As the sky became light, Mt. Nilgir came out from darkness and its peak was glittering gold, when it got sunshine from raising sun. I enjoyed a great spectacle of the nature from my hotel room.
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Mr. Michio Matsuoka and three sets of husband and wife started an one night and two day trip to Muktinath (15 km north east of Jomson but its altitude is 3,802 meters, 1,000 meters higher than Jomson) riding on ponies. Their destination is a holy place for Hindus and Buddhists. |
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Each of them looked brave when they were riding on pony. They carried big sleeping bags on their back. They marched out in file to the trip by bracing themselves. Our guide from Kathomandu riding on a horse would lead the trip. His female assistant would walk all through the way.
Mr. and Mrs. Yoichiro Mizuno told me this morning'that the trekking road which they took today had been a pilgrims route and that there were many temples, view points, hotels and restaurants along the road. So I followed their route together with Mrs. Tsuchida as long as possible. As I tried to use a stick for walking which I learned as a rehabilitation exercise after I crashed my leg, I became accustomed to walk with rhythm on bumpy road. It was paved with rocks. Its width was 2 meters and a half.
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Many people were passing by. Big hordes of sheeps or yaks were coming fast, being pushed by shepherds. It was thrilling to avoid them at the road side. Caravans of ponies carrying big loads on their both sides were passing by one after another. |
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The top two ponies of caravan wear big red feathers on their heads. The caravans of cows or water buffaloes were passing by with sounds of bells hanging from their necks. Many porters were walking fast in line, carrying big loads on their shoulders. Human are important transportation means here. Tibetans are living at roadsides. They have springs around their homes. Rich natural water is a big asset for them. Many girls are washing their wears around their homes. We walked forward by looking a stream (run to Gandis river) on right side. After we crossed over the stream on a narrow wooden bridge( its width was about 1.5 meters), the road became so narrow that people or caravans can move ahead only in a line. On both sides of road, there are many small restaurants and hotels. We dropped in one of them and had milk tea and apple. We came back from there.
Many European and American trekkers were passing by but I did not meet any other people marching in files on the backs of ponies.
I observed caravans at the Oh's restaurant and found that they went eastward or westward frequently. The caravans can be said as super express trains in this region. I also found many European and Americans did not end their trip here but went through the town for further west. I counted number of them while I was waiting a tractor from the upper hotel. And I estimated number of western people passing through the town a day is about five hundred for each of both ways. People here said that most of them walked down to Pokhara ( It takes four days and three nights.) Many Japanese are visiting this country but we never met them here during these two days. I am afraid that Japanese might become people who do not walk and who cannot walk.
The most of caravans go down to Pokhara and barter farm products for salt. The ancient life and the modern life coexisted in this mountain area. I also found the difference of physical strength between European and Japanese. This might be due to gene.
