I wish my camera was functional.
The scenery and people are amazing. I speak with two German trekkers. Dieter is in his 40s. Thin and fit. His hiking partner is Miriam. She has decided to not wear boots and go barefoot like some of our Sherpas. She attacks me for hiring them as slaves.Lance says, "We pay them so they can put food on their families' tables."
"I've seen where they live. They don't have tables."
Lance shook his heads.
Our first stop was a little tea shop with a Coca-Cola flag flying on a pole. Lance and I bought Cokes for everyone. They happily thanked us, then lit up cigarettes, inhaling deeply. Lance and I were still huffing from the lack of oxygen. The Sherpas have The trail climbed along a savage torrent of glacier melt.
This morning Lance and I were passing through a forest of tall plants. The porters were way ahead of us. I stared closer at some flowers. They looked familiar, because they were marijuana. Lance asked if we should take some and I shook my head. The families of this valley lived on less than a $1 a day. When we emerged from the reefer forest, a young boy ran down the slope, shouting, "Hash, hash, hash."
I was glad to have brought small bills and bought an ounce for $20.
His eyes were crusted due to an infection.
I pulled out my medicine kit. He seemed wary until seeing the Red Cross. I washed away the crud with antiseptic eyedrops. He smiled with gratitude and I filled a small vial for his future use.
"I'm impressed," said Lance.
My grandfather was a surgeon for the Royal Canadian Medical expedition in World War I." I doubted any of his knowledge had been passed with genetics, but I was a severe hypochondriac. My paranoia had killed me many time. Never with success.
At the next stop I showed the other two trekkers. Ty Spaulding and I smoke some at lunch. Lance refused, saying he needed his lungs for the next stage. smoker and neither was Ty's partner.
The hashish was fresh off the bud and strong, but probably not the best idea, since Dorge warned us that we were crossing a landslide after this.
I'm sure he's right.
He always is.
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