Section 2: Between Section 1 & 2 (#2)
Day 25 to 35 from Chyamtang to Yangle Karka- 4 Passes more remote than ever!
So I kind of thought that these 10 days traversing over to Makalu valley where we will finally meet my brother and Dirk – the two additional Section 2 hikers – would be a bit of a breather, some relaxed meandering through semi high terrain…. Ha! Not even close! Epic! Lots of snow! Four big passes, all packed with snow – new snow – so route finding was often part of the challenge each day in high altitude presented – I’ll share a bit more detailing moment…
So just to say that we soaked up the sun and warmth in the low ranges of Chyamtang and Honggong (both around 2300m) for a couple of days. John had a bit of a fall with some muscles damage which had us use an extra rest day in Honggong so he could recover a bit before we headed up again. That extra rest day in Honggong was an absolute blessing- literally- as the whole village happened to have Buddhist ceremonies on both days we were there. Young monks had come down from the mountain where there seems to be a cave and an old Lama who teaches them during their 4 months retreat. The day we arrived happened to be the day when the four young monks had come down for two days after 3 months in the cave to practice what they have learned and go from house to house and present their ritual dances and prayers- non stop! All through the night we heard the same songs, prayers, sounds of drums and the sound of their horns made of human bones! At 7am in the morning after a night where the drumming hadn’t ever stopped we were lucky enough to witness the full dancing and praying ritual when the monks blessed the small gompa which happened to be near the little garden we had pitched our tents in. Fabulous hats, beautiful drums, the name of which escape me now but the ones that are held on a small stick in the hand and have two short strings with a wooden bead attached at the end of each. With a slight but well coordinated regular twist of the wrist the two beads will simultaneously hit the centre of each side of the drum again and again and again; and all four monks hold the same rhythm while dancing and in perfect synchronicity blowing their beautifully ornamented bone horns- the same hand that holds the bone horn also holds a small dagger with a stunningly crafted hilt… rich symbolism in each detail… all so foreign to me. These monks are training to be “tantric monks” which basically means they are going to be normal villagers, with wives and families going after whatever business -most likely farming- a villager perform to sustain himself and his family but they are the ones who will have the duty of performing pujas in the gompa and hold the rites and religious rituals necessary in village life such as funerals and weddings and other blessings.
The other highlight was visiting one of Satish’s staff member’s home. Honggong happens to be his home village and so I had the privilege of visiting two local homes and sitting with open eyes and ears next to smokey fireplaces on which water was heated for the local specialty, Tongba, hot fermented millet served in a huge wooden mug with a thick bamboo straw that only has the tiniest opening at the bottom so none of the millet grains get sucked up through it – hot water is constantly topped up! Just sitting in these homes and getting the smallest glimpse of what life in the village is like. The smoky inside (chimneys don’t seem to be used so all the smoke goes straight into the room) makes your eyes sting quickly and puts a strain on the breathing but it also blackens the ceiling and large parts of the walls. Sleeping, eating and entertaining all happens in this one room. We sat on mats which is of course how it always is – chairs and tables will never be seen in the villages…
So on Day 29 we left the drumming of Honggong behind and made our way toward Molun Pokari Pass (4210m)… like I said – I had underestimated what we were heading into. We had had three days of no rain and hot sunshine and surely that night in camp at about 3500m a hailstorm turned into snow all night – and while the next morning greeted us with sunshine again up high the question always is how many hours we have before the weather comes in again. Well, we left at 7:30am (which usually is our departure time) and three hours later and almost 500m higher and having climbed through the deepest of snow we found ourself in a whiteout which basically means no visibility, completely foggy and it had started to snow again. We pitched camp. And just after heavy snow fell and didn’t stop all night and even in the morning it continued to come down fast and hard. Satish decided to wait it out and sure enough by ten o’clock it cleared and we started walking up the most beautiful Molun Pokari pass where the wind and frost had created stunning icicle formations on rocks and the prayer flags that bridged the beacons on top of the pass as always. We walked through the deepest of snow and the route was tricky around frozen lakes and hugging many steep ridges. Lhakpa as always did an amazing job finding a fabulous route and I more than understand how impossible and treacherous it would have been to try and find our way trough the high and rugged mountain terrain with little or no visibility! There would have been no way! We have been very lucky. A crazy deep snow descend through a rhododendron bush covered mountain side was the last challenge before we got to camp. I absolutely loved the day. I walked most of it alone and found myself laughing out loud whenever I found myself sinking deep into the snow when a step gives way and suddenly the leg is in up to the hip… I also loved the long steep snow slopes up high that allowed for jumping and sliding technique which was just so much fun. And walking alone in this seemingly unending snowscape, remote and untouched feels close to magic. The awareness of my vulnerability always present. This is a place to traverse, to visit shortly, to go out and love and then leave, lucky to have done so safely!
So after this pass we only had one day of walking through the jungle along the river before we headed back up to what turned out to be an even bigger physical experience. We crossed three passes in one day. Each had one side fully snowed in and the other almost bare, nonetheless slippery and rocky. We used ropes to make it up the first pass’s (Adventure Pass its name!) steep snowy ravine aware of the danger of avalanches as we traversed big snow fields that were quickly heating up in the morning sun. The second pass, Kalo Pokari Pass 4340m, was harmless in its approach but once on top a sheer almost vertical snowy ravine greeted us for our descend. We used ropes for the first bit and then took it step by step and all got down safely. The last pass had no special challenges except that the weather began to come in and took some of our visibility so route finding became a bit of an issue. I enjoy walking on my own and tracing the footsteps I am meant to follow. I love the focus of it. Eventually after a long rocky downhill we arrived on a big meadow near a river where again we managed to pitch the tents just in time before a massive snowfall came down and covered the previously grassy and dry meadow.
Today we arrived in Yangle Karka 3630m, the first set of houses we have seen since Honggong. There are exactly 5 small wooden houses here and a little gompa like building. Tomorrow Philipp and Dirk arrive. John and I will have a rest day hopefully do some laundry and…. explore the five houses, look at the impressive waterfalls that are coming down hundreds of meters from the sheer cliffs of the walls on the other side of the river that we are camping at, Barun Nadi.
