This is the seventh post of a three-week series. Please visit the “Adventure Journal” page of our website and start with “Why Nepal?” to read in order! As always, I have added perspectives from the kids (as they allow me to).

Cover Photo: First very simple village prayer wheel on our trail.

*Please note that to see Cover Photo on email notification, you will need to click “Read On” at the bottom of the email.

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Day 6: Chumling (2,350m) - Chhekam (Chhokang Paro) (3,000m)

June 3, 2019

Stats:

Walked: 6hrs 10mins
Distance: 8.25 miles
Ascent: 3,011 ft
Descent: 514 ft
Elevation Gain: 2,497 ft
Counted 0 mules passing by on our trail—no more mules (except our own)

Today’s shorter and cooler hike transitioned us from more if the Indian Nepali region to the Tibetan one. Greetings of “Namaste” turned into “Tushi Delek” and walking to the left of chortans (always clockwise), entering village prayer gates, and passing prayer flags have become way more common. I was excited to show the kids our first hiking path prayer wheels as we approached a village and, of course, the kids had fun spinning them.

Side Note: For those of you who may not know about prayer wheels: A prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather or coarse cotton. Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is written in Newari language of Nepal, on the outside of the wheel. As you turn the prayer wheel, the mantra is repeated over and over as your prayer. The mantra itself takes a lifetime to understand, but loosely translated, it stands for something like this:

…depending on your practice on 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

At this higher elevation, the cold, misty weather perfectly supports an abundant pine forest, which makes the green on the Nepali “hills” contrast beautifully with the snow-capped Himals. The forest also provides different resources to the highland people. Whereas earlier homes were mainly constructed metal sheets and rock, now wood is added to the construction methods, both as sturdy pillars and beams, but also as decoration. The carefully trained craftsmanship in these villages show beautifully.

The hike itself, though all uphill (ascending over 3,000 ft), was relatively easy and a bit shorter than the day before…but there were a few mishaps and tense moments along the way. The first issue that happened was with Kaysee. He was headed for a “nature dump” as he calls it, and accidentally brushed his bum on a stinging nettle plant! Almost immediately, he developed welts and I did what I could to apply an herbal tincture (that I always keep handy for everything) to the area. We even patched up his butt cheek with gauze so that it wouldn’t rub as he walked, but unfortunately, those remedies just took off only the slightest edge. For stinging nettle contacts, you just have to let it run its course, which is about 2-3 hours. Poor Kaysee…he never even got to actually go to the bathroom!

The second and third issues had to do with obstacles on our trail. We had to cross another landslide and this time, small rocks were actually falling down. At one point, I had to wait and let one fall past me before I crossed. Luckily, we all made it out unscathed, but it was stressful all the same. The third issue, however, kept us stalled for several minutes. While we were walking, a HUGE ox bull stood in our way (along with its family). Honestly, it was just grazing, but oxen are known to be a bit temperamental, so we had to wait until our guide cleared the path with grunts, threats of stick-hitting, and other interesting noises (which we all learned quite well by the end of the trek).

Along the way, we ran into a Lama, or village leader, who was headed the other way for a few days. He was so delighted to see the kids trekking that he asked to take photographs with him. He told his colleagues in Tibetan, “see even the smallest tourists come to see the beauty of our village.”

We interviewed the Lama about the impending road to Tibet (which will be featured in our video at the end of the series). When asked about his thoughts, he was enthusiastically supportive of the road. He said that it will allow others to see how beautiful his village is. Zayan and I discussed his response as we walked on; we wondered if he really knew how much his village was likely to change as a result of the road.

We arrived to the area of Chhokang Paro, and it was indeed a beautiful village. We set up camp (poop tent and all) and tried to play a game of Kubb, until the rain came. After that it was school, reading, and writing until dinner.

The five of us have been in two tents (Boys and me; Kenza and Kapil). Each night the tent has been in interesting locations and positions—from slight slants to teahouse yards with barking dogs and braying mules. Where the quality of sleep has been lacking, the quantity of hours has made up for it. Every night, dinner is at 6:30p and is followed by a briefing of the next day. We’ve been in our respective tents by about 7:30pm, reading and journaling; with stories and lights out at 8:30p. Since “tea-time” wake up is not until 6am, we’ve been enjoying over 10 hours of sleep each night!

Despite the amount of sleep we are getting, I can tell the kids are getting tired. Camping in the rain is hard for anyone and it is no fun having to deal with the smelliness and dampness of everyone and everything. At dinner, the kids had a breakdown. Kenza wasn’t feeling so well (stomach ache) and all the kids (especially Kenza and Kaysee) were very homesick. Through the tears and the discomfort from the fatigue and cold, Kapil’s and my heart just broke. Perhaps the long-cut wasn’t such a good idea after all…especially if it means that we won’t even make it half way on the actual Manaslu Circuit (remember that this route to the Tibetan border is a separate extension (off the circuit—if the circuit is like loop, we are going out and back like a ray of sunlight). I’ll spin the next prayer wheel a little harder…

Day 6 photo near Chekkam in front of three chortans and a large single prayer flag.

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Excerpt from Zayan’s Journal (12 years):

Today we climbed into colder weather. We gained 650m and I could feel the air thinning. I know I keep saying this, but today felt even more authentic. Our campsite was a beautiful grass terrace shrouded in the clouds. The site was very tranquil and quiet, but the climb was not.

The first challenge was traversing a recently active landslide area. We climbed up hundreds of feet on loose gravel. For fear of injury from falling rocks, we were not allowed any breaks. When we got to the top, a big bull blocked our path, which meant more climbing for us, as our guide, Mingmar, tried to scare the behemoth animal by throwing sticks and stones adjacent to its hooves. When the bull finally yielded, we rushed past it and then climbed a series of switchbacks in the blazing sun.

After a while, we got to a cooler, damper region and I felt myself let go a little. For me the transition to the highlands was marked by the presence of the first prayer wheel.

Understanding our “long-cut” trek extension to Tsum Valley on the Nepali/Tibetan border.

Excerpt from Kenza’s Journal (9 years):

Today was a long day and I felt like crap. There isn’t really much to say about today and I won’t draw a picture because I am feeling sick. Oh well!

Excerpt from Kaysan’s Journal (7 years):

Today it was an easy day. But at the end there was an hour climb. The trael was pretty flat until we stopped for lunch. Where we ate lunch, there were sooooo many flies.

After lunch we started to climb. There was a verey naro path in the landslide area. It was pretty freeky and we all had to stay together. We saw oxen on our path.

After a few hours, we reached the camp site. Along the way we saw a huge vulture!!!!!!!!!!