My Langtang, My Mountain, My Experience

By Ashok Silwal
Now in Kathmandu, after a trek to Langatang.

It is early in the morning,
The air is fresh,
You are full of enthusiastic energy
When you leave the comfortable welcome
Of the lodge and it’s so kind and smiling innkeeper.

Right outside the door,
The path begins to climb….
There is still some green around
But you already see the stone,
More impressive, more austere;
The walls of the mountain rise.
You climb, you climb….
Step by step, a curve after another;
The breath becomes shorter.
In the distance, already the white leaks,
Majestic, awe-inspiring, imposing.
You know that the step
Must take a slow and regular rhythm.
Good things are hardly earned….
And the mountain does not give itself to anyone…

Fatigue makes you bow your head towards your feet
But you know that you have to keep your eyes upward
Ready to seize any opportunity for wonder
And they are innumerable:
Colors, sounds, unexpected perspectives,
Clouds running in the blue sky,
Suddenly a bird, a man met on the path….
You turn the corner and everything changes!

You stop befuddled, as light-headed
Then, in the silence of the immensity
Of this incredibly powerful nature,
Inside your head, inside your heart,
Inside your soul,
A lot of feelings, of thoughts, of emotions,
Of memories and reflections are flowing…
What, who, where….. Am I?
You try to give answers,
Silently inside, like a meditation.

And suddenly, with your hardened thighs and calves,
With your shoulders that ‘cry’,
With your stressed face,
You arrived!
Mountains open,
Panoramas widen…
You catch a glimpse of the new lodge
Where you know they are awaiting you
The ‘boiling’ tea is ready ….
The sun is already setting
In enchanting lights through the clouds.

Then… there are no more words
To explain, to describe, to tell……
You have just to feel, to live,
Your unspeakable emotions …
That is …. THE MOUNTAIN!
More than a place… a home…