Oct 13. Lho to Sama Gaon. Manaslu trek, Nepal.

The village of Sama Gaon is nestled in a natural ampitheatre of snow clad mountains all round. My head is aching with a throbbing tightness over the scalp and neck, altitude was affecting me. It was bitterly cold up here, my expensive light weight quilt got a good workout last night.

As a matter of course I wear clothes with this quilt. At times it gets quite hot, so I tend to kick it off, then of course I get cold again. I worked out a way to lash it round the sleeping pad to keep it more secure. I do like the quilt, it was for me better than a sleeping bag, once I got used to it and worked out a system to keep it in place. It is easier to control the heat with the quilt, as even when it gets very cold , heat can generate quite a bit. It feels more comfortable being freer and it's a lot lighter to carry. This one is constructed of Cuben fibre, it is supposedly waterproof - not tested but it certainly is air tight, warm and light. It has a large sock on the end to allow you to inflate the quilt, making it go from very flat to large and puffy.

Breakfast as usual is loaded with carbs with a couple of eggs this time apple muesli, tibetan bread and two boiled eggs.

Rajesh's uncle cooked a tasty soup for lunch, it took 3 hours to prepare. High altitude means lower boiling point, pressure cookers are used up here, but for a large group they do not have the volume of large pots. So there is a lot more time involved to get food to cook. It was not until 1 pm that we could leave for another excursion.

An interesting site to calculate the water temperature for boiling is here . At 3000m it is 90 degrees C, further up at 4000m it's 86 and 5000m it's 82 degrees.

We took an excursion trip to the monastery located up a valley deep in the mountain. After 2 1/2 hours of walking bad weather closed in and there was no sight of the monastery. Not being one to like getting caught in bad weather I requested that we return. There were no arguments from the party about this request. I learnt that there was another hour to get there, so there was only a scraping chance of getting back before dark had we of proceeded.

Our little stroll to the monastery was perhaps a mistake. It reached 4500m, from that effort I started to get a headache, symptoms typical of altitude; back of the head and on scalp. Despite that I cannot feel awed by these massive mountains and can see why people come back repeatedly.

Sama Goan was quite a large village, evidence of new growth and affluence is all over with its hideous bright blue new roofs on new construction spoiling the stunning surrounding setting. A great spot for the town with its mountain views all round.

Colour has significant meaning in Nepali culture. The prayer flags are a set of five, where the colours convey the prayers and mantras by the wind to spread good will. (See Wikipedia and India Times and from this reference (https://astrangi.in)

Blue flags symbolizes SKY
It signifies purity or healing. It is believed that when meditating on this color, anger can be turned to wisdom.
White flags symbolizes AIR
If meditated upon, white can cut the delusion of ignorance and turn it into the wisdom of reality.
Red Flag symbolizes of FIRE
In canonical texts, in Buddhism, out of the four 'great' elements, fire represents heat or energy, both internal and external.
Green symbolizes NATURE
Water represents liquidity of motion. Some say meditating on this color can help one get rid of jealousy.
Yellow symbolizes EARTH
Yellow represents solid elements. Internal earth elements would be bone, sinew, teeth and skin.

So, the bright blue of the roofs is not just a cheap bulk bargain deal sold the people in the Manaslu region, just as the predominant reds in many Asian cultures., but a symbol of purity and healing.

The bridges up here are wooden structures, though many are being replaced with safer and stronger steel ones. I think the animals prefer the wood and I do as their rustic look is in context with the rural scene.

Yaks are fearsome looking creatures, but that fear subsides after you get used to and ignore their large horns. A long domestic history, no doubt has taught them to be wary of us humans.

It was along this track some yaks were being moved, we were ahead and climbed up the rocks on the side. Just as well, a couple of bulls were having a playful stoush and one near careered over the edge.

We suggested to Walter when he was feeling weak on the earlier stages of this trip, that he could take a yak to cross the Larke pass. After seeing this activity his demeanor changed, and his well being improved dramatically !

It was my youngest daughter's birthday today, there is a phone in Sama Gaon, and I manage to arrive at a time that I can call her during the waking hours. To work out the hours Nepal is GMT/UTC + 05:45 hour, Melbourne is GMT/UTC + 11:00 hour so the time difference is 5:15 hours. We arrived in town at around 10 am so there is time to make birthday call. I had to wait my turn as there were others wanting to use the phone as well, and they were not rushing to finish their conversation when it was their turn. My call to Katie was short and not very conversational, probably even slurred due to my altitude induced headache. (fyi International phone calls 100 rupee per minute.)

I managed to drink a couple of cups of ginger tea and bowl of garlic soup. Garlic soup is not going to be on my diet in the distant future, as I don't particularly like it. I'm told it's a panacea for all ills so in it goes, like the cough medicines of my childhood memories and I am off to bed.

Roaming around the village, Buddhist structures abound.

The houses are raised with ladders, indicating that winters are probably very severe.

We did not ascent to the giddy heights of some elevated monastry, but there were plenty of religious artifacts for us to enjoy round here.

We met a couple from Manchester who travel to Nepal every year to trek. They went to Tsum valley and loved it. The Tsum and Manaslu trek has been one of their trekking highlights. Though missing the Tsum valley, I am very pleased to have done this part of the journey.