The summit of their lives: A delegation of the disabled and handicapped conquered the Annapurna Israel today

A mischievous spark shines from the two green lakes in Boaz Shapira's eyes as he stares in amazement at the snow-capped snow-capped mountains.

The majestic view of the Annapurna ridge in Nepal is full of sight, and Boaz sips it with excitement.

He is 13.5 years old, the youngest in the disabled delegation from Israel that set out earlier this month for an adventurous track in faraway Nepal.

From an early age he is confined to a wheelchair, the result of a rare genetic syndrome that severely impairs the function of his body muscles.

Although he suffers from tremors in his body and has difficulty speaking, every few moments he reads in a pampering melody in the names of those present, which motivates the 43 members of the delegation - eight of them disabled - to embrace him again and again with love.

He does not climb with his feet up the endless mountain, but rolls in it using a rolling pin - an upholstered chair mounted on a single wheel, with carrying handles at the front and rear.

If you will, a kind of hybrid between a stretcher and a wheelbarrow, named after the late Lieutenant Gil Badihi, who was killed in 2002 in a battle with terrorists in Ramallah.

Reporter: Yifat Erlich // Photo: Ariel Erlich, Amiad Yavesh, Shani Gal, Arik Shimon // Editing: Sivan Schuster

Like the rest of the disabled who set out on the journey, Boaz's limitation did not prevent him from conquering any summit along the way, nor from being crowned champion of the group in checkers and inanimate vegetation.

And when the team that carries him in Gilgolon manages to get to the night camps first, in a competition that ignites between the teams at the end of each day, his cheers bring to life the snowy carpet of the Himalayas.

Alongside Boaz, five more of the nine disabled people made the journey on rollovers: Arie Katz (36), Dror Toito (43) and Itzik Fernalds (47), all three paralyzed in the lower body;

Erez Stein (59), who is paralyzed in the left torso;

And Avital Hammer (68), unable to move his feet.

Three other disabled people walked on their feet: Amit Levkov, 47, on one leg and a prosthesis;

Dvir Bar-Hai (34), after a serious injury in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza;

And Dan Liani, 59, who lost his sight when he was wounded in the First Lebanon War.

All nine bravely withstood the bitter cold, managed nights of sleep in huts without electricity and water, often made do with outdoor hitchhiking services, and were able to shake off the steep, rocky road that ran through an abyss and between shaky bridges.

The nine disabled people were joined by 35 escorts, nine of them women.

These are close family members, friends and acquaintances, and especially members of the Erez Association, veterans of the Golani Regiment, who led the entire journey.

Despite the dilute oxygen at heights, they carried in their hands the heavy rollers, with the cripple sitting in them, panting from the tremendous effort, and all this up to the unimaginable height of 5,416 feet above sea level.

The trip was also joined by 40 Nepali porters, who are well versed in the environment and its challenges.

On the roof of the world, with the Israeli flag, at an altitude of 5,416 meters.

"In this journey, the grant is mutual, the disabled give us a soul," Photo: Erez Association

• • •

Near Yom Kippur, I received a surprising message from Noam Shapira (39), Boaz's father.

"When was the last time you were in Annapurna?"

(Answer: I was not, neither there nor in the East).

I have met the Shapira family in the past in full force: Noam, his wife Seglia, their son Boaz and his four younger brothers.

It happened when I covered a journey on donkeys that made together from Mount Hermon to the Mediterranean.

With Boaz on his shoulders, Noam traveled all over the country, but this time he decided to take him on a much bigger challenge - very far from home in Tel Teomim, near Beit She'an.

Boaz Shapira (in front) was carried by members of the delegation and Nepali porters.

Everyone wrapped him in hugs, Photo: Shani Gal

Like an elite unit in the IDF, Noam, who stands 195 centimeters tall, finds the parallel between the special units and their families a special child.

It not only carries a burden, but grows from it to be stronger and more special, elite, "he explains.

The trip to Nepal, a daring track on the crazy border, was organized by the Erez Association, named after the late Brigadier General Erez Gerstein, who was killed in Lebanon in 1999.

The association was founded by his friends, veterans of the Golani Regiment, some of whom are now 50 and 60 years old, and are still poisoned by their brown beret.

With my own ears I heard them planning to fly for the next journey a bucket of brown paint, to change the trail markings of the route around the Annapurna, which is now marked with a red stripe, Rahmana Letzlen, the color of the rival paratroopers brigade.

