Chapter 4


"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
-Lao Tzu-

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We take our time with this gentle trekking in the Khumbu – it is an acclimatisation for mind as well as body. Slowly, slowly – but we have passed through Namche Bazaar, ‘gateway’ to the high mountains, and tonight we sleep at Dingboche which lies almost at the height of il Cervino (the Matterhorn). Incredible to think this wide open valley is the height of that special summit. These slow days allow mind and body to adjust – and we start to find our place – within and without.

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The monsoon has abated – in the mornings we are treated to a beautiful sky – we can see the greeting the sun gives the mountains (John Muir) – but by late morning the clouds are already building. The trails are emptier than when I was here before, this is our luxury. And the days are full of treats – a flower, a rock in the sunshine, a warm stove, a glimpse of a mountain through the clouds, morning light on Ama Dablam, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse …. But it is remembering to have joy in the ‘little’ things that becomes more important than what the ‘little’ things are.

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Beyond these gentle days in the familiarity of the Khumbu, Tibet and Cho Oyu are as yet a dream – a dream of the unknown – but for now we are happy to live just in the Here and the Now.

- Elizabeth Hawker
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