Day two on the trail

We slept last night in a "teahouse" on the banks of a stunning river landscape with the sound of a soothing waterfall gently augmenting our dreams. We enjoyed a tasty breakfast of oat porridge, apple pancakes, eggs, toast, and coffee. Our legs, feet, and backs are definitely stiff from our first day of hiking, but we're determined to motor through the soreness because we've only got 15 days to cover 130 Miles.

Most of the time on the trail it feels like you could be hiking in any beautiful mountain setting. Then, you'll turn a corner and find yourself suddenly struck by the Vista of 26,000 + ft. Himalayan peak towering above you. To give a feel for the scale, if you're in Keystone, CO looking at Grey's and Torrey's (two very fine fourteeners), you are experiencing about a 5,000 foot elevation differential. In roughly the same horizontal distance, we're experiencing the view of about four times that. These are big mountains, making the Rockies look a bit like hills.

All of the children living in the small villages that we pass along the trail are very keen on saying, "namaste" many times upon sighting a foreigner. If you respond in kind, the kids proceed to uncannily request, in order, a pen, sweets, then rupees. The elder Nepali people use the same "namaste" greeting, but their body language suggests they intend the full and true meaning of the expression. Roughly translated to English, it means: "I bow to the divine spirit within you". What a beautiful expression of brotherly love and righteous expectation of one another.

written by

Katy and Mark Lewis on April 26, 2009 from Muktinath, Nepal

from the travel blog: India and Nepal

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