August 18, 2013

View from the gompa in Sundarijal, Nepal (2009)

When I posted this picture for Facebook today, I was reminded of the best cup of chai I ever had. It was in one of those villages at the horizon over there. A young boy met me at the entrance to the village in the company of several friends, all wanting to practice their grammar-school English. The simple greetings went well, but he met me again a little later, calling to me from the roof of his house.

“You come drink tea,” he said.
“No, no,” I replied. “I must walk back to the gompa at Sundarijal. It is getting late.”
“You drink tea!” he called, more firmly and with an engaging grin.
I laughed. “Thank you, but no.”
And then he got serious. “You sit!” he said. “I bring tea!”
So I sat. He brought tea. And it was the best cup of piping hot chai I have ever had.
But it’s getting late. I must go back to the gompa in Sundarijal.