Today was rest day three in Manang. Amazingly enough, I woke up to a whistling noise that I couldn't place: man or bird? I decided man because of the slight varying. Kevin woke up and asked, "is that a bird or a person?" Person. Would have loved to have continued sleeping but between the whistling, tingly body from Diamox, and the laborious plowing of the field outside the window, it was impossible. Good thing too. The moment my feet hit the floor, I thought I may pass out from hunger (something I hadn't felt in days). Kevin's appetite was back too so we scrambled upstairs to breakfast. It was DELICIOUS! So good in fact that I ate half of Kevin's plate too - no I didn't steal it, he was full. Sheesh!
Kevin tended to necessary duties in town and I ventured up to a chorten on a bluff above town. I took back alleyways to get there. The women here are so friendly and beautiful that I wish I could sit down and talk with them. They are almost always smiling, brightly dressed, decorated in bangles that glitter in the sun, shooing kids around and chatting in groups. Even though they were in frigid water washing clothes and dishes, they were all smiling. You can tell it is genuine when someone is smiling through their eyes. Sounds silly because i know how fortunate i am, even still I can't help but feel a slight pang of envy. I've never been so happy washing dishes, but I guess I've also never washed dishes in a group - I am going to need a bigger sink.
The chorten was a sight worthy of a brief stop on an incredibly windy day. Goats with spiraling horns grazed on hardy grasses all around. In the backdrop was a straight view of Gangapurna and it's maze of an icefall. I tried to capture the scene on top of that hill but my camera battery had died. Pity. The chorten, like all chorten, are a Buddist structure. The eyes on the top represent the eyes of Buddha. The question mark looking squiggly where a nose would be is the number one, meaning the one and only way. Above and between Buddha's eyes is the third eye. A way to look within oneself. Prayer flags usually adorn these buildings and they are to be walked around in a clockwise direction. If you find a chorten in your path, you swoop to the left of it, even if it creates a detour. Takes some getting used to...
The rest of the afternoon was fairly tame. Kevin lunched, we played chess, read books, I did laundry at the hotel water hole amidst German boys (the experience did not make my eyes smile), learned and got quizzed on some Nepali vocab, and witnessed a fantastic lightening and thunder storm.
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