North India Trekking Trip 北印度行山之旅 (23 Aug - 11 Sep 2002)

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Small village settlement right after Prini. Houses are made of wood and mud. Roof made of sheet rocks.
(24 Aug 2002, 28-70mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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For the body of a Buddhist monk near the village of Prini.
The man walking toward the stupa is also an instructor. While not leading trekking groups, instructors would tend to their apple orchard, herd, etc.

The trekking led up to this stupa was tough because the rain made deep mud out of the top soil. I slipped a couple of times and muddy all over. Good to have Gore-Tex pants.

(24 Aug 2002, 85mm, F1.4 A-mode)

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Negi, one of the two instructors during our trekking, playing flute during a rest. Negi's short term goal is to save enough money to buy a CD player.

(24 Aug 2002, 85mm, F1.4 A-mode)

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One of the cook's assistants. He was in charge of getting water once settle down on camp site. Today he got water from the creek at the background.

(24 Aug 2002, 200mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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The first herd we encountered on the first day trekking. This goat was curious about the camera.

At the time of our trekking, late summer in India, herds of sheep and goats were moving away from the high mountain. Thus we would see hundreds of sheep and goats everyday going the opposite direction of our trekking.

(24 Aug 2002, 28mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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One of the shepherds from the first herd we saw. He stopped a minute chatting with Acharya.

We later found out that Acharya not only chat with shepherds about the treks ahead, he sometimes distribute medicine to them if they are not well.

Shepherding is a hard life, and it shows on the face.

(24 Aug 2002, 200mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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After chatting to our guide, shepherd catching up with his herd.

Some shepherds would have a pack horse to bring tent, blankets, etc. Some would just haul everything on back.

(24 Aug 2002, 200mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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We brought live chickens to the trek. We had three chickens every dinner except the two days when we had goat for dinner.

After arrived at the camp site, the chickens would be let loose. In the morning, some of us, like Karl here, would help to catch the chickens.

(25 Aug 2002, 28mm, F2.8 A-mode)

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This young girl was already given the responsibility to take care of another child.

Spencer, our group leader from Hong Kong, brought lots of pencils, rulers, and other school supplies as give-away to children we met on the trek.

This girl would took the gifts, passed on to younger children, and ask us for more.

We later found out that the pencils might be useless to them, as they practice writing on tablets, instead of on paper. Perhaps even paper is hard to come by and too expensive.

(25 Aug 2002, 85mm)

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As we distribute school supplies, these nomad children gathers.

We were told that these children are direct descendants of Alexander the Greats army, and many of them don't go to school.

Without education, is their future limited to shepherding and such?

(25 Aug 2002, 85mm, F1.4 A-mode)