A blessing, and return to civilization

At our hotel in Namche, Panorama Lodge, we had quite an introduction to true Sherpa life. The night of the 14th, we were one of only 3 sets of guests at the lodge, and the night before, the owner's first grandson was born. One of the traditions of the region is for the family to celebrate such an event, and since it was being held in the only heated room of the lodge, the dining room, we got to be a part of it.
During our dinner, the owner treated us to some wine, and we had the opportunity to eat some of their traditional meal that was served later. The liquor flowed freely among the men at one table and the women at another, with kids running about between both. We bought our drinks for the most part, but they kept some wine coming as well. The following morning, both our Sherpa and our guide were a bit hungover; we had turned in early, but they were able to keep up with the family and friends in the celebration until 1 in the morning. We got to sign one of the empty bottles of wine that they're keeping to commemerate the occassion. "Health and Happiness" I wrote.
Franz settled the bill before we left, leaving a pretty generous tip to the lodge, and then to the owner, an addition 500 rupees 'for junior'. Our guide was touched, and the owner honored us in return with a 'kada' (not sure of the spelling) - a traditional Sherpa/tibetan blessing scarf to wear along our journey. Of all the well wishes and honors that I've ever received, the simple gesture from the owner felt most honest and heartfelt. We were truly honored to be part of the evening, and I think the memory of that cold morning where a Sherpa woman gave us a wordless blessing will live with me for years to come.

---

Namche to Lukla was an 8.25 hour hike, with a 1 hour break for lunch. Downhill most of the way, and sunny till about 2 in the afternoon, the trek went well. This was a busy section of trail, both with tourists heading up the mountain, and yaks going both ways with goods to Namche. My knees and quads were aching when we reached our lodge for the final night in the cold. No hot shower. As it was the last night, we sponsored dinner and a party for our porters and our sherpa. Dinner, beer, tips, leftovers that we weren't going to take out of the mountains - all went to the porters. Our guidelines for the tips to the porters said 2000 to the porters, 4000 to the local guide. We erred on the side of generousity and went with 3500 and 8000. The porters, both younger men probably in their late teens, accepted the envelopes quite graciously, and at some point excused themselves to the bathroom. When they came back, neither could contain their ear-to-ear grins; they'd checked out their tips, and we obviously took the right path. These guys schlepped our crap up and down mountains that I could barely get my fat ass up, so $50 each was well worth it, and it made all of them very, very happy, in the words of our Sherpa. He was pleased with his tip as well. We kept the beer and whiskey flowing for a few hours, which resulted in quite a strange scene of everyone dancing to Nepali folk music well beyond the point where we excused ourselves from the party to hit the rack. Mountain exhaustion and a bit of beer took its toll. The bill in the morning was about $120, again, well worth the effort they put in and the goodwill we wanted to leave behind.

---

Today we flew from Lukla to Kathmandu on Yeti Airlines. Our wakeup was early and cold, but we were both ready to go, as was our tour leader. The flight was fast and furious, with the plane running off the downhill runway and catching the air at the last moment. Kathmandu felt like returning to 'normal' with its exhaust fume-filled atmosphere and streets clotted with cows and trash and people on 125cc motorcycles running about. Its crazy how your perspective can change so quickly.
We've taken the day off at Dwarika's, defrosting ourselves and relaxing a bit. First order of business was enjoying an indoor seated toilet in a warm room, then a proper Hollywood shower of at least 30 minutes in hot water. Touched base with Charles, and my parents, letting them know that the vacation will start now. Repacking, cleaning, sorting laundry all took place, and I ordered a good 90 minute massage after lunch of surf & turf. As I write, I'm in the poolside bar having a cold beer and some salty snacks. The himalayas were incredible, but there's lots to be said for being clean and warm and comfortable... with the aches and pains of a long journey accomplished.