September 2, 2010 (continued)
And now the trek begins. Lukla lies at 9,380 feet. This is the lowest we will be for the next 2 weeks. We go into our first of many tea houses for lunch and to meet our guys and get everything packed up. A teahouse is a sort of lodge/hostel/restaurant that are all along the trail. They’ve got a main dining area with benches along the outside of the room and lots of little tables and the center of the room is usually an amazingly efficient wood stove (that unfortunately is rarely going). Rooms are usually on a side hall, and generally consist of small rooms with two single beds. Shared toilets. Shower only if you’re really really lucky. Like being back in camp.
So we have lunch and explore a little of Lukla and then meet our team. First and foremost—we have 3 yaks. Well, not yaks. Dzos. Which is a yak-cow cross. Yaks don’t live well at lower altitudes, so the dzo is more practical. Our dzos will be loaded with 130 lbs of gear and the usually beat us up the trail. Incredible animals.
Our team: Tsering, our guide. Dawa, his son and our assistant guide. Ang Nima, yak driver. Gara, chef and Tsering’s cousin. Tsonky, Ngawa, and Jitman, assistant chefs and porters.
Plus us, the other yaks, or as they will soon name us, the Azhi Melwa—Crazy sisters.
That’s the group.
We saddle up and head out on our way to our first stop, Phakding.
We move along the trail through small Sherpa towns (anything above Lukla is now Sherpa country), and gorgeous terrain. Welcome to Shangri-la. I can see why people call this place paradise. It is clean (we were expecting more trash from trekkers—maybe being off season is saving us here). Towns are beautiful. And the surrounding land is so green and lush. Looks like New Zealand. Water falls pour down every rock face and we’re walking through almost jungly vegetation.
We are on the main road, but I think that the most striking thing about Sherpa country is the fact that a main road is a dirt trail. There are no cars here. No motorcycles. In fact, no wheels of any kind. The terrain is so steep and rocky that even carts aren’t useful. Everything here is moved on dzos, yaks, donkeys or humans. Sherpas carry an average of 150 lbs in their baskets, all secured by a strap on their forehead. It’s truly astounding.
And it’s quiet.
And the air is unbelievably clean. Just gorgeous.
Along the trail, in most towns we pass prayer flags on poles, always passing them on the left, as that is lucky. And mani, or prayer stones, are usually nearby. Mani stones are intentionally placed along the roadsides and rivers or placed together to form mounds or sometimes long walls, as an offering to spirits of place. These can be tablets with characters carved in them or enormous boulders that have been carved into or any size inbetween. They all say the same thing, a mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum (although it took us a while with Dawa to get these syllables). Which means approximately ‘Hail to the jewel in the lotus’.
Which sounds like nonsense to me.
So I looked up what the current Dalai Lama says about it, since it’s clearly a large part of Buddhism. And this is what he said:
It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast...
The first, Om, symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility.
Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
Still obscure. But he is the Dalai Lama and ultimate authority.
As we’re walking a woman comes out to speak to Tsering, not unsual as he seems to know everyone. But then he stops and says, this is my wife, Ami. It seems she visiting her sister. So we all stop for tea.
Then on our way to Phakding for dinner and wine and off to bed. A great start.
Pictures: Our dzos on the trail, fully loaded
Mani stones and prayer flags
Suspension bridge on the way into Phakding
Man carving mani stones
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