24 | TRAVEL HIMALAYA SPRING 2019 http://www.travelhimalayamagazine.com
Bedding, being a Sherpa
town, is littered with huge
mane stones, large boulders
with Buddhist inscriptions
carved into the rock face
that dominate your arrival.
A SHORT WALK IN THE ROLWALING VALLEY
sun would melt the snow before our arrival.
Not being adequately prepared for several days
walking through snow, we were grateful of the
excuse to lie-in and wait for the sun. Unlike
in Kathmandu, where buses, dogs and horns
continue through the night, the only sound we
could hear was the rush of the Rolwaling River,
slowly making its way to eventually lead into
the Bhotekoshi, only several feet from where
we slept.
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bank through dense green trees. The air was
thick with the smell of tree sap, damp soil and
vegetation. For anyone who lives in Kathmandu,
the smells and sounds of nature are a welcome
respite.
After an hour or so the trail turned and we
entered the next stage of the valley, we were
again beckoned on by the lofty peaks of the
Himalayas. Surrounded on almost all sidesby their dominating and almost intimidating
height, we kept walking further from the
foothills and into the himal proper. During the
sun, this was a beautiful experience, the vibrant
blue of the river and the sky contrasting with
the incredible white of the mountain tops. It
started to snow, and the realization soon came
that being so far up into the hills this trip was
entirely dependent upon the weather. With the
clouds picking up, the peaks of Chekigo and
neighbouring mountains disappeared as quickly
as they had appeared.
During the last hour to Bedding, the snow
and wind picked up. The valley acted like a wind
tunnel, offering no respite from the cold wind.
Then through the thick clouds that hit us, we
came across the remains of a small village and
the biggest landslide we had seen on the trip.
Not a single house or building in its path could
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and destructive march downwards. Picking your
way through stones and boulders the sizes of