Going north

I've been toying with the idea of living in a remote island in north Maldives for a few months. It should prove an interesting contrast to the weeks I've spent in the high Himalaya.

For some reason I was flooded with ideas for a film about a tiny island community on the verge of extinction, as I made my way up well-worn mountain trails in mist and snow. If I could swan off to Haa Alif Atoll with my Mac and camcorder, this film, conceived at altitudes so high that not even grass grows, could well become a reality.

I've been showing the pictures from the trek to friends, and going through the images again is stirring a familiar longing to return to the Himalaya, even though I've only been back in this country for a few days. I think Muha felt a similar longing as he scrolled through the pictures yesterday.

I took the photo in this post about 50 metres or so up Kala Pattar. It's so early that the sun is still rising behind Everest. The highest mountain in the world reveals itself bit by bit as you ascend Kala Pattar. By half-past seven Maldives time (I hadn't changed my watch to the Nepali timezone) I was on the crest, gawking at the black pyramid and the panorama of snow peaks, with several dozen other trekkers.

I sat in the morning sun for an hour or so, nibbling coconut biscuits, drinking water, and thinking this was probably the last time I would be on the summit of Kala Pattar.

But as I look at the pictures again, I'm not so sure.