Nepal Part I Emptiness
I am beginning to capture my thoughts and experiences about Nepal in this writing. The trek, earlier in the summer, was a long 30 days in the Northwest corner of Nepal close to the Tibetan border. We were a small band of seven, including two leaders, supported by 10 Nepali guides and porters, and 10 mules to lug the heavy gear and food needed to trek for so long in such a remote area of the world. Upper Dolpo is high in altitude (14,000+) and mountainous with rock and glaciated peaks undulating out for miles in the distance. At such high altitudes, there is little vegetation beyond the variegated fields surrounding the small villages. It is sparsely populated, the villages a day or two hike from each other woven into mountain sides or along riverbeds. There is vastness to this place and also an emptiness of things and people, a quietness, amidst an immensity of space, sky, stars, distance. The land and way of living remains mostly untou...