Nepalese Notebook: September 22nd, 2014

September 22nd, 2014

Goa Valley 2515m.

Beautiful morning in Bhimtang; the Dudh Khola begins its descent here as a clear and shallow stream with a bed of white glacial sand, almost surreal.  There are three or four glaciers to the north, the Salpudanda being the one which we came down along side of yesterday; above these sits the Himlung (7126m.)  To the east is the Manaslu (8163m.) but hidden, and to the south is the majestic Phungi Himal (6538m.)  We left Bhimtang reluctantly, looking up to the left and right, but mostly looking back, not because of any special feeling we had experienced, but because the highest part of the Himalayas was now behind us, physically and mentally.  Everything was downhill, the eternal snows would become less conspicuous, the landscape less alpine, and the feeling that links one to something unique in his experience merely a vague and undetermined memory.  No one really believes anything that can be said about such places anyway; perhaps in reality for the people that pass through them, they are a mystical experience that hadn't been realized in the first place.  

One of the more notable things that can be remembered about this day was when we had forded the waters from the three glacial valleys; the glacial sand was of such a purity, the water so milky and fresh, and the sound of such an urgent tranquility that it can only remain as a symbol of unspoken truth, something that seems almost ridiculous to say in itself.  It is something you try to capture, but dismay over your inability.  The trail was beautiful as well, but lost altitude so quickly that by the time lunch came around we were already struggling with the summer heat.  Food is still not very tasteful for me yet, but tonight was the first hot shower in more than a week.

Douglas Thornton