Ophenia's Journeys

Thinking it might be the one and only time I would do a 14-day trekking in a such high altitude region, I was mentally and physically prepared for the difficulties on the trek. Over-prepared actually. But when I finished the trek, I loved it so much that I did not want to leave the mountains at all.

It was a spiritual journey rather than a physical one…

Prayers Flag

Ama Dablam

Life returned to its absolute basic, hiking, eating and sleep were the only activities. No cell phone, no internet, no temptations from the modern materialized world.

Ascending was always hard, but hundreds of Mani stones on the way left by other trekkers or locals, were so inspiring. They kept reminding me that thousands of people had walked through this path towards the mountains. To Tibetans and some Nepalese, the mountains are gods, some spend months to hike around these mountains as a praying ritual, leaving all these Mani stones and prayers flags as they pray…

Prayers On Stones

Flying To The Sky

Once in a while, there would be some porters chatting to each other, overtaking me and hurrying to the next rest station. On average, they carry 40 kg of goods, food supplies for the people/trekkers in the mountains and equipment for trekkers. Carrying such heavy load and walking in high altitude, they make way less money than they deserve. I chatted with a few of them. Surprisingly, they are very happy about their lives, satisfied, I should say. At those moments, it got me. How could people have so less in life be so happy? Growing up in a developing country myself, I have seen so many miserable stories. This reminded me when I was trekking in Huangshan mountain and in Huashan mountain. The porters there have a similar way of living, intensive labor work with extremely low income. But I did not see that sense of satisfaction in their eyes like the Nepalese porters. Religion does play an important part in people’s lives. The Nepalese porters are grateful to the mountain because it provides them a way of making a living, it’s a god’s gift to them…

The joy of trekking is different for every hiker, but we are all looking for the missing part of our lives. There was a elder Japanese man travelling by himself with one porter. Everyday, he started an hour or two earlier than other trekkers, we caught up with him around lunch time, then he arrived at rest lodge when we finished dinner. He was always smiling, taking his time on the slopes. It was his second time on this trek, he did not make it to base camp last time because of altitude sickness. “This time, I will make it there, it might be my last time”, he said. Coincidentally, we meet him right at Everest Base Camp. The 60 plus year old man was jumping like a 6 year old boy. He hugged everyone there and every big stones he could reach. Then he stood and gazed up the the snow peaks for a long time…I don’t know what was in his mind, but his joy was definitely unforgettable. And so was mine.

The Porter-Himalayas

Mt Everest is the tallest peak on earth, but in the Himalayas region, peaks over 7,000 meters are nothing but normal. No matter when I walked through the valleys or climbed up a slope, the snow peaks around me still seemed so close yet so far away. They show different faces at different time of a day, happy and bright in the morning, strong and shiny during lunch, half hiding behind clouds in the afternoon, and creepy shadows at night. Surrounded by snow peaks, it made me understand how tiny human are, how much the mother earth has done to create these roofs of the world. (I know they are from terrestrial plate motions.) Respect is what we should give to this common mother of human.

Travelling is a process of learning, understanding and re-organizing knowledge, as well as enjoy the journey while trying to solve all kinds of new problems…