We decided not to rush back to Lukla in one day. The weather was nice and it was the first time in a while we could walk without our down jackets. Just outside of town, Shadow spotted a beautiful bird in the woods below the trail. It looked like a peacock without feathers. An elderly man was walking down the path. When we asked him what it was, he said, "chicken!" and laughed. We too chuckled thinking the fried chicken Shadow ate the night before might have been peacock.
As we ate lunch in an tea house with the most beautiful flower garden we heard the sound of drums. A couple wearing white robes with a red ribbon came walking down the path. 4 men were playing rhythmic beats on homemade drums while chanting. It was a wedding parade. The couple travels from Namche to Lukla (12 miles) stopping at friends and family's homes for gifts and money. Then turn around and go back the Namche doing the same thing. They stop in the villages and dance before continuing their wedding march. I should note, they both wore multiple peacock feathers for a headdress. I was officially convinced that we had seen a poor peacock roaming the woods. Alone. Without tail feathers.
We made it to Phanding (halfway to Lukla) mid-afternoon. The tea house owner said he had wifi so we paid his price to access the password. We shared our regular small pot of mint tea in the common area while checking our emails when the power went out. The owner would go outside and reset something, comeback in, and few minutes later, lights would go out. This continued until the clouds lowered and blocked the satellite wifi reception. It was dinner time at that point. The fire was started and the grandmother of the house came in. She sat down and watched as the home became alive. She chanted her evening prayer running her thumb over each of the wood prayer beads while we ate dinner.
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