One big reason people hike to Goropani is to see the sunrise over Poon Hill—a vantage point another 300m above Goropani from where you have an unobstructed view of the Himalaya: Dhaulagari (8167m), Tukuche (6920m), Nilgiri (6940m), Annapurna I (8091m), Hiunchuli (6441m) and Tarke Kang (7193m).
After yesterday’s climb Jen was pretty tired, so I hiked up to Poon Hill solo (well, with the throng of other trekkers!), leaving at about 5am to get to the top before sunrise.
Sunrise from Poon Hill
The top of Daulagiri and surrounding peaks illuminated at sunrise
Rhododendron trees in all directions
Kids having fun doing somersaults down the hill
Nepalese funeral
On our way back down from Ghorepani, many of the villagers seemed to be gathering for some sort of an event. We quickly learned that they were preparing for their version of a funeral. The deceased is wrapped in cloth, and lain on a stretcher-like set of logs, which makes the body easier to carry. Folks from the town initially gather, and say a few words about the deceased (this we are assuming because we do not speak Nepalese). As we were very close to this initial event, we did not take any photographs out of respect. We continued to hike along the trail, and after a short time we heard the recurrent sound of a horn blowing. We soon we passed by the townspeople from the funeral; the initial group carrying the deceased, and then followed by the villagers, each carrying a piece of wood. As our paths now went in opposite directions, we were left very curious, but again, did not want to follow along….
As we were crossing the river, we noticed that the crowd had gathered at the rivers edge, quite a distance away from us now. We took a seat to watch the events unfold . . . . . a very long time passed though, and we ended up just leaving. The event that would take place next is that they would burn the deceased, and then place the ashes into the river. (We took this shot from very far away… the lens we have has quite a range (borrowed from Scott’s brother and his wife)).
Hey guys, somebody is a master of understatement..."With this being the largest ascent of the trek..." (1650 meters). If you convert meters to feet (X by 3.281), you get over 5400 feet! More than an ascent from sea level to above Denver! No wonder "...Jen was pretty tired..."! I'm pretty tired just thinking about it. Jen, you are doing fantastic!
ReplyDeleteJen
You are right it does remind me to the lovely "Lord of the Rings." I tried to play "Where is Waldo" my and Jen's version...."Where is Orlando"
ReplyDeleteI looked and looked ...still hopeful.
I can't find strong enough words to describe your pictures. Hat's off!!!!
Ha ha, thank you very much! I just couldn't muster the energy that morning...I'm glad Scott could because the pictures are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for Orlando as well, because maybe he had his horse with him too that could take me up the rest of the mountain, but it didn't happen...
;-)