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National Geographic : 1982 Jun
Contents
poached for a small gland on the underbelly of males, used to make a perfume popular in the Orient. (The poachers were outsiders from down-valley tribes; Sherpas, being strict Buddhists, abhor killing.) Now the Chinese have learned to raise musk deer and tap the gland without killing the animal. De spite that breakthrough, the black market for Nepalese musk oil continues to flourish. The area is rich in flora too. From below the monastery I could see distinct forest zones of Himalayan birch, blue pine, and JONATHANT. WRIGHT(ABOVE) Bearing the burden for his own future, a Sherpa lad carries rocksfor a new school. Because Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations,outside funds and the efforts of Sir Edmund Hillary have been vital to the school-building program.That aid, along with the Sherpas' zealfor education,will help preparetheir children (facingpage) to deal with the world on equalterms. silver fir mixed with juniper. The forest sur rounding the monastery was lush with rho dodendron. So far the lust for firewood has not run rampant here. Founded in 1923, Thyangboche Monas tery commands a view of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, and the swordlike summit of Ama Dablam. I pitched my tent on the monastery grounds, and in the morning 19-year-old Kami Tenzing, a Sherpa I hired to accom pany me to Base Camp, called, "Tea ready, sahib." (This word, pronounced "saab" like the automobile, no longer connotes servil ity, but simply means "sir.") I opened my tent and Kami handed in a mug of hot tea. A few minutes later he set a pan of steaming wash water outside the door. Hospitality is typical of Sherpas, a very winning people. As Sir Edmund had told me, "The Sherpas have so many charac teristics that we, as Westerners, like to think we have: They are tough, courteous, toler ant, cheerful." The Sherpa quality I value most is unfail ing honesty. With only Sherpas around I could leave my pack outside a teahouse, or go off and leave my camera and money in my tent. When other trekkers were present, I could not be quite so trusting. Yaks Thrive Where Humans Pant Five hours after leaving Thyangboche, we arrived at the day's destination, Pher iche. With one wide and lonely street, the town seemed desolate. A chill wind blew; a few miles away a glacier lay in the valley floor like the gray tongue of a dead animal. In the distance were three black dots, graz ing yaks. Despite the dismal setting, I felt comforted to know that nature could create animals happy to live in that barren realm. All day we had passed these amazing ani mals, each freighting more than a hundred pounds: trade goods, fuel, expedition equip ment. Yaks have to stay at high altitudes; Sherpas hesitate to take them below Namche (11,290 feet). If yaks go lower, one rather fanciful Sherpa told me, "Oh, no good. Yak get very sick. Get malaria!" Altitude works just the opposite for hu mans. Mountain sickness can be serious, and the majority of trekkers above Pheriche (14,435 feet) suffer some symptoms: head aches, even pulmonary edema, a potentially 720
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