As we get into buses at Darchen at 7, we can see already the movement of the ponies. Colorfully decorated ponies with their foals are walking towards Tarboche as well, to pick up their load.
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ponies and babies as seen from the bus
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| pony riders coming in galloping towards Tarboche from neighboring villages |
From Darchen at 4560 meters or 15000 feet, we have now driven for 20 minutes to Tarboche at an altitude of 4750 meters or 15,600 feet. Tarboche is the site of the annual SagaDawa festival in Tibet. Each year, the central flagpole lowered, decorated with new prayer flags and raised again. The ability of the flagpole to stay pointed skywards, foretells a good harvest in the coming year.
As one approaches the prayer flags, one can look at the right at the sky burial site of Kyilkhor Teng.
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| Yama Dwar, with the sky burial site in the cliffs behind |
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| colorful bricks with mantras leaning on Yama Dwar |
The site of Yama Dwar is getting fancier each year. The basic concept is that one goes through the structure and reaches beyond the fear of death. This was a small structure two decades ago through which people struggled to squeeze through, going by the images on Google. This new painted structure is convenient to walk through, and with the mixed Hindu and Buddhist traditions, it is filled with old clothes and small belongings like gloves and purses, and also finger nail clippings and hair tufts that people have left behind as a metaphor for a life left behind.
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| our group before the parikrama |
As we waited for pony and porter, some trekkers I had seen at Darchen walked quietly past us. By the time we get our ponies, these trekkers may well be half-way to Deraphuk. This is how I am going to come here one day - at my own pace, around the mountain.
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| this is how I intend to come next time |
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| Tibetan women sizing us and our backpacks up |
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| yatris with backpacks in line for the pony auction |
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| my pony, far stronger than my last pony, and my ponyman in a brown hat |
As we start our trek, to the right would have been Ganesh and Trinetra that I had seen at Ashtapada. I missed specifically seeing them at this time - I was not sure how I would reach Deraphuk, my health was a concern though there was no obvious ailment.
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| the journey begins |
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| the cars run through the water as ambulances and emergency vehicles |
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| horses grazing in the valley |
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| first view at Deraphuk |
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| Anish walked most of the way, reaching 2 hours after the ponies |
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| finally, he showed himself |
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| another settlement in the distance |
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| the first rays of sunset |
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| the North view settling for the night, the snake's hood clearly visible over the landscape |
This was the last view at around 8pm at Deraphuk, after we had already had dinner. On earlier trips, the stay at Deraphuk was stress-filled because we had to leave early the next morning for Dolma La. But today, it is a rested, relaxed evening, because we have planned to stay an additional night at Deraphuk. Tomorrow, the group will go to Charanpada - the closest most people come to Kailash to touch the glacial waters around it.
AUM Namaha Shivaaya
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