Sangda, and the walk to Jomson (31/10 - 2/11)
It had been a hard three days from Mukut, and so we spent a day at Sangda. While the Tamangs rested, I went for a walk.
A view looking back at where we had come from. The terraced fields of Sangda can be seen at lower-right. Above them is a high ridge that we had crossed the day before. There is a shorter trail that follows the river (gorge) down, but we were told it was dangerous, and that some people had been killed on it recently.
The entire village of Sangda. Yaks and goats graze nearby.
When I returned, the Tamangs were having tea with our neighbours. More accurately, the Tamangs were drinking Tamang tea, while the villagers were drinking Tibetan tea.
Our neighbour (upper picture) was very rich --- he owned 70 yaks. He told me he was an old man, and that when you are old it is good to pray often. At this point, he gave me such a searching look that I could only agree: yes, indeed, when you are old it is good to pray often. The village had no monastery, but the lama was planning to build one.
As was common in these villages, he and his brother were married to the same woman. They had 5 sons and 4 daughters. The lower picture shows the brother, a daughter, and the wife.
Gunjaman assured me that two men, one wife, was very bad. It does seem a curious custom. Genetics suggests that you should be less jealous of your brother than of others, but I'm not sure how this works in practice.
The next day, an easy walk took us to another village, also called Sangda. From there it was a very long day to Jomson. We left at day-break, and with few stops reached the next village, Phalayak, in mid-afternoon.
A young family returning home to Sangda; some travel first class; the rest of us walk.
Tilicho Peak and Nilgiri Peak. The village of Phalayak is in the trees at lower right.
When we reached Phalayak, we stopped in at a (randomly chosen)
house. In typical Tibetan-Nepalese fashion, the woman of the
house welcomed us hospitably, especially when we told her how far
we had come, and plied us liberally with chung and apples.
It was dark by the time we reached Jomson, which was perhaps as
well, because it is a very ugly town, full of soldiers and
tourists. But I was able to stay in a hotel room with attached
toilet and hot shower and with clean sheets on the bed. Let it be
recorded that I did avail myself of the hot shower, and that by
midday of the next day I was none the better for it.