The association, headed by Shimon Prienta, is built on volunteers only.

Every winter, she brings about 3,000 children with disabilities to fun days on Mount Hermon, and takes older disabled people on ski trips in Israel and around the world.

The trip to Annapurna, which is considered the association's most complex logistical project, came out for the third time this year, after the first trip, in 2018, involved four disabled people, and the other, in 2019, seven, including two Nepali girls - one in a wheelchair and the other deaf-mute.

Wednesday, September 29th.

At Ben Gurion Airport, the disabled board a Flydubai night flight, with the help of a special wheelchair adapted to the narrow passage on the plane. It soon turns out that something went wrong, and all passengers have to get off and wait at the terminal. The pilot.

Take off.

After a stopover in Dubai, continue to the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, and from there on a domestic flight to the beautiful city of Pokhara in the center of the country.

Then continue in small planes and helicopters to Humanda, a tiny village in the Himalayas at 3,200 feet above sea level.

The sights on the flight are insane: below us are green evergreens, rushing rivers and snow-capped mountain peaks that rise well above the height of the clouds.

• • •

Friday, October 1st.

From Humanda, the expedition begins on foot to the heights of the Annapurna ridge.

Dr. Uri Kaplan, the attending physician, recommends that we all swallow pills that help the body adjust to oxygen dilution. .

The Nepalese porters who joined the journey were organized by a local company.

They are all short, boyish in appearance, their bodies incredibly strong.

12 of them are divided into pairs and attached to the six incarnations.

One porter is tied to a harness and holds the roll handle in the front - and the other pushes in the back.

Each incarnation is joined by three or four other Israeli escorts, who carry with the locals the burden of the steep ascents.

I start the road to Manang in the collection, next to Shimon Prienta (62), married, a father of five, who is considered the father of this journey.

Lt. Col. in reserve, one of the founders of the IDF Alpinist Unit, which he commanded for years.

Among other things, he was the direct commander of Erez Gerstein in the Golani Regiment.

It has, in Prienta, charisma and a sense of humor, a quiet leadership that knows how to magnetize people and delegate powers without many words.

Despite the cold, he walks barefoot, carrying a Torah scroll on his back in a special carrier that accompanies us throughout the journey.

Underneath his short jeans peek out gates that attach to white socks rolled on antique army boots.

The tough look fails to cover Freinta's sensitivity: the next day she will burst into tears in his eyes, when the Torah scroll opens on Shabbat, and Boaz ascends to the Torah and blesses from his wheelchair.

"In this journey the grant is mutual, the disabled give us the soul," he explains.

"We were all privileged to participate in this journey just because of them. Without the disabled none of us would have left the family and flown to Nepal in the middle of the routine."

Manang greets us with cabins in a variety of glowing colors, colorful flowers and a fragrant bakery.

In the tiny village there is electricity in the rooms and toilets in the toilets, and especially a luxury that will later turn out to be an exception: a shower with intermittent running water.

If there is luck, they also come out of the tap warm.

For the rolling, the business is more complex.

Itzik, Dror and Arieh, who are in a wheelchair, routinely lead an independent lifestyle.

Here they depend on others, since every path and doorstep is inaccessible.

Any transition from the wheelchair to the wheelchair, and from there to the bed or shower - requires another victory of the spirit over the limitations of the body.

In the thin air it is difficult to carry.

Arie Katz (on the roll) and his team on the way to the mountain pass, Photo: Ariel Erlich

Saturday, October 2nd.

The atmosphere heats up, and the friends slowly begin to open up.

One shares a particularly difficult mental crisis he went through, another tells of the woman in the home who was dealing with a serious illness, the third talks about his sick son.

Each has a heavy private load to carry up the road.

On Saturday, all members of the delegation gather in the dining room of the guest house, a building made of local stone with a tin roof, and the level of excitement rises when Boaz makes a havdalah. 10 degrees outside, which is considered a "warm evening" here.

Dan Liani tells the story of his life and his blindness.

How he was wounded in a "terrible shelling" after two months of fighting in the Galilee Peace War, in 1982, near Beirut Airport.

He spent two months in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and at first he still believed that the doctors would be able to save one of his eyes. Unfortunately, the surgeries failed. His life, an immigrant from France who decided to tie her life with a blind man, together they raise four children in Pisgat Ze'ev in Jerusalem.

