Another spectacular Himalayan Day! We hike the cliff edge trail to Phu
Certain death if you fall off the edge
I dubbed Mary Ann, Compound Low. Every time the trail tilted up, she would shift down into ultra low gear.
Bushes in fall color
A massive rock marks the entrance into Phu, a magical ancient village. We climb the steep trail cutting up diagonally on the mountain side to the right.
At the top, you walk through a chorten gateway
Then it's all downhill to the village
The remnants of a fortress guards the entrance to Phu
Stone tablets are on a wall at the gateway chorten
Incredible 1,000 year old stone stupas
Symbols etched into stones
Dawa standing next to wall of stone tablets . . . I wonder what the writings on the stones mean?
Campground below Phu lies up ahead (see yellow tents)
Our campground with a view of the ancient stone village of Phu, home to about 500 villagers
At the end of each day's trek, we are served tasty juice
A thousand year old Buddhist Monastery is located on a mountain top across the canyon from Phu. I scattered Patti's ashes from this mountain top.
Mike spinning prayer wheels.The following pics are of monastery
Big mountains soar above row of stupas
Group photo at mountain top
Kate recording video of panorama
The monastery in red building
Wonderful bright colors on building trim
Angela presents a scarf knitted by a member of her church to monastery care-taker
A blaze of color inside the monastery
Wall of prayer boxes where members place written prayers
A very colorful Buddha
Care-taker gives us a tour
A rock painted blue with a minature gold stupa. Note how shape of blue rock mimics real mountain.
Row of stupas
Across the canyon from the monastery, lies the village of Phu. Situated at over 13,000', it is one of the highest living communities in the world.
Views of the village of Phu
Life in Phu has not changed much in its 1,000 year existence
Cows roam the narrow streets
Really neat old window
A new Buddhist Temple adds a splash of color to the earth-tone village
Buddha eyes are common symbol on temples
Mick meets a monk who spoke English. He invited us to visit his home.
Encountering many villagers
Village high rises
More old stupas in the middle of village
With Mick's initiative, we got invited into a residence of a villager. We interacted with locals who told us all about village life. This was a very rare opportunity and privileged moment.
After spending a fabulous day in Phu, we head back to Kyang campground
Shama herding the donkies
Devi, trekking with the donkeys
Back at Kyang campground, the porters/sherpas played soccer . . .
. . . we laid around enjoying the sun
A wildlife sighting . . . a little pika
A centipede marching over the mountain
Three sherpas in front of three chortens
An new and old bridge crossing a deep gorge
Looking down into the gorge
The old stone and wood bridge was just restored. Note the buttress with the insertion of wood layers between the stone. Wonder why?Click on pic for enlarged view
View of chorten gateway. The restored bridge is an amazing piece of engineering.
Another view of really cool bridge
Climbing a steep trail to our next campground
We crossed this vast gorge to get to our next campground. Click on pic to appreciate climb to monastery on other side.
Campground at new monastery under construction
A round of hot fruit juice at end of hike
Another beautiful camp site with a grand view
A friendly dog rests next to donkey muzzles
YIPPIE!! . . . we get a resupply of TP, the most important piece of equipment on a trek
Al fresco breakfast with an awesome view
A grueling day, climbing up a steep mountain from the monestary
A gateway chorten marks the end of the long steep section. Just a gradual grade from this point forward to Nar and next campground.
The donkeys come through chorten
Did I say "gradual climb?" - Ha!
A giant stone stupa marks the entrance to Nar, another ancient village
The village of NarClick on pic once/twice to see hay stacked on rooftops
It's harvest time and the villagers were plowing the field
Yaks pulling plow
Such a cool scene!
Men were thrashing some kind of grain. Note primitive equipment (Click on pic).They probably been doing it this way for eons.
Women sifting grain
The Whacker!
It was really neat watching the entire process
A little helper
Another big mountain looms over the village
Leaving the village and a look back . . . what a remarkable view!
Above the tree line, 14,000+', and heading to our next campground below Kang La summit
No comments:
Post a Comment