Today - some of the photographs taken by Corbin Cleary, a member of our group that went up to 13,000+ feet into the mountains to see the more remote villages. While there are literally thousands of photographs of their walking journey of nearly 53 miles, by far the most stunning are of the high mountains. Following the slideshow below, I include some of their reflections as their tired, sore muscles joined us again to heal and their minds try to absorb all that was seen, heard, smelled, tasted and felt over those unforgettable six days.
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“I pushed myself way beyond what I thought I could ever do! It was way beyond my imagination.”
“You can’t do this looking up at where you’ll end up. You just put one foot in front of the other.”
“I tried to write, but I couldn’t write. There are no words to describe what I saw. To say “beautiful” says nothing. To say “splendid” is meaningless.”
“What can I say to people back home. Virtually nothing. I can tell stories of experiences, but they wouldn’t convey anything.”
“Walking 53 miles through villages that hang on the edge of cliffs, enshrouded in fog, and all you can do is focus on the few feet in front of you, on the slim, little path that is your link to the next set of huts – the next little village.”
“It is a physical endurance test, yes, but more than that — it is more mental. It is about willing yourself to go on, even when you think you can’t. And you do.”
“1000 steps straight up! No way! Ok, I have to do this. One step. OK, good. Now the next step. Now the next. And I did it. I got to the top. I now know the meaning of “one step at a time.” And wow, it was so worth it to be up there.”
“When you are alone with your thoughts, on a little path in the fog for hours at a time – it affects you. It slows down your mind, your thoughts. Everything quiets down. You can’t escape your self.”
“Living on the edge” has a different meaning for me now.”
“We live our lives in a bubble back home. We all are in little bubbles going to and fro. Isn’t there something wrong or odd about that?”
“I realized how much guilt I feel – about everything! My family’s comfort, my ability to come here, my easy life back home, my opportunities, and how much I waste and take for granted. There is so much to be done – everywhere. Here and at home. It’s overwhelming me! My guilt and what could be done to make people’s lives less harsh, less difficult. What will I do?”
“I’m caught between two worlds: on the one hand I see this land as picturesque, full of beautiful images, objects for my camera. On the other is a sense of the hard life these lovely scenes actually represent.”
“Just when I thought I couldn’t go on, an old woman passed me carrying a big basket of rice and disappeared into the mist. I said, “OK. I can do this.”
“All you have is a 1 ft. path with a straight down drop on one side and a straight up mountain on the other. All you can do to get to the next village is go forward or backward. All that’s important is right now. This minute. Focus. The path is slippery. You’re on the edge.”
“When I got to the end of it I had to withdraw a little bit. For 20 minutes I just bawled. . . . going back to my life and what lies ahead – - – oh, my goodness.”
“There is a huge feeling that I just don’t want to go back – - I don’t want to go back to being connected all the time. And for what purpose? It was nice to live without e-mail for a while.”
