ON TOP OF THE WORLD!

(Note - this will be a fairly long post. The power went out yesterday when I was writing it. Fortunately, the program saved it, so I'll finish what I was writing and add today's comments. It starts like this:)
We're not really on top of the world,, but it sure feels that way. We are staying at a simple but comfortable lodge up here tonight and next night. It really feels like we are in a different century and a different reality. We followed a trail along the steep hillside today, incredible views of the valley below. It's been cloudy, but the Annapurnas are making an appearance - again, pictures will be posted when we can find a cable to download them. Huge, huge mountains, wrapped in clouds... we expect better views tomorrow.

We hiked through some villages today. Most people live in stone houses, with tin roofs. Some have shutters but
no windows. More affluent ones are all stone with windows. People are farmers - they seem to grow lots of vegetables here. As we hike along the trail people come out and ask us where we are going, where we are from, etc. These are standard greetings along the trails in Nepal/ Some folks ask for money or try to sell something, but most just seem curious. Kids are especially curious about who we are and what we are about. I know they see a lot of hikers up here, but we must seem like a real oddity to them. We've gotten some real laughs from some of them by acting silly, the way we both do with kids at home.

On the whole life seems extremely basic here. We did see one guy talking on a cellphone, and he sure seemed out of space. I can't imagine what he does for reception up here, but he was talking away. Language is a problem. We both tried unsuccessfully to learn some Nepalese, we only know a few words. Most people in Pokara speak some English, but fewer folks here do.

They must get a lot of rain here, there are a lot of broadleafed plants and a number of ferns. There are a lot more wildflowers than I expected. At first I wondered what was pollinating them, but I have seen lots of bees and butterflies today. Some of the flowers are small roses, there are also some daisies and some that look like lilac flowers. The plant book I bought in Kathmandu doesn't have a key so I can't figure out what many of them are
beyond this. Oh yes - the poinsetta trees are in bloom with amazing red flowers.

(I completed last night's post and will go on to today's.)

How on earth do I describe dawn over the Annapurnas? The mountains that we saw from Nagarkot were distant and ethereal; these are much closer - IN YOUR FACE HIMALAYAS!!! Again, the concept of size seems meaningless here. Huge, huge peaks, largely covered with snow that catches rose and orange light at dawn.
They are shaped like pyramids, icebergs, great ovals all twisted in unimaginable angles. One is called Fishtail in English - I can't remember its Nepalese name. It does look like a huge, thin fish's tail among the others. Immense dark valleys separate the mountains. Their color turns to silver gray and snow white when the sun rises. They are wrapped in clouds now but we'll see them again tomorrow, and from other places. Again, I've written poetry and will share it with anyone who is interested later.And yes, photos will come when we can get a cable.

Today we took a long hike through some local villages, along a ridge overlooking the Himalayan foothills (which are also quite beautiful. Very interesting towns. The kids here are amazing. They gathered around us in small groups a few times, They were fascinated with my binoculars, which I let them use , and with my bird and plant books. Several of them looked at every page in the bird book. They told us the Nepalese names for the bird and we told them the English names - I'm sure none of us will remember the names in other languages, but it was fun. One pretty precocious boy who must have been about 7 just kept saying "Very bird! Very bird!"

Other kids asked us for money or sweets, one asked us for pizza and laughed loudly. Some of the kids are raising money for equipment for their sports teams; they ask hikers for small donations. They are very grateful when you give them a little, they record your name and country, maybe so they can show how many folks gave.

On the whole the situation had kind of a "Little Rascals" feel. Most of the kids seem to have a healthy combination of curiosity, sweetness and mischievousness, like anywhere. A few seemed a little tougher, like everywhere, but nothing troubling happened. Oh yes - one small boy seemed to think I was giving him the bird book and started to run off with it. His grandmother (I think) made him give it back.

Oh yes, we had a fun interaction with a couple of goats, one of whom tried to take a bite out of my sweater while I was petting it. I got the sweater away from it in one piece. We also saw an animal that I think was a mongoose
scurry across the road.

It's great here but very cold at night and the language difficulties are a bit of a problem. We'll return to Pokara tomorrow for some more adventures; I'll post from there sometime tomorrow. PG