While in Humla I took a walk to a few of the staffs villages. David Driver came along as well to get interviews in the homes of the staff. It was a long 3 hour walk to the village of Langdu. Due to the altitude change David and I were a bit winded. We came to Champel’s home and met his wife, mother and some other aunties and children in the dark, windowless, smoke-filled kitchen that served as the center of the home. The only light was from a hole over the stove. It took awhile to grow accustomed to the dark. Pema, Champel’s 3 year old girl, came in both crying and growling. She had just fought with the neighbors kid over a branch of berries and from the looks of it, lost.
After the interview we were treated to Humla hospitality. Food was prepared and we were served a small Yak Butter tea. And for all you information buffs, Yeshe Said it was incorrect to call it “YAK” butter tea as the female of the species is called Dee. Yak doesn’t provide milk! Also, we were given a bowl of Tsampa (Barley Flour) to accompany the tea. Then I watched, as tradition dictates, Champel’s mother placed three equidistantly spaced dollops of “Dee” butter on a shallow brass bowl’s rim before filling it with Chang (Tibetan Barley Beer) and presenting it to each of us. Then we were served steamed dough and cooked cabbage.

While we were sitting there Champel jumped up and looked out the window and said excitedly, “My brother is back from Tibet”! We ran down and met his brother and three horses carrying sacks of Flour. We all went back inside and again gathered around the kitchen fire. The Chang kept pouring.

While sitting there, I asked Champel about his children, and if his brother was also married. Yeshe smiled hesitantly, he said, “Michael you know its tradition here for a wife to marry up to seven brothers”. It turned out Both Champel, 22 and his brother, 19 were married to the same girl in the kitchen. I asked how Champel knew which child was his? Champel was shy to answer and Yeshe said with a little laugh, “The wife knows”!

After Langdu we traveled another hour and a half to Yeshe’s village, Baruashe. We had another lunch and more chang. Bad idea to drink chang THEN do Yeshe’s interview. In the dark kitchen we had to have two young men hold up flashlights as David Filmed Yeshe. It was a funny interview and Yeshe came across more like a political leader trying work a crowd into a frenzy. We did a few takes and I think David got what he needed. The female leaders of this Buddhist community showed up before we left and tradition says they should offer us chang from their homes. We siphoned all the different changes into a plastic jug that looked like a gas container and headed home via Simikot. We reached the hospital before dark. We settled into the kitchen around the fireplace and …….drank more chang. There was a lot of longwinded stories that night.