Day 13: Onward to Samdo

As we wake up from our bed shack slumber, I find myself actually warm. Having a roof overhead does wonders after being in a tent for almost two weeks.

Today's trip is to Samdo. According to the maps, Samdo should be only a three hour hike today. Therefore, people have been calling to try and hike through to Dharmasala and cut one day off from the trip - and more importantly, cut one more day off from the cold.

The rain did not let up for most of the night. Jose is gladdened that we chose to stay in the bed shacks. Unfortunately he explains with excrutiatingly painful detail that he had to get up six times last night to pee. If that were to happen to me, I would have camped out in the bathroom. Even Tika and Gopal the guides start laughing. They must be wondering how can one human being talk about excretions for so long.

I'll be honest and defend Jose in saying that the bathroom turned disgusting overnight. Someone has forgotten to 'flush'. Excuse me, someone has forgotten to throw the bucket of water in the hole within the wooden planks. It really does make for a bad experience.

We get cracking early today after breakfast as more precipitation has started rolling in. Today, Jose has volunteered to walk with Lisa, myself and Bobby. Rick will flag behind with Gopal and take more pictures, while Vinay and Anup will push forward with Tika.

As the 4 of us start walking, we have an easy enough time talking and getting about our hike. Lisa takes pictures of streams and mountains as I aimlessly look around at the sky. An open canyon suddenly starts to climb gently in the distance. As I look around, I feel some raindrops on me. Not a problem. We keep walking and the rain starts to get a little bit harder. Since we are taking it slow today due to the altitude, most of the people pass us by. At some point, the 4 of us seem like we are lost. I imagine myself huddling under a boulder for the next 3 weeks until the local government finds my decrepid bones. I come to my senses when we see Rick and Gopal right behind us. Of course we knew where we were going the whole time.

Rain turns into snow and the snow starts to fall harder. This is not a good sign. We continue onward after 2 hours and realize the last hour will be a fair bit of climbing. We pass by what is called a yak train. A yak is basically a shaggy cow with huge horns that lives in the mountains. Yaks are beautiful creatures. Although each one weighs rougly a 1/2 a ton, scores of yaks will still be petrified of one human. The local herders bully them into shape by throwing rocks at them to keep their line. It is a sad sight to see, although I know it sadly has to be done. The yaks carry supplies from village to village. I just don't want to be the herder who falls victim to the first mutiny.

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We reach Samdo in roughly 3 1/2 hours today. We all are dragging somewhat. Anup, Vinay and Tika greet us and ask how we are feeling. I'm coping well enough, although a bit sluggish. Lisa, Bobby and Jose seem fine. The snow is falling harder now. There seems to be a bit of confusion at the moment. Tika, Gopal and the porters are shimmying about trying to accomplish some sort of task.

There is another shelter at Samdo. This one is more sophisticated. 2 levels. Approximately 10 rooms or so. There are some more groups that have caught up to us now. Three canadians, another group of Czechs - these guys being much more friendly. We huddle around as we are not sure if we are pressing on another three hours to Dharmasala - the 14,000 ft. campsite otherwise known as the landing point before the pass.

Vinay informs us that a porter from Dharmasala has just walked back to Samdo for more supplies today. Supposedly, blizzard-like conditions have hampered things for the trekkers in Dharmasala. An estimated 40 people are stuck up there for one more night, as no one attempted to make the pass today. It looks like we are not pressing on anymore today. To be quite honest, I'm fine with that. The only problem is that it's only 11 AM, and we still have the rest of the day to freeze and contemplate life.

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I am playing bridge again and I almost understand what I'm doing. It's the middle of the day and we are playing in the big room. This is the dining room, the living room, and a bedroom for 15 porters. I hear jingling bells outside which remind me of christmas/chanukah time. The only problem is that neither holiday is celebrated here. The bells are placed upon the yaks to signify a yak train is passing by. Samdo is a big depot for the yak trains as herders get supplies for the road ahead. There is even yak parking in this joint. The ratio of farm animals to people up here is most likely 2:1.

It's nice travelling with a girl sometimes. Everyone feels bad for the girl and gives her the best room. Being the boyfriend, you know that you most likely are going to sleep at least in the same bedroom with her - so you are set for accomodation. It's a cruel world, I know. I actually feel bad for Rick and Jose as the reservations get botched up and we only get 2 rooms instead of 3 rooms. They drew the short straws and are sleeping in the storage closet. I offer space and even bed time, but Jose and Rick are too humble to take me up on the offer.

The smoke has overwhelmed the porter room. There is only 1 kitchen and maybe 2 stoves. The smoke from these stoves permeates directly through the cracks into the porter room. We are flushed out once again as the masses huddle in either Lisa/mine/boby's room or Vinay and Anup's room. We are like sardines that have been placed in the frozen food section. I wait for dinner to come because I know that it will be time for bed immediately afterwards. The snow is still falling. There is contemplation of turning back if the storm does not let up after tomorrow. For the first time in my life, I am praying for the snow to stop. This means a lot coming from living in Truckee, California from time to time. I pray to God, Moses, Jesus, Vishnu, Shiva, and Buddha. We are going to need one of you to come forward and help us out, if for only this once.

-Travelling Sherman