Things happen in the mountains. Although I have to keep an eye on things far away including what my team are going through and awaiting reports re the sad news that a rare Gangetic dolphin was killed at Bardia, there is plenty going on here as well.
Very strangely my phone is heading towards Annapurna Base Camp and I'm not with it. Yesterday afternoon I was heading down the infamous Chomrong steps with my good friend and brilliant photographer Alexiane Le Gentil. The idea was to test the sensors on a camera trap and also to hopefully catch up with friends of Alex trekking their way back from Annapurna Base Camp. Not far from the river, the beautiful Chomrong Khola, Alex's friends appeared. Rita from France and Emma from England were being guided by Nilu Gurung who you can see in the photograph.
Nilu wasn't well. She had a running fever and was feeling very weak. The Gurung are stoic tough mountain people and getting Nilu to admit her condition was not easy. I have been a guide so I know the feeling one has in just wanting to get the job done and not appear under duress in front of clients who are usually feeling the pinch themselves. Nilu was not in good shape but at twenty-one and only a few months into her guiding career she was showing that typical Gurung determination. However with me being nearly twice her size she decided not to argue when I insisted on carrying her pack up the Chomrong steps.
I went up as fast as I could realizing about halfway I had left my phone at the bottom. After I dropped off Nilu's gear at the Cottage I then dropped back to see how she was. She was on her way to the Cottage ok under the watchful gazes of Alex, Rita and Emma. I felt sure Nilu would get there so I then dropped down further to where I expected my phone to be sitting on the stone wall where I had left it.
Now any one who knows the Chomrong steps also knows they are not an easy exercise. A friend of mine Peter has counted 3000 steps from the river to the Cottage. Peter is a pilot so I would hope he is good with numbers. I got to the bottom and my phone wasn't there.
Up I go again. I get to the top and Nilu was vomiting, a real concern but her fever has dropped. Small in stature but strong in spirit Nilu was still being elusive as to how she really felt. Painkillers and rest were the only options. There is a tiny pharmacy in Chomrong, a bigger one in Ghandruk which is five hours walk away. Guiding in the mountains often means carrying heavy loads so it is not easy work even when feeling fit and well.
Meanwhile Najar is calling my phone but there is no ring tone, it's either off or no signal. I'm really not too worried, shit happens right? Nilu's problem is far worse than mine. As time goes by we talk and form that wonderful bond of mountain people which is extra special between Nepali and New Zealanders since the great Everest days of Sherpa Tenzing and Sir Edmund Hillary. Nilu becomes my little sister, my baihini. She calls me Jack dai (older brother). As we speak even further about our love of the mountains she calls me Jack Gurung. I don't have many soft spots these days but Nilu certainly hit one.
Later in the evening Najar gets an answer on my phone. It's trekking its way up with a guide. Najar asks for it to be dropped off at a place further into the mountains where I will be in a few days. It will be interesting to see if it is there. There is a lot of laughter as we give my phone a life where it is wondering what the hell is going on. Who knows where it will end up and if I will be with it.
After another amazing dal bhat dinner Alex puts through a call to her partner Bastian who is back in Normandy, France. Alex hands the phone to me just before Bastian answers. The internet signal in Chomrong is now amazing but the phone reception often isn't.
"Bonjour Bastian! It's Jack here!"
"Allo? Allo? Who eeez deeez?"
"Bastian it's me Jack!"
"Allo? Who eeez deeez with Alex's phone?"
"It's Jack!"
"Allo? Can you speak Engleeesh please?"
"Bastian I am speaking English!"
He hangs up.
Ok, you get it. Bad phone line. A lot of laughter. Later on Alex gets through to Bastian who says he thought someone was speaking Nepali to him. Alex explains it was me. Bastian asks Alex to tell me my English sucks.
Today I put in camera traps very close to a recent leopard kill of four sheep. It was good to show Alex, Rita and Emma how it all works and they enjoyed the mountain jungle. We return to find Nilu feeling much better but I am still concerned about my little sister. So tomorrow I will guide Alex down towards a jeep before I take a climb up to Ghandruk to pick up some medicine. I'll then trek as fast as I can to Tadapani where hopefully Nilu will have got to safely with Rita and Emma. It will be a longish day.
As I write this Nilu Baihini smiles her beautiful smile despite still not feeling great. She has the spirit of the Gurung mountain people. Mountain people help each other out.
So I'll be away a couple of days. No problem. I wonder where my phone is...
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