Witnessing a Himalayan Glacier

Описание: Witnessing a Himalayan glacier
Our pilot – and, as it turned out, also a salesman (this is Nepal after all 😄) – asked us if we would like to see a glacier from very close. “Of course, for a bit of extra charge,” he added casually. If we agreed, he would fly between the mountain ranges on the left and show us “something beautiful.”
By that time, we had already been in our stunned, awe-struck and slightly terrified phase for at least ten minutes. I honestly didn’t even know anymore which side was left. So we all breathed a soft, permissive “yes.”
We flew over Annapurna Base Camp, where the roofs looked from above like tiny, forgotten Santa Claus chocolate bars in red and blue. The pilot told us we wouldn’t land yet, but would first turn left to get closer to the glacier.
Now I understood what “left” meant. It definitely did not mean “down.” Not to the ground. Not yet.
The glacier came closer until it was almost under our feet. It didn’t look like the “real” glacier I had in my imagination (as if I had any experience to compare it with – this was the first glacier I had ever seen in my life). I would rather call it an old glacier, or a summer one. In the bright sun, the ice and snow looked thin, almost melted. I couldn’t help thinking about global warming and all the documentaries where people climb through knee-deep snow. But those films were mostly about Everest, the big brother of Annapurna – which I imagine to be much more austere.
I don’t have to tell you what I felt when the pilot then said he would turn to the other side so that our small group could see the glacier from the right as well. In the next moment, everything turned – not just the helicopter. I have no idea whether we drew an elegant figure eight or something that felt more like upside down. I only know that my stomach stayed behind somewhere over the valley.
And then, suddenly, we were again in front of Machapuchare, the Fish Tail – this time with her double peak in full widescreen. A pure beauty shock.
The last part of this unspeakably wonderful and, at the same time, deeply frightening experience was the landing, comes in the next post.