Karmi Farm clings to the side of a steep hill on a West facing slope about half a mile from the Nepali border. The river down below is the border with the state of Sikkim and all that goes with that. This region is almost completely Nepali and Tibetan. The ethnic features are obvious. Chinese eyes with lighter skin. The faces of the people are more rounded and the young women are very beautiful. Andrew is the owner of Karmi with his mother who is Indian. He is a man full of tales of the parties of the old Raj and the tea planters club in Darjeeling. That is were his father and mother met and married. That is also the lovely older lady who just handed me a cup of coffee as I am writing.
Karmi is a guess house now and not a working farm but you can see the old terraces that existing in the day. Andrew said, the super awful road had only come up this far in the last 15 years. Before that all the supplies had to be carried by Sherpa’s across the ridge to the older road. I also learned that Sherpa is a caste level in this part of the world. It is also a job title and has been for many many years. Sherpa’s are the high altiude porters that carry supplies for Himalayan Mountaineering expeditions. Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa from Darjeeling when he became the first person to summit Mount Everest. I will have to settle for summiting A Mount Gay Rum bottle when I get back. It is ridiculous to see these slight people both men and women carrying hundreds of pounds on their backs attached to trump lines on their foreheads. I get tired and mad when I have to carry my groceries to the truck from Walmart... Well, I have finished my coffee and every else is gone on some short hike. I think I will just chill out and look at Nepal for a few minutes. Wish you all were here to join me..... Namaste
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