Prayer sheet party

The next day started off with the descent to Lama Hotel which didn't look anything nice as Rimche. Joanne was pacing herself much better and, although Al was going ahead at points, we weren't really in any hurry and at least we weren't stopping as much for rests. We still stopped off for a couple of teas on the way when our energy was low. Most places offered masala tea, which is the milky spiced tea, commonly known as “chai” in the West, but of course that just means “tea”. I started taking sugar in my tea, partly because it brings out the flavour of the spices but mostly because I felt I could do with the energy boost. My bag was heavy, and I was now carrying Joanne's sleeping bag as well as everything else.

Is it a yak?

Quite early on in the day we passed an army check point where we had to show our park permit and sign in. Later we passed a small troop of monkeys, who looked threatening enough that we all picked up rocks before walking on. Now and then we passed large cow-like beasts, which we thought might have been yaks, but when a local overheard us saying “Yak” he said “no – cow”. I think the truth is that it was mostly cow, but it's great-grandmother may have been a yak. In fact it's great-grandmother would have been a nak, which is what the females are called apparently. As we got higher and higher up the valley the cows slowly metamorphosed into yaks/naks. We learned from the Lonely Planet that yaks are considered so closely related to cows that they are also holy animals to Hindus and are also protected by law. Poor buffaloes, which I think are pretty damned similar to cows, that they are OK to kill. How strange and arbitrary religion is!

The alpha male tries to block my path

Alpha male cowers from me in a tree

First view of a snowy peak

The walk was even greener and more heavily forested that day, although the glimpses of higher, rocky and snow-covered peaks were becoming more frequent. As we got higher, the valley opened out and flattened out, into grazing land. We had also noticed that there was lots of agricultural land on the way up, mostly growing a cereal crop. After a certain point, every stream we passed had what looked like a little water mill, with brass cylinders inside, covered in writing. Al was able to tell us that these are prayer wheels, and the turning of the cylinder is meant to throw the prayers off into the heavens.

Riverside, 2769m

Ever since Syabrubese we had been seeing prayer flags, which work in the same way, using wind rather than water to set the prayers in motion. Not long before we got to Langtang a woman practically dragged us in from the path and insisted we have tea. She clearly had not been passed a recent menu and her prices were very good. She told us if we stopped for lunch on the way back she would make us very good daal bhaat for only Rs100, which was about half the going rate at that altitude. We made it to Langtang in good time, not as tired as we had been the previous day, although I think we were all feeling the altitude a little bit, as we all had moments of light-headedness and slight breathlessness. The LP warns that you should not go beyond Langtang because now at 3430m you really do start having to be careful about altitude sickness.

Lunch at the Hotel Tibetan, Goda Tabela at 3000m

Joanne lets a cow / yak pass

We chatted to a Chilean couple staying at our hotel, who were on there way down. They hadn't bothered with any of the “side trips” possible from the next day's destination town. It was just too cold to go on, they explained. Certainly it had been getting steadily colder as our altitude increased, but I didn't think it was going to get that bad. We didn't really have proper cold weather gear with us. Our hotel owner seemed very excited, in fact she was practically jumping up and down, and she was keen that we eat soon. There's a party, she explained.

The path gets steeper

There was a once-a-year “puja” happening to celebrate the arrival of the new prayer sheets from the Dalai Lama and she was keen that we all came along with her. We all filed up to the top of the village where we could see a stream of brightly dressed people coming up the hill, all singing and dancing, and some holding flags. The whole village was out and everyone was very excited. The people carrying the prayer sheets made their way to a hall, where they continued shuffling round and round to the music they were singing.

Approach to the metropolis of Langtang

They were all drinking something that looked like milk, but we later learned is chang, a locally produced rice beer. Al was persuaded to get up and dance for a bit, but Joanne and I just watched. The two Americans appeared again and again it was almost impossible to make conversation with them. It was a bit like they were embarrassed to be speaking English when there were all these people around with whom they could speak Nepali. Al, Joanne, and I mused that the ceremony was so much more beautiful than anything Christians get up to in the name of religion, citing mournful hymns as our primary evidence. Lovely as it was, it wasn't as exciting for us as it was the locals, so we made out excuses and went to bed.

Party coming up the hill

Prayer sheets arrive in Langtang

written by

The Happy Couple on June 2, 2009 from Langtang, Nepal

from the travel blog: Michael's Round-the-World honeymoon

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