Finishing the Trek and Farewell to the Orphanage

I’ll spare you the details of the trek. I tried writing about it and I guess I’m just not excited much by a travelogue. The trek was enjoyable though and the highlights were waking up to breathtaking views of the Anapurna mountain range and meeting some village folk, sharing a smile and a laugh, and learning a little about their mechanisms for fermenting. I wrote about that part on my fermentationrecipes site so you may want to check that out. I do love the rhythm of trekking: waking and having breakfast (or perhaps going to view spot as skies most likely to clear at this time of year in the early morning), hiking for 4-6 hours and then settling in to rest, read or traipse around the local area.

After the trek, I tipped my guide, returned my rental boots and pack, dropped off my laundry and went to the photo place to pick up framed portraits of each of the 43 kids at the orphanage (actually there are 45 but two of the older ones were always working during the daylight hours in which I took the photos). I delivered the pictures and when I arrived they seemed genuine excited to see me and there were lots of hugs. These kids are just magnets for love. Although I had my official “last day” celebration before I left for the trek which was wonderfully dear, I again had to go through the process of wresting myself from their tractor-beam spell.

Enlisting the assistance of one of the older girls, we got the kids queued up and I gave each of them a small print of their portrait plus any candid shots that included them. They seemed so happy to have their own pictures of themselves. It really tugged at my heart to leave there, as the youngest ones were forever climbing in to my arms (and further into my heart).

The owner of he orphanage wasn’t there because she was in Kathmandu with one of the girls who needed to see a specialist regarding an eye problem. I received an email from her asking if I would financially support medical treatment for the girl as well as for one of the “house mothers” there, a very dear spirited young mother who it seems may have cancer. When I first met her, I thought she was pregnant, but the word was that she thought she had parasites which were swelling her abdomen. After a few trips to the hospital it seems that she may have cancer. Anyway, I declined for various reasons.  Largely though I didn’t want to take on that role for the orphanage nor do I understand enough about the medical system here in Nepal although from what I’ve since gleaned, if you can afford it, you can get care, if not, then you need to fend for yourself.`

I do love being on the road. It takes an awful lot to finally arrive into some of these beautiful places and experiences in life. So many resistances to overcome, so many plans to make, steps to take, decisions to make. Mostly though, I believe it is our inability to overcome our own resistance inertia that keep us from expanding into life and having moments such as these.

Shortly, I am off to Kathmandu where I’ll meet with an American man who runs a large orphanage there. We’ve begun an email discussion about education where their needs and my interest may dovetail well.  From Kathmandu, I’ll be on to Thailand to visit my father and stepmother before thrice clicking my heels and returning home.