Tek loaded up the giant duffel bags of gear. By ³loaded up´ I mean he put them both into a large
plastic sack (big enough to fit two or three Teks) put a rope around them that attached to a plastic
bandanna which he placed around his head. He then set off up steeps steps in the jungly hills. I
couldn¶t believe what I was seeing. My tiny pack was nestled nicely over my shoulders and
contained not much more than a jacket and water. I was astonished that with a giant smile Tek
carried these massive loads up and down the Himalayas.
As we hiked up through the jungle we talked about how we were surprised to be in such a
tropical climate. The other mountains we have visited are in dry climates. In all of the movies
we had watched about the Himalayas we hadn¶t really noticed that the south side of the range
gets much more rain than the north side causing it to feel like a tropical island.

The trail we followed was made of hand cut rocks carefully placed to become perfect steps
through the hillside. We had never hiked on a trail that was in such good condition. Aside from
the cow patties that were strewn across the trail, it was remarkably clean and easy to follow.
There are no roads and helicopters are seldom used for transporting goods and supplies to the
small mountain villages. This makes trails the primary method of transportation for trekkers,
shepherds, school children, and porters carrying supplies up to the villages. Nearly every that
exists along these network of trails was carried up there by animals or more often by people.
As we hiked our guide, Maule, told us about the Himalayas and it¶s people. Maule and Tek are
from the Khumbu region where it is natural for fit young men (and now more frequently women)
to enter the business of being a mountain guide or porter. Most start as porters and then try to
work their way up the ranks. Porters who become cooks get paid a bit more and have more
opportunities. Cooks can then sometimes become guides. Then once a guide there are different
levels of designation.

We learned that the word ³sherpa´ is usually incorrectly used by westerners to describe everyone
from guides to porters. A ³Sherpa´ is both a ethnic group and a guide level designation. When
someone is called ³Lakpa Sherpa´ their first name is ³Lakpa´ and their family name or ethnic
group is ³Sherpa´. In this case ³Lakpa´ might or might not have achived the Sherpa guide
designation. Our guide ³Maule Tamang´ is from the ³Tamang´ family or ethnic group.

After a few hours of trekking on our first day we arrived at Dhampus, a quaint little town
perched on a ridge line in the jungle hills. Our accommodations were a clean guest house (or tea
house) with about 20 small rooms. Surprisingly the beds were comfortable and because it was
the off season we were the only ones there. We spent the afternoon sitting outside reading,
drinking tea, and relaxing. Tea houses offer a number of options for food, everything from pizza
to V
  to momos.

Everything is freshly prepared using many local ingredients since things that can be grown
locally or obtained from the local yaks and goats will be fresher and less expensive.

After dinner on our first night on the trail we were lucky to have clouds break just before dark.
The view was more astonishing than we had ever imagined it would be. Directly in front of us
stood some amazing massive mountains. They jutted into the sky like nothing we had ever seen
before. Their glaciers, rock faces, and sharp ridges seemed to be something out of a fantasy
movie or abstract painting. It just didn¶t seem possible that something so beautiful and
magnificent could be standing right in front of us. We sat there without words squinting our eyes
trying to take it all in until the light had completely disappeared.

The next morning at sunrise the mountains were still visible. In the cold morning air they seem
to be frozen in time as if someone has pulled back a curtain from a panoramic picture from long
ago. As the sunlight began to hit the peaks long before it reached me, I realized just how far
above the peaks are. Some which seem within reach are actually over five thousand meters
above me. It¶s hard not to want to spend all day just gazing and getting lost in the seemingly
unreal views.

For the next few days we followed a simple pattern: wake up, eat, hike for about 4 hours, arrive
at a tea house, have lunch, read, relax, play cards, eat dinner, and then go to bed. It was more
restful than any vacation we¶ve ever been on. The views continued to wet our appetites for the
total envelopment we would experience inside the Annapurna Sanctuary. For the first few days
we moved through the jungle toward the Sanctuary. During this time, the trails, towns, and
terrain were similar. Around four days into the trip we reached rougher terrain, with some snow
on the ground, colder temperatures, and walls of rock in the canyons that shot into the sky.
Above, way above, these immense walls were the glaciers and mountains peaks we had seen
from a distance.

As we approached the Sanctuary I felt anxious. Not about the dangers ahead but because I was
entering into something so much bigger and so much more spectacular than anything I¶d ever
experienced. I felt as though it were almost too much, too overwhelming. Perhaps I don¶t
belong in a place that can make one feel so small and so overpowered by the surrounding
beauty. Perhaps this is why it is called the Sanctuary.It seems as though you have entered
something sacred, powerful, fierce, and yet so intoxicatingly beautiful that only gods really
belong there.

As the clouds would momentarily break we¶d see slivers of the mountains that now surrounded
us. It was haunting because we knew there were more, and if the clouds completely cleared I
might just break down and weep due to the overwhelming beauty.

When we arrived at the Annapurna South Base Camp it was cold and nearly snowing. We
warmed up with some tea, but the cold damp air made it difficult to stay warm. Thank goodness
Tek had carried up, among other things, our down jackets. The table at the tea house also had a
heater underneath that aided us in staying warm. It¶s always humorous to gaze around the walls
of a tea house. You know that some of the best climbers in the world have stayed in these same
places. You almost expect to see pictures of Maurice Herzog or Ed Viesturs. But instead you
will find posters of Mr. T and the Austrian Alps. I suppose that when you see so much beauty
and such amazing climbers regularly it¶s nice to occasionally take a break and ponder the A-
Team.

That afternoon at Annapurna Base Camp the clouds broke and it was indescribable. Three
hundred and sixty degrees around us stood some of the largest mountains in the world. We were
surrounded by beauty like we had never seen before. The south face of Annapurna I was
towered above us with snarled snow fields and sheer rock faces. The ragged glaciers creeped
slowly down from the high summits above. We were completely overwhelmed with awe and left
speechless.

After enjoying some time in the high altitude camps of the Annapurna Sanctuary we had to
return back. We felt a tension about leaving. A part of us wanted to stay forever, continually
being filled with the power of nearly endless beauty. We were given the gift of a few moments
in the Sanctuary but were meant to live in the ordinary valleys of life having been changed by
our experience in the Sanctuary.

As we trekked back through the jungle the images of the Sanctuary would pop back into my
mind. After only a few days those images began to feel like a dream. How could something so
beautiful have been real? But it was real! Our experiences with the Himalayas have transformed
us into people who more fully appreciate the beauty of this earth and the beauty of the people
who get to enjoy it.
- By James Ward

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