Tarcho in my heart.

 

March 18, 2024.

​We walked 6km from Langtang Village (3,400m above sea level) to Gangjin Gompa (3,850m below sea level) and arrived at 11:30 a.m.

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We decided on accommodation in a hurry, and after lunch, we began to climb a steep slope with a zigzag path toward Gangjin-ri peak right in front of the neighborhood.

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​ Our goal is 4,350m, Gangjin-ri 1peak.

​Not long after I started climbing the steep slope, I suddenly felt high symptoms. With a little dizziness, my legs lost strength, so it was hard to walk very slowly. My friends already went ahead of me, and I kept following them, even though I was hit behind them.

​It was so hard that I went up, counting my steps, to forget the pain. One, two, three... twenty

  There, I took my breath and again, 20 steps.

​As I went like this, I walked ten steps this time as I lost more enubaergy. I stopped 10 steps and breathed hard every time I rested.

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yuba come down to where I am and hand over water to ask if it's okay if I'm worried about the mountain guide I went ahead of.

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I told him firmly, "I must go there!" He went up again, looking dumbfounded, and I started falling behind again.

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When I barely climbed to the middle of the mountain, our group was already on the ridge of the eighth ridge. The top of Gangjin-ri's first peak seemed distant, and the legs lost more strength, and now it takes a long time to move one step.

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You said you had to lean on all fours when you went to meet the gods, but when I tried to meet our granddaughter in the sky today, I thought that it was so hard.

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​The guide Yuba came down again and asked if it was okay.

I still said firmly, "I must go there."

I told him why I must go there,  "I want to build a little tarcho, for my grand daughter. She went to heaven 13 years ago. I want to have a little farewell ceremony at the top of the mountain  for her."

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In fact, I didn't know how to build a tarcho, and I didn't have any specific ideas. I was just thinking in my mind that I wanted to build a tarcho that was fluttering.

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However, the guide, Yuba, quickly came up with a solution like the Tibetan alpine people.

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He told me to build a small stoopa (stone tower). He said tarchos and stoopas are differen he shape but the same meaningthing.

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Where did the power come from, I climbed the 4,350m peak with Yeoyu soon.

When I climbed to the top, I saw a high snow mountain on the opposite side, the front was bright, and a large tarcaulin was blowing in the wind. I thought it was a perfect place to set up a stoopa for my granddaughter.

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But I couldn't find a suitable stone to build a small stone tower. But without knowing what to do, Yeba diligently went around and picked up the stones.

We built a small tower by stacking frozen stones.

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When the tower was completed, I executed a simple farewell ceremony.

"Goodbye, my maternal granddaughter. Don't get sick and stay happy in heaven!"

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I tried to say this, but I couldn't even say "goodbye to our granddaughter" properly because I was choked up.

Young Western men and women who were taking pictures on the mountaintop saw me with wide eyes. When I told them that it was a farewell ceremony for my granddaughter who went to heaven, the atmosphere of the mountain quickly became solemn.

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​The road down wasn't hard at all.

I guess I got a boost from feeling proud, perhaps because I finished the tarching work for my granddaughter, which had always remained in my mind like homework. I was able to come down at almost the same speed as the guide, Yeoho.

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"Goodbye granddaughter. You are always alive in my heart. Now that I have built a stone tower for you on such a high Himalayan peak, you and I are connected. That stoopa is a sturdy rope that connects you and me with our hearts." With this thought, I thanked Yuba  for making the stoopa several times.

He didn't react much, but when he came down close to the village, he spoke calmly."That's my duty!"

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I thought he meant his duty as an alpine Buddhist, not as a mountain guide.

I didn't say any more thanks after that.

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​The next day we went up the Langtang valley.

As I followed along with Yuba, away from the group, I took pictures of Gangjin-ri 1 peak, where I built the stoopa. My wife couldn't come here and see it, but I wanted to show her a picture of the 4350m peak with the stoopa.

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My friends probably didn't know why I kept falling behind. I'd never told anyone the tarcho story in my heart.

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​Even today, tarchos flutter in the Himalayas, high and windy areas.

It is a desperate wish that the wind will carry the desire to inform the sky and pass it on to the gods.

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