Twenty-five years after the injury, Dan underwent complex surgery that also included a corneal transplant.

Thanks to the surgery, he began to see light and shadows, and even saw his wife's face for the first time.

"I remember Sonia's hair fluttering in the wind, her smile. It's a very strong image I will not forget. At home I first saw the children. It was a feeling of intoxication."

Dan Liani (left) with the second escort.

See everything even without eyes, Photo: Amiad Dry

His vision lasted for seven months.

He managed to run without an attendant escort for the blind, and even witnessed Niagara Falls.

But each week the vision faded, until he dived again into complete darkness.

"As the intensity of the intoxication of the senses, so was the intensity of the depression. I fell into a very deep pit, and for a year and a half I was a bitter and withdrawn person. Until I realized that I did not want to live like that, and that I must return to being a happy person."

With tremendous strength, he returned to doing sports with friends, and found work as an assistant to the chairman of the IDF Disabled Organization.

Only now, 40 years late, is he embarking on a post-military trip.

"Here, I'm doing in this journey what I never imagined I would get," his eyes smile.

Sunday, October 3rd.

Morning, and the delegation is divided into teams in preparation for departure.

We have a difficult day ahead that will include climbing a route that is 12 km long - with an increase of another 500 meters compared to our current location.

On the way stop at a roadside inn, for coffee and soup.

A wooden ladder on the stone wall allows you to ascend to the roof of the building - directly to a visible view of the roof of the world.

Snowy mountains kiss woolly clouds, the sky is deep blue, the earth is adorned with green inflorescences.

Noam climbs Boaz, and Dan also climbs with the help of an escort.

The rest of the disabled remain in the inn courtyard.

Uri Kaiser (41) raises a proposal: to lift the disabled up, without the need for a ladder.

Kaiser is a member of Moshav Lachish, an employee of the Nature and Parks Authority, who is a regular volunteer at Erez.

He is the one who recruited to the delegation about a third of its members, the disabled and escorts.

"Dragged to Annapurna everyone he met on the street," the others laugh at him affectionately.

• • •

Aryeh, a father of four from the town of Adi-Ad near Shiloh, flows with Uri's proposal.

He is released from his rolling pin and carried by the accompanying staff to the roof.

Sitting on the floor there, without a wheelchair, momentarily forgets his disability.

Arieh used to be a particularly athletic guy, until four years ago he fell while riding an ATV.

A simple fall the like of which has been experienced dozens in the past, but this time his spine is damaged, and he remains paralyzed from the chest down.

Today he has no feeling in his legs, nor abdominal muscles that will help him stabilize his body.

His muscular hands help him move on his own from the wheelchair and wheelchair to a regular chair.

Every time someone comes up to help him with that, Aria refuses with a smile.

"The least I can do on my own, let me do on my own," he concludes.

Arieh works as an entrepreneur in the real estate field, and a year ago he founded the "Rolling Forward" association, which accompanies spinal cord injuries near their injury. "The idea is to connect an older disabled person, who has already learned to live with the injury, .

Arieh speaks openly about the level of emotionally charged jealousy among the disabled with various injuries.

"Every disabled person is jealous of another disabled person whose injury is less severe," he explains.

"I envy Dror, because he has abdominal muscles. I guess a person like Itzik, who was injured in a higher link and therefore his hands are less strong, is jealous of me. And disabled people who were injured in the highest link, and are unable to move their hands at all, are jealous of Itzik."

Get off the roof, and the crews go back to pushing the rollers up.

The second and moving escorts gently lead Dan, who is aided by a regular hiking stick.

They guard his every step, describing to his blinded eyes the sights of the road.

Dvir Bar Hai, whose inspirational recovery story was told here extensively a few weeks ago, walks as he leans in front of Amir, Ward supporting him from behind.

step by step.

step by step.

Vered and Amir climbing with Dvir Bar Hai (center), Photo: Ariel Erlich

We bypass Dror's team, and Boaz cheers as usual.

Dror, married and a father of three from Rehovot, worked as a solar system installer until he was injured nine years ago in a work accident from a fall from a height.

He has since been paralyzed in his lower body.

On a daily basis he plays basketball, rides a bicycle, and has already participated in snow skiing for the disabled in Bulgaria.

At every opportunity he performs stunts with his wheelchair.

