News release: 11 May, Yaks, Naks & Jopkyoks | |
     | Not a lot to do until all our stuff arrives this evening. Time to
investigate the local creatures. Yaks, as everybody knows are hairy,
often intolerant bovines used for milk and transport which die if they
ever descend below the altitude of Namche Bazaar, about 11,000ft.
That's why you never see one in the zoo at home. There is a big joke
hereabouts about Yak milk and Yak cheese. Apparently there's plenty
about, but nobody actually has any. There is a simple reason, your
Sherpa explains with a smile, Yaks are exclusively male, Naks are the
females so if you ask for Nak milk, you might get some. To confuse
matters, down in Lukla there are semi-hairy creatures which are half Yak
and half cow, these are Jopkyoks. There are some Jopkyoks on the
airfield, they are perfectly innocent cow-like creatures and they all
wear bells which tinkle daintily as they forage.
The tinkling takes on a more ominous note at night. Last night we were in a fog, it was pitch dark, and from your tent you hear the tinkling getting nearer and nearer your microlight wing which is safely flat on the ground. A Jopkyok trying it for taste or testing it as a bed would not be a good thing, I don't have a spare. Whilst we had made some Jopkyok defences, a fence made out of our tow-line, in a fog at night it begins to seem a bit flimsy and it's not really something you want to later find didn't work, so I spent a rather restless night leaping in and out of bed making sure all was allright. This morning we reinforced the Jopkyok defences with some wire mesh and I should sleep better tonight. This afternoon our kit plus one eagle arrived on the backs of a large team of valiant Sherpas and Sherpanis. They are extraordinary folk, having each just portered some 30 or 40 Kg of our kit up a very steep 2000 ft hill at 12,000 ft you would think they would be exhausted, but not a bit of it, after a quick drink of tea a dozen or so were up for runway repairs! By the time they were ready to go the 1000 ft back down to Namche I should think about 3 tons of rocks and a couple of tons of soil had been placed in the biggest holes. Tomorrow a team of 9 of them will be back to finish the job. Just as it was getting dark, a Jopkyok was wandering through camp towards the Phinjo Lodge & restaurant next to which we are camped when suddenly it spotted the eagle sitting on a rock next to a tent. I can report that Jopkyoks don't like eagles, and that an aroused Jopkyok is transformed into something not dissimilar to a Spanish fighting bull, it's hair goes on end, it faces the danger legs spread for action and emits the most extroardinary noise which Angelo described as being like a submarine, but to my mind is a sort of gurgley - growl which a 10 ft tall dog might make. One of our Sherpas bravely intervened between the irate beast and the eagle and frightened it off. To the amusement of Italians and Sherpas there followed a stampede of Yaks, Naks & growling Jopkyoks around the airfield before they settled down on the other side. Tomorrow we should complete our airfield repairs and be ready for action. |
RMH 
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