Me and the mountains

my first meeting with mountains was a couple of weeks ago on a work training trip to an area called Nagarkot, about 2hours drive uphill from Kathmandu. The place where we stayed was all windows, looking out on what we were told were panoramic views of the mountains, squint hard they said and you can see everest. whilst the view was dramatic, it was more dramatic in a cloudy way, like you could reach out and touch the clouds if you wanted to, and occassionally in a green valley and village down below, kinda way. I took hundreds of photos in the general direction that the mountains were meant to be (god bless digital) in the hope that something would come out on film. but nope, nahthing. Just lots of pictures of fog. then finally on the last morning, i actually saw the mountains and they were stunning. Peaks seemingly floating on nothing, white and clear against the blue sky. I squinted hard and yes there was something in the distance that might or might not have been everest (i like to think is was!). I returned to Kathmandu feeling all proud of myself. I had seen the sun rise over the mountains, i could talk about the beauty of the himalayas with the rest of them, i knew wht people meant now whenthey talked about how stunning Nepal was. Then last weekend happened..and I realised I knew nothing. I was on another work field trip (really weekends have no meaning here!) and we decided to take the old indian road that goes up over the mountains. We drove up and up and up, round and round and round the side of a mountain. To one side there was a sheer drop , but luckily the views were amazing enough to keep your attention away from thinking about that too much (except at one particularly hairy moment when all the nepali's moved to the other side of the mini van away from the edge!!). Im afraid idiot that i am took my camera without my battery so you will have to trust me when i say that nepal really is one of the most beautiful countries. at the top of the mountain road (6000ft??? I think) there was a 180degree view of the mountains that just...you can't describe it...it was just...beautiful, but beautiful isn't enough. there is something about mountains, something to do with their size and majesty i guess that makes them fill you, so you feel all still and amazed and in awe...and i haven't even got really close to them yet. Then on the drive down, the sun was setting and we passed through all these mountain villages where people still live an incredibly traditional life, farming plots of land that are cut in this amazing tiered way and thinking nothing of walking for days to reach the next village. and you just think wow, the world is a crazy-kool place, full of so many people living their lives in so many different ways!

And that is the story of how i fell in love with a mountain range.

ps many thanks to my djs - DJ-JJ, Rossko the music man and the delectable Miss-T-lady for providing me with a great sound track for my trip.