I Can Climb Mountains

I am woken in the morning by the thundering sound of yellow beaked crows landing on the metal roof, luckily it is only thirty minutes before I needed to get up anyway.  Whilst waiting for my breakfast of porridge and honey (A good choice as it turns out as it is really cold this morning) a man puts out some cooked rice for the birds who swarm around and make short work of their meal.

This morning I am climbing up to Kyangjin Peak.  It is around 4700m above sea level.   That as far as I am concerned is pretty high up and certainly the highest I will go for some time yet.  The climb is very steep and hard work I am really starting to struggle about halfway as the air gets thinner breathing gets harder.  I left my backpack at the hotel I don't think I could have done this climb with it on.  There are rocks and clumps of snow to navigate as well as mud to slip in but I make it to the top with only one rest break.

The views are simply stunning and Geljin takes photo's of me for posterity.  There is a pole with prayer flags and dedications attached to it, a half full packet of cigarettes has also been left.  Shortly after we reach the peak Tammie and her guide arrive and we take photo's for each other before taking more snaps of the surrounding mountains.  Tammie's guide pockets the abandoned ciggies they are his brand and everything and we relax on the rocks for a bit as birds flap around effortlessly above our heads.

The way down is tricky, there are steep slopes and loose rocks as well as the aforementioned mud.  I nearly go right over but manage to save myself at the last moment.  When we arrive back at the hotel I have a black tea and momo's for lunch then pack my gear ready for the journey back to Langtang and 'The Peace Full Guesthouse'.

The journey back seems much easier but I still need to watch my footing as my ankle nearly goes over on several occasions.  Along the way there are some Yaks blocking the path as we approach they slowly move up the hill away from the path, how polite.  I give them a thank you as we pass and I notice that one of the younger Yaks looks terrified, maybe not politeness after all.

We make it to Langtang in good time despite stopping several times along the way to take photo's.  As we arrive there are children playing in the courtyard and a man who I guess is the father is playing cards on a mat with some older boys.  Two of the children are twins and they are wearing matching blue traditional dress, they look adorable I wish I took some photo's of them.  I find a relatively flat space behind the kitchen (Most kitchens appear to be in separate buildings next to the lodges.) and do some Ki for health exercises.  Turns out they can be quite tricky when one is wearing flip flops on an uneven surface.

I wash some of my clothes afterwards outside in a metal bowl whilst the children play a game where they try to balance a stick on their finger.  An older girl in her mid to late teens is counting in Tibetan at one point she starts counting in English and sounds very much like 'The Count' from 'Sesame Street' which makes me laugh.
The game is briefly abandoned when I produce a Granola bar and I am suddenly very popular, I share it around until it is all gone.  Later when I got to my room I am followed by one of the twins unfortunately for him all I produce is my notebook and a pen.

In the early evening Tammie and Mark arrive at the hotel, Tammie who is repeatedly told she look Nepalese had been bothered by two drunk local policemen, showering her with unwanted compliments last time she was in Langtang so they changed hotels.  We have dinner and play the Nepalese card game as before but this time with a Joker valued at zero added.  It turns out we are on the same timetable  so we will all be heading down together.  They are a nice bunch and  I am glad of the extra company.