Book 2: Chapter 8: Part 1: The Beyul team proceeds inside the mysterious valley.
Brother Tameng and Sangye made good progress inside the maze of rock boulders in proceeding ahead on the faint path that they could see. A large wild yak could have easily walked through this maze, on this path, thought Brother Tameng. If they would have walked in single file, they would have moved through and arrived at the valley of the sacred Kang Renpoche Mountain
The monk from Dirapuk had stayed behind, outside the maze of boulders, at the night shelter that had been placed near the entrance. He had asked Norbu and two boys with their animals to stay with him. Norbu’s two yaks and his mastiff were walking about in the clearing with the two other yaks and horse from the Choku gompa. They examined the equipment with the group and began to separate the stuff to be retained at the shelter. The yak-boy and the horse-boy went about collecting the timber lying around to strengthen the shelter. It must have been many years since anyone had come to this clearing. Several good poles and bamboo was easily available.
Inside the maze of boulders, Dawa and Katishe followed Brother Tameng and Sangye. The four of them were walking ahead of the group of animals and boys led by Satawa. The maze continued for a long distance, and very soon, Brother Tameng lost all sense of time, and of day or night. Sangye kept following him, without looking around at the boulders. He sensed the magic of the place, and could feel the power emanating from all around. Dawa kept Sangye in his sight, and walked at the same pace, and allowed for Katishe and Satawa to keep control and walk the animals at a steady speed behind them.
Brother Tameng stopped on the trail. The passage ahead was dark and the boulders had fallen in a manner that light did not enter the trail. He looked around for a possible trail through other sides. There did not seem to be any other passage. The path had to go through the dark passage within the maze of boulders. They seemed to be in some sort of a clearing within the boulders, and there was better light and visibility at the spot where he stood. Sangye, Dawa and Katishe walked around in the small clearing, trying their best to spot any hidden opening in the trail. Norbu and the other boys and all the animals came up and stood, waiting patiently in the clearing.
Sangye walked up to the dark passage and peered inside with his clump of lit-up grass. He could see the boulders on both sides, and the trail going ahead. Sangye, Dawa and Katishe got busy preparing a series of grass clumps for lighting up in the trail. Brother Tameng sat in the clearing, worried, thinking and trying to sort out this new development. Norbu’s mastiff came up to him and sat quietly near him, watching him with patient eyes. Satawa and the boys kept a watch on the animals, and kept talking to them, to ensure that they stayed calm and peaceful.
Brother Tameng came to a decision. He called out to Sangye, Dawa, Katishe and Satawa to approach him, and said, “Brothers, I feel I should stop here. I am not aware of what is beyond this dark passage in this maze of boulders. I came back with the monk from Dirapuk, expecting us to go ahead easily through the valley, and to search for the herd of the large wild yaks. But, that was not to be. There was the blockage, with the large boulders, stopping us in our path yesterday. And what we saw today, of the signals and happenings, the messages and signs that we received, that allowed us to enter, makes me cautious.”
“I feel that I should return to Dirapuk and Choku. I will have to once again inform my senior, Master Rinchen. This was not expected to happen. We will need to be cautious. Let that not stop you all. You go ahead, and when you feel that you cannot proceed, then, you should stop and stay. Send someone back to Dirapuk,” said Brother Tameng, “We will not leave you all alone. We will set up a good base camp at the night shelter that you had constructed. Someone will have to stay guard at the place, and will have to prevent curious people from entering. Tourists may hear the gossip and may begin to walk inside the maze of boulders. You go ahead. I will return my horse and one horse-boy.”
Old man Dawa nodded in agreement. He could understand the dilemma. For the people of the Lhachu valley, this was their life. They accepted the mountains, the valleys, the trails and the unknown without question and proceeded along a path, when available. For those who were educated, there had to be a reason, a logic, an understanding, of how, why, where and when. The facts that were not known, the knowledge that was not available, was to be feared. Dawa smiled, for the people of the valley, those who were not educated, and this was true of most of them, the mountains were their teachers, their knowledge-givers and he was keen to learn.
Brother Tameng returned along the path that they had come through, within the maze of boulders, with one horse and one horse-boy. Sangye, Katishe, Dawa and Satawa discussed the situation amongst themselves. Yeshe sat nearby and listened quietly. The two yak boys and one horse boy with them, sat near the animals. The discussion ended quite rapidly, and it was decided that old man Sangye and Katishe would lead the group through the dark passage. Dawa would follow them, with Yeshe and Satawa keeping the animals and the boys between them.
Sangye peered cautiously inside the dark passage. The boulders seemed to be in place, on either side. The trail was clearly seen in the light of the flames from the grass clump that he was holding. He began to walk inside the passage. Katishe walked behind him, watching his silhouette appear and disappear, each time that Sangye moved the grass clump ahead of him and behind him. Dawa walked behind them, with the help of the faint glow, and with the light from the flames of the grass clump held by Yeshe behind him.
The passage inside the boulders did not seem to have changed in any manner, except that it had become extremely dark. They kept walking, watching the boulders alongside, alert for any turn or passage that would have been missed in the darkness. The trail kept stretching ahead smoothly, and the group walked comfortably. The animals did not panic and did not hesitate. Sangye’s two mastiffs, Bzanba and Kangryi, walked ahead of Yeshe, sometimes silently, and sometimes making noises, that sounded like they were happy to be part of the group inside this dark passage.
The trail ahead of Sangye turned sharply, and began to climb inside the valley. Faint light could be seen ahead, and he walked faster towards it. There were brightly lit openings ahead, inside the passage. The slope seemed to indicate that they were climbing steadily. And then, suddenly, they were out of the passage, and into a open clearing, higher up than the carpet of boulders that they could see, stretching out inside the boxed-in valley. They could not see beyond a certain distance, probably from where the passage had turned sharply. The boulders had filled up the valley. Sangye kept looking around, trying to figure out the source of all these huge boulders. It looked like an entire mountain had crashed here.
The group assembled in the open clearing, and sat around, resting quietly, and watching the valley ahead. There seemed to be an awkward problem, thought old man Dawa. There did not seem to be any valley ahead. The trail seemed to climb through the narrow gorge, and disappeared above. They would have to walk ahead, and watch out for what was in store for them further beyond the trail and the gorge.
Sangye looked around, as had Dawa, walking about in the clearing. The opening to the passage was easily seen from here, unlike the other side, where they had failed to spot it early. Turning to the group, he said, “Brothers, let us create a shelter here, and write down a message for those who may follow us. There are plenty of small boulders lying around here, and we can manage to construct a small hut, with a wooden roof, to the best of our ability. We may also need it ourselves, if there would be problems ahead. So, let us construct a large hut to extend out of a cave-sort of opening that can be made from the entrance to this passage. If light could not enter it, I am sure, rain or snow or hail cannot enter it.”
Yeshe and the three boys, Katishe and Satawa, got busy with the construction of the stone hut. Sangye and Dawa looked ahead at the manner in which the trail seemed to disappear into the very narrow horizon between the two sheer walls of the gorge.
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