On one of the flights, he crawled with his muscles up the plane's ramp.

He does not talk much, but his smile also elevates those who lift him.

afternoon.

We bypass Amit and Diana, who are marching beside him.

I look in amazement at the man walking with the help of crutches up the steep.

Sometimes he jumps on one leg, sometimes lame on the prosthesis, but for a moment does not stop.

The road is exhausting, the ascent is difficult, but if a colleague is able to walk to the top of the column and not complain - who am I to make amends here.

"I was not injured in the war, not even in the accident, and there is no heroic story behind me. I was born with a shorter leg, that's all," he explains with an introverted smile.

In the small village of Yak Kaharka there are no showers in the rooms, only one shared shower with a trickle of hot water, next to a stink bug.

Zevik Mevzri, who is in charge of placing the escorts on the journey, asks me to move on to accompany Dan.

Zevik is a colonel in the reserve, a pilot and commander in the Air Force, who also served as a military attaché in India and Nepal.

Monday, October 4th.

Get up early.

It is foggy outside and the landscape is gray, but the hidden sun and the feeling of coolness will make it easier to climb later.

I walk in front of Dan, who explains to me that it is most comfortable for him to hold the handle of the bag on my back.

The road becomes steeper and steeper, and for the first time we walk on the edge of an abyss.

Dan asks if the abyss is to our left, and I confirm, trying to keep from hitting the stones on the narrow path.

• • •

A convoy of mules suddenly descends in front of us, laden with equipment for villages to which the road has been cut off in recent monsoons.

One determined parting marches vigorously towards us.

I pin Dan to the bushes, trying to clear the way for the rebellious - but separation knocks me down in her race to the ground.

Dan catches sight of what happened, and for a moment the creators turn between us: he grabs me and puts me back on my feet.

Later Dan will also fall once, after I did not warn him in time of a stone.

Embarrassed, I reach out to him - and he immediately stands up with a smile: "Everything is fine."

Dan's small fall illustrated to me the weight of responsibility: one wrong step could end in disaster.

Concentration requires tremendous effort, but equally tremendous the satisfaction that comes with it.

I notice that Dan's lips are red.

It turns out that the mischievous Dvir was greedy and bought Dan a protective lipstick that contains color, instead of a clear lipstick.

Dan, as usual, smiled at the prank, and he would serve the sweet revenge when he shaved Dvir and left him beards in surprising places.

The two guys, wounded in the wars in the delegation, shared the same room at night and happily helped each other.

A bridge in front of us, like the one we have passed several times along the way.

It is a bridge built on iron cables and swings between heaven and earth at great height, over a rushing stream.

My stomach is tipping over, but for Dan this is actually an easy part, since the bridge has a straight floor, with no stones to stumble on.

And again the creators are upside down: instead of Dan helping me, I'm the one grabbing his arm, and he leads me safely across the swinging bridge to the other bank.

Passing every difficulty.

Rescuing a jeep that sank in the mud on the broken road to Pokhara, Photo: Ariel Erlich

The night camp in the small village of Trahong Padi is hidden in a valley surrounded by mighty granite mountains.

We are four and a half miles above sea level.

The exhausting day, haunted by experiences, immediately pushes under the warm blanket, for a good few hours of rest.

In the evening they gather in the dining room, and an old guitar that is in place is passed from hand to hand.

First Granite Freinta, Shimon's son, plays, and his wife Daphne sings with him.

A slight respite for the two young men, medical students, who helped Shimon manage the entire journey.

The delegation gathers around them and joins in the singing.

Aria warms up the atmosphere with Shuli Rand's songs, then Amit opens his throat - and his fingers connect to the strings.

Suddenly a colleague, "The Lame," turns out to be a wild and conquering rock star.

We all sing like that, until the wee hours of the night.

Aria wants to say a few words.

"Until I was injured, four years ago, I lived in a world where I could do whatever I wanted, with no limit. But in one moment life changes for you, and you come to terms with the fact that there are things you can not do, because not everything is accessible to the disabled.

"I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would participate in this journey, easy and material in a wheelchair. I wanted to say thank you to all of you for investing money and time so that people like me can get here. And especially thanks to Shimon, who dreams far and makes things impossible come true."

All participants in the trip - the disabled, escorts and volunteers (including Ariel, personally) - funded the trip out of their own pocket ($ 2,000).

