Food for the Spirit and the Soul

Asian Horizons

During the summers of 2004, 2005, and 2006, under the auspices of my Asian Horizons program, I took some of the students who had taken my Asian Studies class on treks in Tibet, India, and Nepal. In 2005, these two of these three-week treks took place in Sikkim and Ladakh, two Himalayan provinces in India. Fortunately, one of my students, Aaron Nugent, carried a thirty-pound movie camera with him on both of these adventures, and he graciously edited some of the footage into the brief documentaries that I have posted here.

Sikkim is a verdant and fecund land located in northeast India, bordered by Bhutan in the east, Nepal in the west, and Tibet in the north. During our hike to and from the base of Mount Kanchenjunga, we encountered rain, snow, and all the other sundry challenges to physical and mental endurance posed by trekking at altitude. It was a glorious journey, and I hope that you enjoy the video.

We were led to believe that, in contrast to our experience in Sikkim, our trek in Ladakh’s Markha Valley would be “high and dry,” but as the video shows, we instead encountered the first July blizzard that our guide had ever experienced, and we had left most of our winter gear in our hotel. Nonetheless, we persevered, and this trek, difficult as it might sometimes have been, is certainly one of the great experiences of my life. Again, I hope that you enjoy the video.

These videos were originally accompanied by some wonderful music, and we have petitioned to have it restored to them under the policy of “fair use.” I hope that we are successful in this venture, because the scenery is enriched by the musical accompaniment. I want to thank Aaron Nugent both for making this video and for making the journey to Sikkim and Ladakh with me. I also thank all of my other students who accompanied me to Asia: You were brave to take my class and just as courageous to accept my challenge to go trekking in the Himalayas. Finally, to anyone else who wishes to explore Asian horizons, I strongly recommend contacting Dharma Adventures at www.dharmaadventures.com, since on five different occasions this wonderful organization delivered what it promised to – a true adventure.

Snow and Flowers

Perhaps no other literary work so perfectly and succinctly captures the way in which Spirit and Soul can engage in a tug-of-war with our hearts than “Here in Katmandu,” by the American poet Donald Justice. In this instance, the poem is accompanied by photographs taken by my students in the course of our adventures together in my Asian Horizons program, adventures that repeatedly took us to both mountains and flowers.

“Here in Katmandu”
by
Donald Justice

We have climbed the mountain,
There’s nothing more to do.
It is terrible to come down
To the valley
Where, amidst flowers,
One thinks of snow,

As, formerly, amidst snow,
Climbing the mountain,
One thought of flowers,
Tremulous, ruddy with dew,
In the valley.
One caught their scent coming down.

It is difficult to adjust, once down,
To the absence of snow.

Clear days, from the valley,
One looks up at the mountain.
What else is there to do?
Prayerwheels, flowers!

Let the flowers
Fade, the prayerwheels run down.
What have these to do
With us who have stood atop the snow
Atop the mountain,
Flags seen from the valley?

It might be possible to live in the valley,
To bury oneself among flowers,

If one could forget the mountain,
How, setting out before dawn,
Blinded with snow,
One knew what to do.

Meanwhile, it is not easy here in Katmandu,
Especially when to the valley
That wind which means snow
Elsewhere, but here means flowers,
Comes down,
As soon it must, from the mountain.

Asian Horizons Tibet Trip 2004

Views of Chomolungma (Mount Everest) from Rongbuk, Tibet.
Photographs courtesy of Elliot Smith

Chomolungma in Daylight



Chomolungma at Dusk



Chomolungma by Moonlight

Photographs: Tibet, India, and Nepal

MOUNT KAILASH, Western Tibet, Asian Horizons Tibet Trip 2004, Photograph courtesy of Elliot Smith



HIGH PASS, Markha Valley, Ladakh, India, Asian Horizons Ladakh Trek 2005, Photograph courtesy of Andrew Head



SAMYE MONASTERY, Tibet, Asian Horizons Tibet Trip 2005, Photograph courtesy of Erin Ternes



THORONG LA, Nepal, Asian Horizons Annapurna Circuit Trek 2006, Photograph courtesy of Rachael Johnson