The Mystery of the Kailash Trail - Chapter 10 - Part 1

Book 2: Chapter 10: Part 1:  Guardians of the trail in the secret Beyul.  

Yeshe and Sangye kept walking up the trail. By their sheer height, the mountains cast their shadows on other mountains. The shadows took on strange shapes and seemed to be following them, as they climbed up. Yeshe pointed them out to Sangye, and said, “Look. Those are the guardians of this secret Beyul. The mountains are alive, and they send their warriors to guard this trail. If you stop and fight these warriors or question them, the mountains can destroy you. We should not get frightened by them. Let us keep walking without thinking of the guardians of these sacred mountains.”

Sangye nodded, and replied, “Yes. You are correct. These strange guardians can attack you very badly inside your mind. I have known of many idiots who have entered the secret Beyuls without heeding the advice of the monks or elders. They have wandered inside these secret valleys for days or months or years and have not been able to return. Those who did return spoke of strange battles with the guardians of the trails. An old man from my village had returned after five years.”

The trail climbed sharply and in spite of years of mountain walking experience between the two veteran trackers, they began to get breathless. The steep ascent had come upon them suddenly, and they had not realised it. Yeshe gestured for the both of them to sit for awhile and catch their breath. Sangye smiled thankfully and they sat quietly. They could see the entire valley floor from where they had climbed up. Katishe and Satawa were climbing up steadily and came up to Yeshe and Sangye. The four veterans of the Kang Renpoche were together, and they sat peacefully, amazed at the beauty of the valley that was spread out in front of them.

They could see the trail that they had walked up and now, at this height, above the valley, they could make out the forested trail that had led away from their night camp. Dawa must have gone through that trail, they guessed. The opening to the valley wall was a short walk away, but it would require some strenuous walking. Katishe pointed to the opening, and said, “Yeshe, you old fox, this path looks more and more like it is going towards the river bed of the Seng Tsanplo River, but as we both know, the mighty river must be at a distant valley. There is no other river that we have seen or heard about. Where could this secret Beyul lead to?”

Yeshe replied, “Sangye had mentioned the same aspect, a while ago. We may be at some place near the source of the River of the Lion. It is said that the source of the river is called the Mouth of the Lion. It must be because of the roar of the waters. That would mean that there is a sharp and very deep ravine, and the narrow river thunders down a steep fall. If we are anywhere near the Mouth of the Lion, we should be hearing the roar very soon. We will know by that sound, I guess. Let us walk to the opening in the valley and see for ourselves. Let us then decide if we are to go back and join up with Dawa or if we should walk through to the next valley.”

The four of them walked together, Yeshe, Sangye, Satawa and Katishe, up the steep trail. It had become extremely narrow in the upper rocks, and they could walk in a single file, one behind the other. The trail made them breathless and they struggled quietly. They breathed in, with their mouths open, and did not speak. It would have taken up much energy to even speak to each other. Finally, they were at the opening, and they could look at either side. The secret Beyul that they had walked up from seemed like just a beginning. The valley on the other side could not be seen. The clouds had come down to rest inside the other valley and had hidden whatever that could be within it. The Beyul, on the other hand, had no clouds and was absolutely basking in the pre-noon sunlight. It was very strange, they thought.

Yeshe spoke, almost voicing the thoughts of all, “This valley is completely hidden. Should we go ahead, or should we wait here? We could set up camp at the place where we sat. The large rocks on that trail can help us hide out the cold of the night. It will get extremely cold here. Or, we could go down to our earlier camp and wait for Dawa. But, this valley seems quite tempting and exciting. It’s only pre-noon now, and the sun is up and shining. These are only clouds, and there does not seem to be any fog. I think, we should be cautious and curious. What do you say?”

Sangye replied, “I agree. It is almost noon, and we have at least 2-3 hours of sunlight. We can easily go inside this hidden cloud valley and get back before sunset. Since it is downhill, we can return back to our camp of the night. It will be safer to be back. We do not know of this valley. We have to be careful since we could be near the River of the Lion. It is said that at the Mouth of the Lion, there are a thousand springs of water that come together, but cannot be seen. My elders told me that one should be careful when one cannot see the springs of water. It would be an indication of ponds that are alive below the water surface. They could eat us up.”

“Ponds that can eat us up?” asked Yeshe, “I have heard of the story. The springs below the ponds are deep or have deep holes. They cannot be seen from the surface. People or animals can just fall into the deep and narrow holes and cannot swim back to the surface. We should be careful. I agree with Sangye. Let us walk into this hidden cloud valley and let us try to return if we think that the journey onward would not be safe. But, before we proceed, let us leave messages for those who follow us.”

And thus, the four of them went about leaving messages in their own traditions. Yeshe wrote out some sketches on a tall rock, with arrows to indicate the direction in which they would proceed. Sangye picked up rocks of different sizes and placed them on a large boulder. He placed the rocks in a manner that would make them look like a natural cluster. Any curious animal would not pay attention to such a loosely fallen group of stones and rocks. A knowledgeable tracker would however be able to read the message that four trackers (shown by four rocks of similar shape and size, in a row) had walked down the hidden cloud valley.

Katishe picked up some leaves from a nearby tree and crushed them to extract their juices and painted out four figures, the position of the sun and the direction of their journey. Satawa was a minimalist. He placed four stones in a row, towards the cloud valley and sketched a sun to indicate its position at pre-noon. To each, their own. They knew that most monks and yak-boys or horse-boys could read these signs and would be able to understand that the four of them had entered the hidden cloud valley.

As they turned back towards the hidden Beyul from which they had climbed out, they could see the sacred Kang Renpoche Mountain. The pre-noon sun made the higher peaks shine through the distance, and they felt comforted. The four of them had gone through their lives in the shadow of the sacred mountain and in its comforting valleys. As long as they could see the Kang Renpoche, they felt that there could be no danger that could overcome them.

They began to walk down the hidden cloud valley. The clouds hid all sight of the valley. Very soon, they were amongst the clouds, unable to see the trail. They kept walking, going by their own experience, of many decades of moving around in these mountains. After a while, they were below the clouds, and the valley was spread out in front of them. The sunlight crept through the clouds, with rays striking waterbodies, rocks, forests and meadows. The meadows seemed to have ponds within them, for the reflection varied from spot to spot. There was a narrow stream of water, and many ponds and at least two lakes. The manner of landslides of big rocks in the Beyul was not present in the hidden cloud valley.

The hill slopes in this cloud valley seemed to be gentle and sloping outwards. Yet, the valley was a secluded one, as they could see. The mountains had surrounded the valley from all sides. They could hear the birds and could also hear the sounds of water from various streams and falls in the valley. They came to some sort of a crossroads, with at least four trails leading to different locations. As if by habit, the four of them went about examining the trails, looking for signs. Katishe exclaimed, and pointed at the trail that he was inspecting. They could see it clearly. There were signs of very large-sized yak, going inside the cloud valley. Alongside the tracks of the wild yak, the four of them could see tracks of wolves.

“This is it!” exclaimed Satawa, “The herd of the large wild yak returned to this hidden cloud valley after the rains. They were probably moving ahead of us all the while. The other trails do not have any signs. Let us follow the wild yak and wolves. That is the reason for us to be here.”