Tserko Ri--Ari

Ari Day #35

4/20/2022

Hotel Middle Path, Pokhara, Nepal

Made it…down…happy…clean…humbled…

We are now in Pokhara, about 10,000 feet lower than we were 5 days ago in Kyanjin Gompa. It’s sure nice to breathe easier, maintain my body temperature, not smell worse than the yaks, and have a better appetite. I have been MIA from writing in the journal due to exhilaration, exhaustion, and a bit of illness, so I will try to catch up.

On the night of 4/14, I had a fitful night of sleep as Cris and I were planning on going to the top of Tserko Ri, a 16,300 foot peak just outside of Kyanjin Gompa, with Dawa. I’m just a bit like my recently departed four-legged hero, Winter, as I get overly excited the night before a hike and oftentimes wake up multiple times throughout the night ready to go. At 6 am, I saw Cris (we are sleeping mostly in separate rooms as the kids are understandably more comfortable sleeping with an adult in these unfamiliar places) and she had a bit of a headache, but was planning on heading up the mountain as long as nothing else happened. Well, it did. Just 15 minutes later, she had yet another bout of Langtang’s revenge, sealing the deal that the Buddhist gods were telling her that a day of rest was in the cards for her rather than yet another day of pushing further. She decided to accompany us for the first ½ mile and then stay back in town for the day with Pemba, Asher and Linden.

Walking outside, we were greeted with one heck of a gift—about 1-2 inches of fresh snow covering the trail and the surrounding peaks. This softened the sounds around us even more, making for yet another magical experience. The day was absolutely perfect, no wind (rare occurrence), no clouds (also rare), and a blanket of snow to make everything look even more majestic. The hike up was perfect, with Dawa and I making fresh tracks to the top. We were at the top at 9:30 am, greeted by breathtaking views (literally) of 360 views of 20,000-26,000 foot peaks spanning between Nepal and Tibet as the summit of the mountain is less than 2 miles from the Tibetan (Chinese) border. The highest peak is Shishapangma, one of the 14 peaks over 8,000 meters, located in China, which was the last peak summited due to regulatory issues in the incredible documentary, 14 Peaks.

Dawa and I spent 5 minutes at the top with a solo French woman, and then were treated to 45 minutes alone at the top. During this time, Dawa took out 3 prayer strands which were given to him by the hotel owners: one for our family, one for his family, and one for the family who owns the Norleans Hotel, and 3 prayer scarves, also for each of the families, upon which we wrote the names of all of the family members. I explained to Dawa how our huskies are as much a part of our family as the humans and he let me write the names of Luna and Winter on the prayer scarf. This meant the world to me as we have not had the opportunity to spread Winter’s ashes yet, and I felt this was the beginning of me letting go of her (I still am a complete wreck whenever I think of her). Dawa spent the 45 minutes performing the ritual of writing the names, tying the prayer scarves onto the strands (3 knots for good luck), tying the 2 strands for the Ballonoffs and the hotel owner’s family together, burning incense, placing yak butter on the strands for good luck, finding a good place high on the prayer poles on the summit where the strands will be blowing in the wind (synonymous with being buffeted by the good wills of the gods) without touching the ground, and blowing barley flour into the air. Whether it was my hypoxia at 16,300 feet or the spiritual power of seeing a man completely engrossed in this ritual, I was mesmerized by the experience. I felt quite lucky to be a part of such a personal religious experience in the most beautiful place I have been.

Dawa found a perfect spot for all the strands and I was once again overcome with emotion seeing our flag with Winter’s name flying in the breeze surrounded by earth covered in a blanket of snow and majestic peaks in all directions—quite fitting for a girl who brought us up so many mountains (literal and figurative) in life. She would be perfectly at home there, so maybe a part of her essence will always be up there, graced by the “gods” or just the natural beauty, only equaled the beauty of her soul. I hope this begins my healing and I can start thinking of her with only smiles without shedding more tears.

I am also excited that our family has prayer flags/scarves on 3 peaks in the Himalayas: first peak of Kyanjin Ri, upper peak of Kyanjin Ri, and Tserko Ri. To me, this represents the fact that we will always have memories of this place, so part of our essences are up there, blowing in the strong, clean, powerful Himalayan winds. I certainly will never forget this place.

After an hour and a half, Dawa gave me a smile and asked if it would be ok for us to go down the back side of the mountain so that we can see other views, although it would be about 1 hour longer. How could I say no? We headed down, and enjoyed some backcountry walking. We had the surprise gift of meeting Linden and Cris at 2 pm about 1 km from the town as they came to meet us. This helped me immensely, as I was spent from a long day at high altitude. Cris has been a bit sad that she did not come up, which is understandable, as she would have loved the hike as she always does. However, the whole family saw Kyangin Ri, which provides incredible views and we all have seen the glory of the Himalayas. There are always more peaks and more views, the key is to enjoy the one that you are at…

We headed down the next day to Langtang Village and spent the day there at Sunrise hotel, our favorite in the valley. The following day, Temba and Xiangxu (sp?), the owners gave us all prayer scarves as parting gifts and it was sad to leave them as they cared for us while Asher was very ill. We then spent the night at Lama Hotel, the run-down part of the trek. I was gifted with my version of Langtang’s revenge with vomiting through the night, nothing that flagyl, azithromycin, and Phenergan can’t fix. Then it was down to Syafrubesi the following day, quite a long day. I was feeling a bit punky as I didn’t sleep much while I was ill. I was lucky to have Asher, Linden, and Cris all accompany me on the way down, making sure I didn’t topple over into the Langtang River. All 3 of them have been incredible, and we made it down just fine.

Yesterday we went in a jeep from Syafrubesi to Pokhara, likely the most dangerous part of our trip so far. It was an 11 hour ride over a damaged road (main highway) that was typically the width of 1.5 lanes in the US, damaged everywhere, with a constant stream of trucks, buses, motorbikes, and construction equipment. It truly was a harrowing experience, but we are here and, needless to say, we will be flying out of Pokhara to Kathmandu.

We are now at Hotel Middle Path which feels like true luxury, with hot showers, a variety of food (even I am tired of Dahl Bat—especially after tasting it a second time during the night in Lama Hotel), and Wifi access, allowing us to process the entire journey.

I am so thankful for my incredible family, having the will, determination, and patience to stick together through these times. We are all a bit homesick, yet I’m so happy we are doing this, getting a perspective that only a trip like this can offer…