in the dining room enjoying a hot mug of Chai tea, the owners son came over and really wanted to engage in conversation. A nice enough young guy but I thought he seemed to be a little overly friendly. I didn't give it much thought as I was a stranger in a strange land and some cultures are just so different when it comes to personal space. A person just needs to travel in India to understand this. A little later I was in my room writing about the events of the day and there was a knock on my guesthouse door. It was the owner's son, Sonam again. He started warming up to me showing me his early education marks (diploma) from school, pictures of treks, friends, and his girlfriend etc. etc. I learned he was 20 years old, and still wanting to continue his education which I'm guessing would be equivalent to our high school in the west, but his family was poor and couldn't afford to send him to Kathmandu which is where his friends migrated to to finish their education. When he mustered up the courage to ask me for sponsorship I really didn't know what to say. I had no idea what the cost or logistics to do this would be and I wasn't so sure I wanted to take on the responsibility of paying a certain amount every month for the next couple years for his higher learning. I was limited financially much of the time myself but instead of saying "no" I responded with something like "I don't have much money either so I'll have to think on it". With that he thanked me profusely, (way too much) then beaming from ear to ear and with an obvious glitter of Kathmandu in his eyes he left closing the door quietly behind him. Ten minutes later he was back only this time with his father in tow and now his father was also super happy despite my saying I'd need to think about it. So much so that he gifted me a lovely white silk scarf in the traditional way of placing it in my hands then around my neck. So now the son, the father, and as I found out later, the mother were all really really happy because I said I'd need to think about it!

SONAM, MYSELF AND THE FAMILY

I spent the rest of that day pondering this interaction and how it unfolded, and realized I wasn't comfortable with the amount of hope Sonam and his family were putting in my words. I also came to the conclusion it might not have been so much about his receiving an education as maybe the mother and father were just wanting Sonam to move on with his life, as there was nothing for him in Bahboo. This and knowing his buddies who were already living in Kathmandu were either finished or almost finished school had me questioning everything. Was it school he's interested in or getting out of Bahboo and just hanging out with the pals, all were total projections and assumptions on my part but possible realities.
I had stopped there to catch up on some writing, do a little reading, eat tasty dal baht and get rested up for my next days travel and now I was in a bit of an awkward situation. I decided to set it all aside for the time being and push off the next day continuing my trek towards the village of Langtang. I'd return through Bahboo in ten days and would know what to do then!

The Koreans closed the gap later that day arriving and literally filling up the guesthouses in Babboo, and because of their large number some had to continue on through to a few small settlements further along the river. In the days that followed I was blessed with easy uphill climbs, incredibly beautiful landscapes and vistas, balmy spring weather (at least in the day time) and the wonderful opportunity to connect directly and indirectly with the hearty colorful earth based people living on the trail.

In a few days I'll continue this story about what happened in Kyanjing Gompa, my hike out and what I decided to do around Sonam and his education. The following pictures were taken on the way in.
 

TILLING WITH YAKS AND PLANTING POTATOES

                                                         

                       

STURDY MOUNTAIN HORSE              

        TYPICAL GUESTHOUSE KITCHEN

LANGTANG

                                                       

HIMALAYAN BRILLIANCE