We're back from the Langtang Trek, alive, and well. It was awesome. We saw many stars, but no firefoxes, and I have muscles on my legs that I did not know about before. The Himalayas, for those of you wondering, are big. For future trekkers, I have compiled a short Nepali-English glossary.
Nepali phrase: "Today, we go uphill."
English meaning: "Today, we will climb stairs up a mountain until your legs fall off."
Nepali phrase: "Today, we go flat."
English meaning: "Today, we will climb a mountain until your legs fall off. There will, however, not be many stairs."
Nepali phrase: "Today, we go downhill."
English meaning: "Today, we will climb a 700 meter mountain, then jump off a 701 meter cliff. Your knees will regretably not survive intact."
Nepali phrase: "Tomorrow, we rest."
English meaning: "Tomorrow, we will scale a vertical rock face until there is no oxygen left in your lungs. We will then descend the rock face, and return to this same lodge to pass out."
Nepali phrase: "Gopte is near."
English meaning: "Gopte is far away."
Nepali phrase: "We have arrived at Gopte."
English meaning: "We have crossed some ancient boundary that once denoted the edge of the district in which Gopte lies. We will arrive at the town in one hour."
Nepali phrase: "Gopte."
English meaning: "That farmhouse to your left was part of Gopte when it was inhabited. We will arrive at the town in forty minutes."
Nepali phrase: "Yes, that is Gopte."
English meaning: "No, that is an abandoned outhouse, not a lodge. We will arrive at the town in twenty minutes."
Nepali phrase: "Maybe here is Gopte."
English meaning: "After three bridges, two waterfalls, and one hour of false hope, our lodge is that building there."
--Nils
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3 comments:
That was really enjoyable; sarcastic enough to be funny, but not enough to be over the top. Ideal. It's nice to hear from you guys again; are your computers out of customs yet?
ahhh ... language barriers.
hilarious!
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