Trekking Day 7

I woke up today with a raging appetite. Thank the Lord! Had some coffee and boiled potatoes and I was good to go. Shortly after breakfast we heard some drumming and so we went outside to see. Below in the village we saw a slow procession of people making their way up the hillside. Shem told us it was a Tibetan Buddhist funeral procession. We watched for awhile and while we don't really know what was going on, what I observed was about 50 people walking very slowly and in a single file line. First there were a few monks and then a man carrying what looked like a large yellow sack (presumably the body). A few more men and then what must have been the immediate family for there were women crying loudly. About 20 paces behind them were about 6 more men walking, another 20 paces then 6 women, another 20 paces, about 5 men and then another 20 paces about 4 women. I don't know if these numbers have any significance but it was what I observed. They gathered at a very high point on the hillside (aka, mountain) where we saw a small fire that did not last very long, certainly not long enough for a cremation. Later we learned that they do not typically cremate the bodies up there because of the lack of firewood or some such reason. If the individual was a lama or monk then they might be placed in a sitting position and stones placed around them, but for most people they would be dismembered and placed on the rocks for the vultures to feed on. I don't know if this is what happened, but we did notice an unusually large number of birds later in the morning.

About midday, we went with a group of people down to the river to have an “amazing” time together. The way down was very steep, very very steep. Despite wearing hiking shoes, I was going very slow and probably holding up our own procession. So a woman wearing a basinet (complete with infant) strapped to her forehead and a bundle in her arms and flip flops on her feet decided to take my hand and lead me down to the river. There were probably about 20 of us and it was a joyful bunch, an interesting contrast to the procession going up the mountain for the funeral. If you are interested in hearing more about this then I can tell you about it in person. Some things cannot be shared here.

Had lunch at Yungchin's house today. It was delicious and I was so happy to eat. After lunch she gave us some Yak milk to try. It was tasty, so rich and slightly sweet. Best milk I've ever had! Her family are yak farmers. We also tried Tibetan tea. It's make of yak butter, salt and a few tea leaves. I really don't think they should call it tea though. It gives the wrong impression in your mind, because it smells a bit like detergent and tastes like very rich melted butter. It's not a bad taste, but not what you think of when drinking tea.

In the afternoon, I went to the tent to rest again for a bit. It was an unsuccessful rest though because kids saw me go into the tent. And apparently decided to spend the afternoon haunting me. They would circle the tent and occasionally a brave kid would press himself against the sides or play with the zippers. Tom was hanging out in the church and so kept running out telling the kids to leave me alone. They would run and hide and then 5 minutes later begin again. I could see their shadows coming closer and closer and hear their loud kid whispers. Sometimes there would be a finger testing the zippers or pushing the sides. Then some of them started throwing rocks at the tent. Eventually Tom had to just come outside and be near the tent. We had already been carrying all of our valuable items on us at all times, but we are convinced if we were there one more day the kids would have gotten bold enough to get in the tent and probably take some things. Kids in 3s and 4s are pretty cool, but they can become a mob together if you let them. I've seen some scary things in Guatemala when you pull out a bag of candy in a school yard …

We have dinner that evening with a new friend and a man from the government who was handing out eye medications. Tom and I both got a very strange feeling from this guy. We don't know why, but there was something off about him. After dinner we made the rounds to say goodbye and then headed to bed. We had an early morning ahead of us.