The Mystery of the Kailash Trail - Chapter 4 - Part 2

Chapter 4: Part 2: The trail above Dirapuk is to be explored. 

Brother Tameng and Dawa looked at each other and smiled. The monk from Dirapuk spoke out, “What? What large wild yaks are you talking about? There are no wild yaks near the Dirapuk area and neither are they known from this valley. What are you talking about, Qinhai horseman? Yeshe, what is your grandfather saying?” Norbu looked scared. No wonder his yaks had behaved strangely. Why did his mastiff go weird then? Are mastiffs scared of wild yaks, he wondered?

Dawa spoke to the monk from Dirapuk, bowing, “O Master, please forgive us. Brother Tameng and I, we are scared. We are worried that people will not believe us. We have not spoken to anyone. That’s why we did not tell you about our search. The Dirapuk to Drolma La area, and the slopes between the two places, are the entrance to the valley from the North. We wanted to scout for sign on these riverbeds and the smooth sand before it was filled up with pilgrims and trekkers walking around. The domestic yak would have destroyed all trail.”

Norbu, Yeshe and Sangye stood close together, alongside the monk from Dirapuk. Brother Tameng bowed in reverence to the sacred mountain peaks, one by one, and added, “Brothers, you are all devout people, tied to your circle of life, and to this sacred mountain. What happened yesterday was very strange, and we could not have imagined that such a thing would come to pass. We do not want to add to the mystery. We want to search for what could be possible. For what has happened can have several reasons. We will discuss them later. We need to think fast, before the valley gets crowded.”

“Yesterday, at night, through the rainstorm, old man Dawa, and I, with permission from my Master Rinchen, moved about near the Choku monastery slopes. I will tell you the rest of the events later, but we saw very large, really large wild yaks. We saw an entire herd of these animals. They were enormous. At least one or two feet taller than the largest wild yak you would have seen or heard about. At least 300 to 400 kilos heavier than the heaviest wild yak you would have known or been told about. We are not bluffing. We saw them. They were huge. All. Not a single animal in the herd was smaller than any other,” Brother Tameng continued.

“We do not want to waste time. It is very important that we know what we saw was true and we should know what really happened. I will tell you the other details later. But something truly different happened out there in the rainstorm. Now, old man from Qinhai, how are you able to ask us the exact question? What do you know? Have you also seen these wild yaks? Do you know of them? How do you, from far away Qinhai, know about wild yaks in this valley? Have you seen them at Dirapuk or at Drolma La?”

Sangye looked back at the mountains above, northwards of Dirapuk, and pointed. He said, “They came from there. They came from the valley above Dirapuk. It’s a really long valley, and needs about four to five days of riding on a fast horse to go through it. They came from there. I did not see them. Neither did my grandson, here. We saw tracks of the animals. We saw only one track. Not a single track in any other place did we see out there. These were really large animals, I can tell. Old man Dawa and myself, we know each other from many years gone by. What we do not know about these valleys does not exist here at all. But, this was different.”

Dawa nodded. He looked up at the valley entrance, above Dirapuk. It could be possible. This contour was in a straight line, from above Dirapuk, down to the Lhachu valley, down the river stream, going past Choku monastery, to the spot where the circle of stones would be. There was no deviation, no turn off, and large animals like those yaks that they had seen, any obstacle would not stop them. The river streams were shallow at night, and they would be getting deeper now, through the day, as the slopes brought the waters down. What was there? Were there more wild yaks in that valley? Where had they gone? Did they return on the same path?

Yeshe was excited. He could sense that Norbu was also very excited, hearing about the herd of large wild yaks. Norbu’s mastiff was standing close to him, not moving away. He was looking very scared. He thought back to his own two mastiffs. They had also behaved very strangely. They had not barked, and neither had they accompanied them in the morning. That was so very unlike them. They would usually be moving about much earlier than Yeshe or Sangye. So what had happened had also frightened the mastiffs?

“Masters, I have a simple question, for I am not a great trailsman as my grandfather is, and am not like old man Dawa. I am like Norbu here, from another land, with my parents and family, with our animals and trade,” said Yeshe, “I am curious about a different aspect. I can understand the excitement about the herd of very large wild yaks. If I exist, someone could be larger than me. If I am hunted, I will hide. I do not see the mystery in what you say. I will definitely move about when I cannot be, will not be, hunted. But, the mystery that I see, is in the mastiffs.”

“Look at Norbu’s mastiff. He looks so timid and scared. Our mastiffs are still hiding in the cave and sheds back beyond the eatery that my parents manage. Something else is happening. It is continuing. You saw the wild yaks at night. We saw trail of the wild yaks that moved through the valley. We do not see them now. But, the mastiffs are acting scared even now, late in the morning. What is wrong with them?”

Sangye patted Yeshe, with pride, and said, “Come, Masters, my friend Dawa, let us go and have some hot soup and noodles. I will show you the trail behind the Dirapuk area. No pilgrim goes up there. That area will not be disturbed. We can find trail and sign out there. That is wild and remote area. The valley will not be good for sign. The rains have flattened out the sand and mud. Waters are feeding the river streams from the slopes. All sign would have been wiped out. Come, be our guest. We will be honoured, that Masters from the Choku and Dirapuk sacred temples would come to bless us. You must be tired, Master. Do not get misled by old man Dawa. He is full of energy and strength. He does not need food.”

Dawa added, “Yes, Masters. Let us go up the valley. There must be a story out there. I will ask Yeshe’s mother to give you a separate stove and utensils. I will cook soup for you and add my own recipes. Who knows when we will eat again in the day? I fear that we will have a very long day ahead of us. We will also speak to Norbu’s masters and request them to take another yak boy and animals. Norbu has seen his yaks’ behaviour and his mastiff understood that something happened. We will need to keep them with us.”

He spoke to Norbu, “Boy, go and request your pilgrim guide to come and meet us at the eatery. Tell him that the holy master of Dirapuk and Choku want him to meet them. We will talk to him. Will you accompany us today? Are you frightened? You have been blessed, my boy. You are going to be part of the mystery of the valleys of the mountains of Kang Renpoche. Go, get him with you to the eatery.”

Norbu smiled with relief. He was getting worried that he would have to travel with the pilgrim group and would go away from the excitement. He had wondered about getting away from the group. He had already decided to pretend to be unwell and stay back at Dirapuk. That would have been bad, for he would have placed the group to trouble. He knew old man Dawa would not be refused. Other yak boys could take his place. For it was only one day’s trail from Dirapuk to Drolma La Pass and then down to Zitalpuk and to Darchen. He ran to the pilgrim group’s tent to talk to his group leader. His mastiff ran alongside him, quietly, without barking.

The group started walking up to the eatery. Brother Tameng held on to the walking stick that Dawa had given him. He was thankful for the support. He had a prayer wheel on the other hand, and was twirling it slowly. He waited to catch his breath, and looked back at the Choku monastery and the valley. He could not believe that he had seen all that he had indeed seen. And, he was happy that the old nomad horseman from Qinhai had also seen trail of the herd of large wild yaks. But, what of the wolves? Should he talk about them?

Yeshe’s parents were surprised to see the odd group that walked in. Old man Sangye, with their own son, Yeshe, the two monks, one from Choku and the master from Dirapuk, and old man Dawa. What was going on, wondered Yeshe’s father. He rushed to welcome them, bowing low.