22.jaanuar Kuidas me Damota vallutasime/ how we concured Damota

Täna tõusime varem kui tavaliselt. Ettevalmistused tehtud, hakkasime
Damota mäe poole liikuma. Olen kindel, et enamus meist tegelikult ei
teadnudki mis täna ees ootab, nii et põnevust oli kui palju. Merle
jutu järgi oli tegu üle 7 mäe ronimisega, mis nii järsemad, kui vähem
järsemad. Algus oli ilus ja siis hakkasime tõusma. Tee oli kohati ikka
päris järsk. Samal ajal kui meie ronisime üles, tuli mäe pealt alla
hulk kohalikke, kes kõik turule tõttasid, kaup seljas või pea peal, ja
need ei olnud mitte väiksesed pambud! Meid vaadati jälle kui imesid ja
käed olid pidevalt tervituseks meie poole suunatud.
Esimesed kaks mäge olid rasked, kolmas mägi oli juba kergem, neljas
mägi super järsk, vähemalt meie tegime otselõike ja siis ronisime üles
käte ja jalgade abiga. Mäe peal ootasid meid aga kohaliku „gängi“
liikmed, kes meilt raha välja pressida püüdsid. Ega me poleks neist
muidu välja teinud, aga neil olid käes suurte teradega noad ja ühel
midagi pesapallikurika taolist. Meil ei lastud rahus pildistada ega
edasi minna enne, kui neile ei maksta. Nad väitsid, et uus seadus on
vastu võetud, mis kohustab maksma mäkke ronimise eest. Midagi nii
absurdset annab muidugi välja mõelda. Aga kuna meid rahule ei jäetud,
siis jõudis üks meie kaaslastest neile juba raha maksta, kuigi me
kavatsesime tagasi tulles siiski selle uue seaduse kohta uurida. Asi
lõppes õnneks aga sellega, et see raha anti meile tagasi ja saime
tasuta edasi minna nii nagu tavaliselt kombeks on. Siin on endiselt
selline kirjutama reegel, et kui tegu on valgete inimestega siis tuleb
neilt IGAL võimalikul juhul raha välja pumbata ja igasugu tobedusi ka
selleks välja mõeldakse...
Viies mägi ei olnud ka enam nii raske ületada, aga vaade mis selle mäe
otsast avanes oli igatahes hingemattev!!! Vaade alla orgu linnale,
ümberolevatele mägedele, onnidele, valebanaanipuudele, teistele
mägedele, mis kaetud rohelusega... Sellised kohas jääb hing lihtsalt
kinni.
 Vaatele lisas ilmet veel neljanda mäe tipp ja selle otsas seisev
kaameraga linde jahtiv Joosep, kelle pea kohal suured mustad rongad
tiirutamas! Looduse ja inimese täielik ühinemine.
Viienda mäe peal kohtasime palju kohalikke lapsi, kes oma onnidest
meile vastu jooksid. Nemad küll tihti valgeid inimesi ei näe. Selle
mäe peal elab ka meile tuttav buna-lady ehk siis kohvitädi. Merle on
tal varem paar korda külas käinud. Suur oli tema õnn, kui tema õuele
astus 8 valget inimest koos samapaljude kaaslastega. Jätsime talle
toidu ja ronisime veel kahe viimase mäe otsa. Vaade kuuenda mäe otsast
oli jällegi kirjeldamatult ilus. Seekord nägime ümberkaudseid
maju/onne koos nende põllumaaga ja lapsi istumas onnide ees ja
mängimas, elades nii oma igapäevast elu.
Seitsmenda mäe otsas asus aga ortodoksi kirik ja see oli ka meie
Damota mäe vallutamise lõpppunkt. Siin pidasime oma piiblitunni
jahedas varjus istudes. Rännak kodust siiani oli võtnud meil puhkuste
ja ootamistega ca 5,5 h ja päike ei olnud ka meile armu andnud. Olime
nii ronimisest, kui päikese käes olemisest kuumad ja punased, kuid
rõõmsad, et olime oma eesmärgi saavutanud. Tunne oli umbes nagu
Smigunil peale finishijoone ületamist lumme kukkudes.
Tagasiteel läksime jälle läbi juba tuttava bunalady juurest kes meile
söögi oli valmistanud. Sõime tavalisi ja magusaid kartuleid koos
kohalike terade ja maisileivaga. Soola mägedes vist üldse ei kasutata.
Tagasitulles kohtasime neid samu inimesi, kes olid hommikul turule
läinud oma kaupa müüma. Tagasiteel oli neil jällegi kaasas kaup, mis
siis alt oli ostetud. Ka olid nad väga jutukad ja rõõmsad. Sellise
oleku põhjustas kohalike jutu järgi kangema kraami pruukimine linnas,
mis nende arvates neile mäkke ronimiseks jõudu pidi andma.
Allaronimine on ka saavutus omaette, sest kogu aeg on väga kivine
laskumine ja peab vaatama et ei libikseks ega kukuks. Ka oli alla
tulles meeles, kuidas enne sai sama teed üles ronitud. Viimase peatuse
tegime ühe armsa pere juures mäe jalamil, kes oli meile suure ja
rikkaliku õhtusöögi valmistanud. See oli üks parimaid, mida me siin
söönud olime ja maitses seekord eriti hästi. Mõni minut enne
kojujõudmist hakkas aga vihma sadama ja kodus ootas meid ees ilus
üllatus- kraanivesi oli tagasi tulnud! Kas saab veel paremaks minna!?
Kogu reisi ajal olid meil kaasas kohalikud sõbrad, kes olid igal
hetkel nõus meie kotte kandma, meid mäest üles tõmbama või lükkama,
oma kätt või õlga toetuseks andma ja igatpidi meie eest hoolitsema.
Hoolitsus ligimese eest ja teiste inimeste teenimine on neil selge.
See on midagi, mis on meile suureks eeskujuks.

