September 15, 2010

Chursema to Lukla. I win at cards.

We wake up to a beautiful sunny morning. Lisa sleeps in and Anita and I head out to tour the home and grounds with Dawa as our guide. First stop. His great-uncle’s home/monastery. We head out of the house and then straight up the hillside. And I mean straight up. There is no trail, Dawa just heads straight into the thick vegetation toward a cliff face. We push through weeds, flower and brambles, and our allergies kick in big time. 25 minutes up and we are sweaty, bur-covered messes. And then we step into a small clearing.

We are at the base of the cliff. Built into the rock is a small home with a memorial out front. Dawa explains that this was his uncle’s home. His uncle was a lama of some renown, so the house is also considered a monastery and holy place. He came here to meditate and study and students would seek him here for training.

We head inside. It’s in a state of disrepair, dark and cobweb covered. There is a small kitchen and then the common room. The common room has books, thankas (religious paintings), and Buddhist statues.

Then we head onto the roof. This is where he did most of his meditating, which he did for up to seven years at a stretch. The view is spectacular. It’s easy to see why he chose this place. Prayers are painted and carved into the cliff. The house has been untouched since his death.

We head down a after a while and as we head back down the mountain, Dawa manages to find us a faint trail so the going is easier. We cross a stream at the base of a fabulous waterfall. Anita and I manage to cross the slippery rocks without falling in, but Dawa takes a plunge while helping Ni across. As we go down the trail, he heads off to the house to change, and sends Ni and I on down the trail. It is almost miraculous what happens next. We are left alone, on a clear trail, and with in 10 minutes manage to make a wrong turn and get ourselves lost. This folks, is talent. Real skill. We figure it out relatively quickly and head back down the right trail.

Dawa meets up with us and we head down the mountain. He shows us the 3 greenhouses, full of the peppers and tomatoes and food we’ve been eating on the trip. We see fields of potatoes and corn and the apple orchard. He essentially owns a whole hillside that is a huge working farm. Dawa then takes us back up the mountain. Again, straight up. Hot, sweaty, pulling through brambles up. Until we reach his grandmother’s house.

We stop to meet his grandmother and see her home. She offers us, of course, tea! And as we’ve learned, you never say no to tea in Nepal. So we have tea and crackers and Dawa shows us some of the family pictures. Then we’re fetched for lunch and treated to Ami’s cooking. A fabulous veggie soup and potato pancakes. These potato pancakes are thin, like crepes, and they top it with fresh cream and spinach. Delicious.

We take our leave of the family and leave Ami with some thank you presents and then head on our way to Lukla. Last day of hiking. Fairly easy and relaxed, although poor Lisa is now in the throws of a full bronchial infection.

We make it into Lukla and get settled into the teahouse. We get Lisa into bed. Then Ni and I head up for dinner. We bring back some soup and a hot toddie for Lisa, so she can stay and sleep.

Our boys have gone all out. Tsering has gotten a bottle of wine (how well he knows us now) and Gara has been cooking up a storm. We have 3 kinds of curried veggies, an awesome sweet saffron rice, and the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. Ni and I cleaned our plates (RJ you would have been proud). And after all of that, Gara brings in a beautiful decorated cake for dessert.

After dinner, Ni and I thank everyone and we pass out decks of cards with tips inside for all our guys. And the night ends with a Call Break tournament for prizes that Lisa has brought (hats and t-shirts). I, for the first time, beat Pala. Miracle of Miracles. Big deal. The competition has been tough. But it is Jitman who cleans up and is the big winner of both a hat and shirt.

We say our goodnights and head to bed. We’re hoping for clear skies for our flight in the morning.

Pictures:

Uncles house/monestary

View from rooftop

Inside the Uncle's house

Pretty flower

Greenhouses

Tsering and his Family

Tsering's Home

Ricki Kur (Potato Pancake)

Pika picture

Jitman with the cake

Jitman wearing his prizes

Anita and Dawa crossing a stream