Gumba Lungdung

At 5 am I woke up in confusion. It turned out that the kids wake up early for morning 'pooja' '(prayers) and meditation that lasts for about 1 hour. Just as well - it's a more soothing option than waking up to your neighbour snoring.

Today was going to be a day trip up to Gumba Lungdung, another monastic settlement, and then to a viewpoint at about 4,000 metres altitude. One normally proceeds to the higher Ganesh Himal Basecamp (GHBC - Alt. 4200m) but it was closed due to snow. The summit looms above at an altitude of 7422m.

Domje to Gumba Lungdang (with a wander up the rolling hils just north to the viewpoint) and back

The trail starts with a direct upward climb with a tight zig-zag path through the dense forest. The roar of the stream coming from the Ganesh Himal glaciers became fainter as the peaks and their deep valleys and wide glaciers became closer. The terrain briefly became grassy allowing more stunning views, including the Manaslu peaks. By now we were high enough to see some yaks, blocked from going downhill by an elaborately arranged wooden fence, with a gate at the pathway with foot friendly, hoof unfriendly ladders.

After about 2 hours of walking one can actually see the GHBC. The sparse clouds allowed a clear view of the intricate folds of the peaks, a photographers or painters delight with the interplay of shadow and light. The monastic settlements came into view. Already their dogs were barking. The monastic temple overlooked a courtyard where we saw a nun washing some clothes. Amir got to work with getting news and some refreshments. Of course, also ordering ''dal bhat''. Problem: no dal but lots of alu (potatoes). The views remained majestic. Also their garden flowers were worth gazing at with bees and other insects hovering, prospecting for nectar. 

So much transformation of scenery in one morning from lowland coniferous forest to the edge of Ganesh Himal glacier !

It was about 11 am and we decided that it was a good idea to get up to the viewpoint before lunch. The trail up is very sketchy and one of the nuns had to help us find its head as Amir couldn't pick it up on his own. It's not much of a trail, just a bush-whacked opening. We trudged for a while through forested foliage before emerging into rocky grassland. From Gumba Lunging, the viewpoint seemed close to. However from our current clearing it was still distant as we had to go round numerous hills, previously unseen. What made it worse was that the grass hid this rarely frequented trail so Amir had to look hard to regain it or just work out a new one of his own. The terrain was not just grassy, various hardy plants, like little cacti and minuscule flowers, as well as pleasantly smelling herbs were abundant. Also deer or perhaps mountain goat droppings were scattered at some instances.

Ani explaining to Amir the trail to the viewpoint

Circling above us were the usual crows, but there were also birds of prey: eagles. I bet they scavenge the odd dead animal too. A lizard that just scuttled under a rock had many other worries. The eagle majestically glided in the valley, sometimes seeming like they were circling us and marking us as potential carrion. We were getting closer to the viewpoint but were still very far. Clouds were now rolling in, retreating that 360 degree panorama that we expected at the viewpoint. We took a break at one protrusion in the hilly fold and a disturbed pheasant burst out of its nest nearby. At the next protrusion we rested again, against some quarried slates, popular in this region for roofing. We had by now gone over 4000 metres in altitude, hence the need for frequent breathing catching breaks. 

 The rolling hills exposing...

....mountains after mountains after mountains....

We finally decided that it would be too dangerous to risk spending 1 hour to get to the viewpoint with potential snow and inadequate protective clothing. We had left some stuff at Gumba Lungdung. So we descended. Light snowflakes did fall on us so our decision was quite prudent. Just before our return for lunch I had a face wash at a communal free flowing tap. It was so refreshing, amplified by the desiccated mountain wind drying off my face within minutes. ''Bhat'', curry ''alu'' and some pickle awaited us. The 2 nuns at our service took a fascination to my hair.  They have never seen Afro hair. I invited them to touch it. They were unconvinced that it grew naturally like this!

The T.A.A.C. (Tibetan Afro Appreciation Club) (Courtesy of J.Chow)

I spotted a langur monkey whilst eating. It was on a tree about 50 metres from us. Yam joined the nuns in throwing stones to scare it away. I have no idea why. It was just perched on a tree minding its own business. I openly wondered whether this action violates Buddhist non-violence principle or their is some sort of karmic precedence (a local long dead human bully reincarnated as a langur perhaps!). I then saw a moth on top of a drying saffron coloured article of clothing on a washing line. I nudged it to get it to fly off before it decides to chew into the fabric. It fell straight down to the ground. It was already dead (it's true!). Hmm, I wonder how it died...

Carefully tended compound, not a soul emitting a sound...

 Swaying flowers and trees, prayer flags swinging in the gentle breeze....

...and busy bees.

We started our descent back to the herbal clinic by 3pm after saying our goodbyes. The descent was quite taxing on the knees. The weather seemed to stabilise when we reached Domje. Some trekkers and their crew had just arrived after descending down Tsum Valley today.We had already met some of them the previous day. The Scottish/English couple and the Austrian. We met for the first time a family trio: a mum, dad and daughter combo from Canada. We all ate in the classroom like true troopers before settling to bed.

Also check out the Gumba Lungdung photo album here.