Friday 22nd March Today is a small festival in Jhong, celebrating archery. The same festival is also celebrated in other areas of Nepal at different times of the year. A small group of about 20 people enter the square, the lama, the competitors and also a few people wearing traditional tibetan dress. After the lama […]
Category / Nepal
Thorong La
Thursday 21st March Yesterday we came over the Thorong La pass, the high point, quite literally, of the Around Annapurna Trek at 5416m. I asked Dil what ‘Thorong La’ means. The ‘La’ part is a pass, which you can tell from looking at a map. The peak next to the pass is ‘Thorong Peak’. Dil […]
Lack of oxygen
Wednesday 20th March My heart is pounding and I’m gasping for breathe in an atmosphere with reduced oxygen. I follow Jim’s feet, not having the courage or energy to look up. We’re climbing from Thorang Phedi (photo above) to High Camp (photo below), a climb of 400m straight up, ready to cross the pass tomorrow. […]
The land of the yak
We’ve only experienced yak through food, cheese and meat, and also through hide, fur and heads – until today. Every time we’ve passed a big cow we’ve been asking Dil and Sanda, ‘Is that a yak?’ Today, finally, the response was, ‘Yes, well it’s a Nak.’ A nak is a female yak. The yaks only […]
Goodbye to our cook team
I had hoped to put the following up as as audio post, but technology has let me down… Monday 18th March We seem to be following snow and power cuts – not necessarily together. The lights went out in Manang last night, not long after we got back from the ‘cinema’, and they are still […]
Seven Years in Tibet
17th March ‘Can you pay now?’ asked the girl, just as the film was starting. She appeared to be running the show in the cinema. We are in Manang for a few days, doing some work and also acclimatising. Snow started coming down about 3pm, so we headed to the local ‘cinema’ to see Seven […]
Karma Gurung
Friday 15th March Our first encounter with Karma Gurung was when we were field walking just opposite his house. Later, we would find out it was his grandfather’s house – he now lives in the main village of Humde. Sanda and Sandep, who have been carrying the archaeological equipment, roughly translated for us. It transpired […]
Sticks
Thursday 14th March ‘You should get three,’ said Jim, as he pointed out that there were sticks for sale. We’d stopped at a stall outside a man’s house where he was selling trinkets, artefacts and other handmade bits and pieces. I was very tempted by a cow/donkey bell (they make such a pure and clear […]
The farm yard
13th March “People here are still a little scared of bird flu,” said Dil. We are talking about which animals are used for meat and which are used for other products. As I said in the audio post, I hope you could hear it, we are staying amongst chickens, goats, cows and donkeys. The chickens […]
Mother’s Day
Sunday 10th March ‘Ah, Mother’s Day!’ said Dil. I’d been trying to explain Mother’s Day to Dil, and that it is celebrated in the UK today. The problem was, I hadn’t actually used the words ‘Mother’s Day’. It turns out that Dil’s family, who I think are Hindu, but also observe Buddhist practices, celebrate Mother’s […]
Suzi Richer 