The View from Renjo Pass

This photo was taken at 17,600 feet.  The central high peak is Mt Everest.  Notice the 3rd holy lake in the foreground.  If you look closely the village of Gokyo is upper left of the lake shore.  

Tibetan Yak Train

We crossed the Renjo La at 17,600 feet.  As we crested the pass heading West I could feel 600 years of Tibetan Yak trains.  Tibetans would load their yaks with bags of salt from Tibet, cross the Nangpa La into Nepal to pick up Rice.  This is no easy feat.  Imagine crossing, glacier with gaping crevasses and ice bridges with 800 pound animals.

Once on the Nepal side the tension subsides and Tibetan Folk songs ring through the valley.  Tibetans often whistle a tune that lulls Yak and herder into a meditation.  The occasional,  Ang Tashi, Ang Nima (yak names) echoing off the walls as the animals are persuaded to move faster.

On this trip I could hear the yak bells in the distance.  A kind of soft sound making one forget the miles under feet.

Spirituality is not a serious state

I always tease the Saddhus (holy men) at the Hindu Rain Temple.  I have found that they have great sense of humors and are very light hearted.

I was sitting with 2 holy men on a row of white painted steps.  Their red dress with dashes of yellow popped against the white.  Their dark eyes danced many a journey.   I joked with them "You like to sit here to watch the pretty girls."   A heaving body as they bowed their heads back and forth from the force of a big laugh.  They have sworn to celibacy.

I saw another Saddhu, sitting slumped, his body smeared with the clay of the holy temple grounds.  His hand held in a lazy Mudra (hand gesture of wisdom) "I jokingly said, "You look bored."  Thinking he would reply with some astronomical punctuation of wisdom.  He replied "Every Day"  with a big smile.

Thame Monastery Dog Rescue

We walked up the 300 year old trail to the Thame Monastery.  The final steps were steep.  We passed a grumpy, frumpy, monk descending the steps.  I said Namaste, he was silent.

As we walked into the courtyard we noticed a beautiful young dog laden with heavy chain around his neck.  The fir was warn away where the chain hung.  The dog had probably been chained since he was  a pup.

The clients and I moved closer.  The young dog wagged its tail and sat calmly has we glanced over his situation.  He had a water dish with drops of water in it.  He had a food bowl with a handful of rice.  To escape the elements he had nothing.  He was chained to a metal bar set in a cement wall that surrounded the court yard.  It was snowing now, he was wet.

I grabbed the chain around his neck and found the locking mechanism.  We decided to let him loose.

As the chains dropped from his neck he began sprinting around the court, a big smile on his face.  It was beautiful to see this dog and his first minutes of freedom.  He circled the monastery 3 times, darted toward Steve (a gentleman on our trek team) and because of the lack of experience with movement slid into his legs not knowing how to brake. His tail acted as a wild propeller, non stop turning, a happy dog for sure.

He went back to his food bowl and greedily finished his food.  He made a few more rounds around the monastery running, jumping, then exited the courtyard doors, a slight whirlwind flowing out into the expanses.

We returned to our tea house.  We found out the dog was actually the monks that we had passed on the steep stairs.  I thought about Buddhism and compassion.  I wondered what the monk what have felt like with a chain around his neck out in the open elements?  Maybe his intentions were pure but did not know how to take care of a dog?

What I do know is that we passed a grumpy, frumpy Monk,  and no dog should be chained in the elements without a roof over its head.  

Zing Bar

Thank You to the staff of Zing Bar.  When I get tired of Dhal Bhat, the staple Nepali meal, I would turn to a Zing Bar.  The Blue Berry flavor saved me on many a day when I was tired of rice and needed some energy to go higher.  This photo was taken after we crossed the 17,600 foot Renjo Pass.  I devoured the bar.

Comfort Zone

If we never get out of our comfort zone then we are staying still, nothing is changing.  If nothing is changing then we are not growing. Growth requires movement.  Thank You to my clients who show me every expedition and trek how they get out of their comfort zones and handle it with grace. Matt Fioretti

Freedom

On the way down from the Renjo pass we passed a older Sherpa gentlemen.  He was behind his stone hut working at something.  He raised his head and with a huge smile, hands pushed together centered at his chest and yells "Namaste!!!!"   He is so open and warm and I return with a healthy "Namaste".   He turns back to his task.

I glance over his situation.  He has a stone hut 8 feet by 9 feet long.  It is perched on a the only flat terrace on a broad mountain side at 13,200 feet.  As I glance back he is smiling while he sees us on.  He has nothing but a thick wool hat on, canvas pants darkened with mountain life, a smile that is as vast as the ocean.  Running near his hut is a small mountain stream, his life line.

I look miles to the north, only mountains and tundra, the border of Tibet beyond.  I look west, a great mountain wall looms.  I look to my left, East.  I see a small heard of huge beautiful yaks, his life's work.

I continue down and think of my life, our life in the United States.  We need insurances to keep from getting sued.  I have a mortgage which ways heavy.  Monthly bills.  Can our children walk to school alone as I once did?  Time seems to be a chain.  Can I move freely?  We fight to keep our guns.  If we need guns are we living in fear?  I do not know the answers but as I witness this Sherpa living in a stone hut with the cleanest water and unchained time, I believe we are missing something.  I can feel it in his smile.

I turn one last time and yell a "Nameste".  He stands, the happiest man on earth and returns "Namaste".

Renjo Pass, 17,680 feet

Greetings from the Renjo Pass.  All the group has made it over except for 2.  It is a beautiful walk which starts at the village of Gokyo and travels above the shores of the 3rd holy lake.  In1999 when I first crossed the pass there was a faint animal trail disappearing amongst boulders.  Once over the pass it was anyones guess as to the route down.  Now there is a good single track and built steps over the pass.  Still there were only 5 or 6 people traveling the route.  It remains peaceful. You can feel the spirit of the Tibetan Yak trains that used to carry salt over the Nangpa La pass to trade for rice.  A beautiful remote walk.  We all were in silence.