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Today we got up earlier than usual. Preparations done we went to climb Damota. I'm sure most of us didn't quite know what was expecting us there so there was a lot of excitment. Merle told us that we have to climb seven mountains, some more and some less steeper. The beginning was nice and we started going. The road was in some points very steep. The same time we were heading up a bunch of locals came down. They all were on their way to the market. They had all the goods(and not small packages) on their head or back. They looked at us like miracles and wanted to shake hands with us.

The first two mountains were quite difficult, but the 3rd was already easier. The 4th was super steep, at least we went by the short cut and this required the help of our hands and legs.

At that mountain the members of "the local gang" were trying to blacmail us and get some money. Otherwise we would not have paid attention to them, but they had sharp edged knives and something that looked like a baseball bat. They wouldn't let us through or take any pictures, before we paid them. They were saying that there is a new law which compels everybody to pay for the climbing. Has to be a mind to come up with such nonsense. They wouldn't leave us alone and one of us already paid them. We wanted to investigate that "new law". Fortunatelly things ended well, we got our money back and we could continue our journey. Here's still an unwritten rule to try to get as much money from the white people as you can and use all kind of goofy stories for that...

The 5th mountain wasn't that difficult but the view from up there was stunning!!! The view to the town, surrounding mountains, small houses, false banana trees...In such places you just loose your breath.

Joosep who had his camera and was hunting for burds, made the view even more exciting. There were big black ravens circeling around there. The complete union of men and nature.

At the 5th mountain we met the local children who were running towards us, they don't see white people often. On this mountain lives already a woman we know from the past trips- the buna-Lady aka the coffee lady. Merle has visited her a couple of times before. Great was buna-lady's happinness when all of a sudden 8 white people stood in his yard, surrounded by many local children. We left her some food and went to climb the last 2 mountains. The view from the 6th mountain was again very stunning. This time we saw the village houses, their gardens, children sitting outside, playing and living their everyday life.

On the top of the 7th mountain, there is an orthodox church and that was our final destination. We had our Bible study lesson here in a cool shade. The whole trip took from us with resting and waiting about 5,5 h and the sun had not been merciful to us. We were hot and red from the climbing and staying at the sun, but still happy that we managed to achieve our purpose. We felt like Šmigun after crossing the finish line and falling in the snow.

On our way back we went again to the buna-lady, who had prepared us some food. We had regular potatoes and sweet potatoes with the local corn bread. I don't think they use any salt up in the mountains.

Going down we met the same people who went to the market in the morning. They had new goods with them now. They were very cheerful and eager to chat. Locals told us that it was because of narcotics they had used town in the city. They thought this will give them more power to climb the mountain.

Climbing down was an achievment on its own. There are many rocks and you have to be careful not to slip or fall. All the way down we remembered how we had gone up.

We had our last stop at a very lovely family who lived close to the mountain. They had prepared us a very nice meal. It was one of the best we have had here. A few minutes before we got home, it started raining and we had a very nice surprise back at home- the tab water was back! Could life get any better?!

On this trip we had with us our local friends who were willing to carry our bags, push or pull us up the mountain, they were eager to give a helping hand and a sholder. Taking care of fellow mates is one lesson they have learned very good.

This is a good example we should learn from.

Annika