September 5th, 2010

Namche Bazaar to Thame. Cowbells are cool.

We head out early in the morning from Namche Bazaar toward Thame. It’s a day mostly spent walking in the clouds. Gorillas in the mist, part dues. It is a day of steady ascent, following the Bote Kosi (Tibetan River). The scenery is reminiscent of Ireland (or at the least the Ireland I’ve seen in pictures). It is shockingly green here. And the parts of the landscape that have been touched by the Sherpas are small green pastures enclosed by low stone walls.

We’re walking fast enough today to catch up to our dzos, so we stop for a tea break along the way. After our tea break we come to the confluence of the Thame and Bote Kose rivers. It is a crashing, violent meeting. The water is high and rages through tiny canyons worn down by years of water. On a rock face above the confluence are three huge murals, Shiva, one of the Tara’s and on old Tibetan king. They guard and bless the suspension bridge above the rivers.

We head across the bridge and then hike more steeply up and into Thame. Here we are staying at a fabulous teahouse, owned and run by the area’s two doctors, a couple. Thame was the childhood home of Tenzing Norgay, who first summitted Everest with Hillary. And is the home of Apa Sherpa, who currently holds the record for most Everest summits--somewhere currently in the ballpark of 20 times to the top.

After lunch we head out above Thame to visit its monastery. This monastery is an old, traditional monastery—one of the oldest in the region--with a fairly small population of monks. It’s used now mainly for larger, important ceremonies. To our surprise, we are invited to remove our shoes and enter the inner sanctum—sadly, no pictures allowed.

Inside the temple is clearly at the ready. Robes are place in such a way that they seem to almost have bodies in them. They sit up, as if curled around a seated monk. At the far end of the room is a throne (not a throne—clearly--as there isn’t a king, but it looks to my Western educated brain like a throne). It has a robe draped on it, candle burning, offering of rice and a picture of a man on it. The man in the photo is the lama of the monastery. He died last year and they will now wait for his reincarnation to be discovered and for him to return to the monastery.

Every inch of the room is painted, brightly and beautifully, with images of gods, dragons, and Buddha. Small wooden cubbyholes line the walls holding silk wrapped objects. We find out that they hold scrolls of sacred books and writs.

As we head down the path back to the lodge, a stray dog that Lisa has befriend darts ahead of Tsering and I. I hear a loud ringing behind me, and turn to see a cow (with horns mind you—big horns—big scary sharp horns), charging full steam ahead about 3 yards away and closing. Anita yells a warning as I throw myself to the side against a stone wall and Tsering does the same. There is clearly a very practical reason that all large animals in Nepal still wear bells. Ding dong.

That night, our hostess builds our first fire. We all hang our wet clothes on the back of chairs and watch them steam by the stove. The room is soon cozy and warm and we’re happily kicking it by the fire until we drag ourselves to bed at the late hour of 7 pm.

Pictures

Murals above the river. Green Tara and Shiva. Lisa and Dawa below.

Bridge over the river with Lisa and Dawa.

The river and prayer flags on the bridge.

The outside of part of the Thame Monastery.

Prayer flags above the Monastery.

Fields and teahouse from above.

Laundry around the stove.