Thursday Jan 25, 2001 Night. I left late from Jiri due to my final strech of Tolstoy. At about 11 AM I left Jiri town. Hard going and a lot of thoughts at first about ditching some of my gear. I was irritable in the morning due to my anxiety about entering 20 days of continual trekking (the longest in my life for sure) with such a heavy pack. I am not sure if it is over 30 lbs but even still it sucks booty (and to think I don’t even have a tent or stove). I even snapped on one boy who asked me for a biscuit (piss off, Chaina!). At least I said it with a smile. Hard up and downhill with great agri-scenery. The Nepali farm organization -very neat -reminds me of the Chinese Naxi level of org. So far the population had been mostly Chetri, Brahmin and a little Sherpa. The things that impressed me today were: 1) my boots -great grip and feel good. I never had such ankle support and sole lugs but at the same time flexi. 2) A man helping another dig aside dirt on a trail improvement project by pulling on a thin rope attached to the shovel head each time the man heaved. 3) A conversation I had with Anthony Sherpa over tea and cookies where he said -I recommend you not to go to Bandar now (another 1.5 hours away) because it is almost dark and we have a lot of moist here.- After a bit I understood that he was warning me not about slippery trail but about MAOists. He said they are mostly about 18-20, well educated, and he has even met their brilliant leader. He advised me to say that I am anything but American when asked AND if anyone asks I am to say “I like communism.- I got to the top of the pass in the twilight with very numb thumbs and despite there being lots of nice places to stay there I felt like pushing on despite the quickly pitch black dark and thick fog. Down down to the recommended pasta of “Ang Dawa-lodge near some really cool stupas. Looks like a small monastary here -could not tell in the dark. Seems like “ou ta ta-in Nepali means “down.- Other stuff that impressed me today was the great garlic soup I had in Shivalaya. Had to buy a hanky for the sweat, snot, and tears. Also impressive was what a fucking know-it-all I was with Mr. Sherpa today. Even though I don’t know the first thing about Nepal I EXPOUND on why communism, capitalism, republics, corruption, property security etc. are good or bad. I finished that all off with the cherry about non-violence. Fuck. When will I learn? Talking about that sort of thing is ALWAYS irrelevant. I have to follow Pierre’s lead (a character from War and Peace) and work on shutting up and focus on seeing are the lovely sides of every person I meet. Bandar - January 26, 2001 Morning. Great passage I read last night in the book from Robert Thurman and Tad Wise my sister gave me called “circling the sacred mountain.- This book is a bit heavy right off the bat on the techno-lama stuff. Here the passage that interested me addressed the experience I had meditating at the Lamasary two months ago in China’s northern Yunnan province: “normally you would not teach such a forceful Dharma method without first providing a strong foundation for Bhuddist practice-If you put self addiction on the table right away, challenging basic narcisscism at its root, people may react alergically and feel that their very personality is threatened. Their addictive self convinces them that the teaching is an assault and that the teacher is their enemy, and the habitual self is really still their best friend.- I met the French she-monk again at breakfast (by chance staying in same place again) talking to an English guy. Her name is Sylvie (36 years old). Gave her 1000 Rupees she’s short and the number of Mom’s House Lodge for repay. Tried to love the Englishman but his runaway values scare me a little. Told story of how a he and a friend of his in Thailand totaled a rental motorbike and fled from the city only to be caught later by the police in Bangkok for belligerence.