Day 10 : Lho

Today by far has been the toughest day of the trek to date. We have climbed over 3000 feet today and all of us are dog tired. The views continue to be beautiful. At 10,000 feet, one can see glaciers in all directions. Today is the first day of the quite cold days. Tonight's lows should drop into the high 30s. We have small hikes tomorrow and the next day, followed by a rest day, followed by a night in Dharmasala before the pass. Then, we go over. 5 days. It seems like an eternity.

My mood is somewhat melancholy at the moment. We are in a village called Lho. It is a simple village comparable to 4 city blocks long - quite big for a remote village.

While going to a local bar inside the village, we run into a mother with a child who is badly bleeding from the ears. Between Lisa, Anup, Rick, Bobby, and myself, we manage to clean out the bloddy and apply some neosporin-like ointment. Gopal comes by to help out by singing in the baby's ear.

As rick finishes applying gauze pads to both ears and taping it across the head, I look around at all the people who are huddle in the village. The looks on their faces are despondant. People begin to line up one by one, jostling for our attention. It is too overwhelming. By the looks of the villagers' faces, it seems like no one has bothered to take a shower since September. Simple hygiene simply does not happen. This leads to infections which leads to serious health consequences. These people need real doctors. There is nothing more we can do to help them.

As I write today, I overhear voices saying that Mt. Manaslu has appeared clear within the sky. At this point, I have no desire to leave my tent. It's cold. I'm tired of talking to people all day. I need to hibernate in my tent and escape. I am fine. I will be fine. I say so long for now. Hopefully, you will find me in better spirits.

Namaste (for the 700th time today),
Travelling Sherman