The Hike to Bigu

 

This photo is my heaven.

I took this from the Sherpa house overlooking the valley from where we came.

 So, after the bus ride to Barabise, Tashi (my excellent guide- and later friend) and I hiked up to Bigu. The first day was filled with steep ascents, through villages with stepping stones/stairs and later up "short-cuts" through the woods. We stayed with a Sherpa family and one of the pictures to the right is of the three Sherpa children who lived there. Although they look very small, from left to right the kids are 12, 9, and 7 years old. They worked so hard! Each child helped with the cooking, cleaning, firewood, hiked up and down from school, did their homework diligently, and sometimes had time to play as well. They were so sweet and wonderful. The picture to the left is of the "shop"--Tashi's word--that we stopped to get breakfast on our way out the next morning. Although it doesn't look like much, I had my favorite tea there and a delicious noodle soup. Don't judge a book by its cover!! (Although as a side-note about my kindle, this is not so much of an issue any more. Thanks again, mom!)

The second day of hiking wasn't as arduous as the first, but it was still very challenging making it to the pass and over to Bigu. I loved seeing a gorgeous white ridge of mountains when we reached the top. The animal that you see in this photo may look like a yak, but it actually is an animal that sounds like a "tszo," which is a cow that has been bred with a yak. Pretty cool, huh. I didn't realize they existed, but yaks are much more comfortable at higher altitudes, so people in this region breed them so they can take them higher up into the mountains. The down side is that yak hair can be used for textiles, and tszo hair cannot.

Classic rural eastern Nepal photo to the right. Actually, higher up they do not grow rice...they are growing millet and wheat on the terraced hills--this might be the reason why we made a lot of momos (dumplings) and homemade wheat pasta at the monastery.