September 8th, 2010

Gokyo to Tangnag. Cards are conversational currency.

Wake to sun. A scratchy throat. A tight chest. One out of three ain’t bad. Today will be a relatively short day. The plan is to cross a glacier to Tangnag. Then rest up for Cho La. The dzos leave us this morning to go around Cho La and meet us in Labuche.

We’re rather excited about crossing the glacier. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Then head out. To my surprise, we return to the same ridge I had wandered up the day before. This time it’s sunny and Pala points out all the mountains and we just enjoy the view.

Pala points right in front of us. ‘That’s the glacier we’re crossing.’

‘Where?’

‘There.’

I don’t see a glacier. I see a weird moonscape. But no ice.

‘There. That is the glacier.’

It doesn’t look like the glacier in my head. The glacier in my head is white and blue and beautiful, maybe even topped with snow. What I see is a long valley filled with grey gravel. Just gravel as far as you can see, with occasional small ponds. Pala insists that is the glacier. Apparently it’s under all the rock. Our walk across a glacier seems much less exciting than we had initially anticipated.

So we start moving across the gravel field. As we walk, cracks and and patters betray the hidden ice, and little rockslides happen every few minutes. We hit a few spots where the melted pools make it possible to see the ice of the glacier. So. This is the glacier. At least it’s sunny and warm. Ni and I strip down to tank tops and even Lisa, shock of shocks, takes off a few layers.

After three short hours we come to Tagnag—a town that consists of 2 or 3 teahouses curled at the base of a cliff. After lunch, the three of us wander up the valley on side trail to see what there is to see. Which is not much. Except for massive fields of drying yak dung, the primary fuel for the region. It’s almost remarkable how much they have. Truly. And it doesn’t stink. Odd.

We head out of ‘town’. The clouds have returned and won’t lift. I do manage to see a pika (a mountain rodent that looks like a cuter version of a hamster), but can’t seem to take a picture.

We enjoy the walk, and the silence. And the moment to just be. We sit, silently, looking out at the architecture of fallen stone. The river rushes.

Anita simply says ‘We are in the Nepal Himalaya’. And all I can say is ‘Yeah.’

When we go back, we still have lots of time, so I pull out the deck of cards I brought. After dinner, we ask to learn a Nepali card game. Pala says, ‘OK, wait here.’ In a few minutes he’s back with the entire team.

It is magic. The cards cut through all language barriers and shyness. Pala pairs each of us up with a member of the team, me and Dawa, Anita and Tsonky, and Lisa and Gara. And they teach us their game, Call Break. Its closest relation to a game I’ve played is Pinochle. We have a blast learning with our partners and then they cut us loose.

We end up playing cards for three hours, laughing and enjoying ourselves. By the end, we’re not winning on our own, but we are holding our own and have figured out the rules.

Then we head off to bed, and leave the guys to play ‘til dawn.

Pictures

Gokyo Lake in the morning

The Glacier

Crossing the Glacier

Sign at the Teahouse in Tangnag

'Firewood' drying

Lisa