Around-the-World with Drew & Erin: Nepal

Join The Blogging Post as we head around-the-world with our friends Drew & Erin. They’ll be sending us regular dispatches and updates from all over the globe. This is their fifth post — from Nepal:

Here we are on the top of Tsergo Ri, the peak that we climbed in northern Nepal. It’s from a height of 16,328 feet. You’ll get a glimpse of the high peaks, glaciers and valleys of Nepal and even Tibet. You’ll also see and hear the prayer flags flapping in the wind — a common sight and sound here.

Typical scene in the mountains. This one is of a lady, probably 40 or 50 years old, carrying a bundle of wood that she just chopped down and that is about as big as she is. The load is attached to her back by a strap that runs over her forehead. No waistbelts, padded shoulder straps, or load lifters here, kids. Hard living.

We witnessed the amazing local mountain people making everything that they use in their everyday lives – knitting clothes, cutting and weaving bamboo for baskets, roofs, walls, and other uses, building their own homes, and much more. We also saw a family – mom, dad, sons, daughters, grandparents – gutting and cleaning the insides of a goat that they had just slaughtered. It was clear that every part of the goat was of huge value to them – blood, intestines, meat, tongue, etc. I spared you the photo of this scene, but my point is that we witnessed the incredible ways the Nepalese people provide for themselves.

In the Buddhist areas of Tibet, one encounters many mani walls. A mani wall consists of many stones that are carved into scripts, images, and prayers. Each stone is about 2 feet high and 4 feet across. Some of the mani walls are hundreds of feet long and contain thousands of stones, all of which have been engraved by hand over many years. The Buddhist walks clockwise around the walls while praying “Om mani padme hum” which is the most common Buddhist mantra. The prayer is directed to the Buddha of compassion and is supposed to contain or represent all of the Buddha’s teachings. Buddhist or not, it’s quite a sight to behold walking along a mani wall while taking in the amazing natural beauty of the Himalayan mountains all around you.

Here are some other great shots from the mountains…

Annapurna South Face with prayer flags and a monument to those who have died.

Dhaulagiri at Sunrise:
the 7th highest mountain in the world at 26,794 feet

Erin took this amazing photo of the sunset between the clouds from Kyanjin Gompa.