Day 5 - Remche - 2500 m

 

 

 

Are the kids gonna miss me when I die...

Will they say 'Daddy's gone, I want to cry?'

Will they remember the good times, the nothin' times, or just the bad times...

Will the kids really miss me when I die?

 

This song, along with a melody, came to me in a dream the other night, and it keeps recycling in my head as we climb and descend these granite steps.  I also keep telling myself, "If I fall here, I probably won't die, there is vegetation down there to soften the landing, and a bush to grab onto."  This refrain was most prevalent as we climbed from Briddhim about 2,200m on a rock strewn trail that barely clung to the side of the mountain.  The trail was about 2 1/2 ft wide, and in places the drop would have been into the abyss, 1,000m, or more, below.  I was very scared, at one point holding my hiking sticks in my right hand and hugging the mountain wall with the left.  Besides the sheer drop, the trail often had the uneven, uncertain stairs which add to the uncertainty of footing and security.  At one point, Sam, the porter, stopped at a very narrow spot looking down at nothing to rest.  I could not do it and told Norsang that I wanted to proceed.  The acrophobia seems worse just standing there.  Moving, you have to watch the trail, and cannot afford to look down.

Tomorrow, we climb 1,000m, supposedly gradually, through forest.  I am definitely wearing knee braces.  We encountered an old Frenchman at the lunch spot who told a story about his knee giving out on a descent.  The knee was wrapped, but I could not figure out how he was going to get back down.  Mule?  He kept rubbing it, looking very unhappy.

 

There is a young German man here who speaks English, so I could finally have a conversation.  He has been to Nepal and India several times, and loves trekking, no guide - usually with a friend, but this time alone.  He looked as isolated as I feel.  He is a house painter in Germany and during this time of year there is no work, so he travels.  I don't think house painters and coal miners in the states trek in the third world.

 

We are now on the Langtang National Park trek, having left the Tamang Heritage trek at Briddhim.