The only external donor was the Passport Card travel insurance company, which provided medical insurance to all members of the delegation.

For me, the journalist, Erez financed the cost of the trip.

Tuesday, October 5th.

Ariel and I are attached to Erez Stein's team, after it became clear that more carrying hands are needed there.

Behind Erez, a colonel in the reserve, married and a father of three from Beit Hashita, has an impressive military and civilian career. Among other things, he worked in the development of community extensions in the Gilboa Regional Council and held a senior position in the JNF.

Two years ago, due to a heart problem, he was referred for a catheterization, and from there for bypass surgery.

During the operation a blood clot reached his brain, and since then he has been paralyzed on all his left side.

"I went in for surgery on foot and got out of it in a wheelchair," he recalls.

The condition became complicated when a severe infection developed in his head, which required temporary removal of part of the skull.

From an active and leading man, a lover of the country and a lover of jeep tours, Erez was forced to learn to walk and rebuild his life from scratch.

Adjacent to him is Ella, who helps him with dedication in the country, and here too, in Nepal.

One night Erez fell when he got up to go to the bathroom, and Ella came to his aid.

The next night, as she hurried to make his room for him, she fell herself and was wounded in the face.

With a decoration on her chin continued, smiling, marching.

Erez suffers from a cold due to slow blood flow in his body, so he digs in a journey inside coats and sleeping bags inside which are heating bags.

And there is another item that warms him along the way: the Israeli flag which is a theme close to his heart.

Whenever the people around him admire the powerful landscapes, Erez takes care to remark: "The landscapes here are beautiful - almost like in Israel."

Oved Rahum (54), a veteran of the association, married and a father of four from Yokneam, is the leading sufferer in the team that carries Erez.

He is a huge man, and when he walks at the top of the column - the others seem to him as dwarfs.

Rotem works himself to the front of Erez's incarnation and pulls hard forward, with Lauren, Yuval and Ariel assisting on the sides.

At home, his eldest son, 17-year-old Jonathan, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is waiting for an employee.

The son did not join the journey because "he does not speak and it is not clear if he understands what is happening around him".

Admiringly, Oved talks about his wife who cares for Jonathan with dedication.

Then, as he gently hugs Boaz, it is apparent for a moment that his huge heart is broken.

• • •

The ascent is difficult, the air thin.

20 steps of walking, two minutes rest.

As Avital Hammer's incarnation approaches the upper camp - the High Camp - Avital asks to stop and gets off.

With the support of his crew, and with great effort, he grinds on his feet the steep end of the ladder.

Avital, married and a father of three from Kibbutz Kfar Menachem, underwent complicated gastric surgery six years ago.

62 days butterfly between life and death.

Doctors already thought he would not live.

After recovering, he was warned not to go, but after a long and tedious rehabilitation he is now walking slowly and a little, with the help of a stick.

He even returned to work as a project manager at the Yoav Regional Council.

It is not easy for Avital to sit on a roll and let others carry him, and whenever possible, he chooses to step on his feet.

During one of the breaks, he was left to sit in a roll, which was moved to a parking position, and when he reached back to open a bag, he lost his balance and fell.

Luckily, the injury to his face was only minor.

A frozen evening in the upper parking lot, 4,900 feet above sea level.

Zavik delivers a fascinating lecture on the snow disaster of Annapurna in 2014, and the severe earthquake that struck Nepal a year later.

He himself then served as a military attaché in India and Nepal, and was a partner in leading the rescue and relief missions.

At the request of the group, Amit Levkov, married and a father of three from Gedera, also gives a short spontaneous lecture.

"A lecture on one leg," he calls it, and a number born with the right leg "significantly shorter," so that the foot grows just below the knee.

By the age of 7 he underwent numerous surgeries in artificial attempts to lengthen the leg.

"Then I informed my parents that I was no longer willing to endure the excruciating pain of the extension treatments. The doctor claimed I would never be able to walk, but luckily they did not listen to him."

After a prosthesis was installed, he began to walk limping.

His parents went on trips with him, demanding that he deal with his fear of heights, and pushed him to play basketball even when there were children who refused to play with him.

"You can do anything, and all the difference between you and other children will be that they will finish the journey one hour before you," his mother once told him.

With the same spirit of determination Amit did not give up military service, even though he was given a profile 21. The volunteer track began with a field security course, which he completed with honors, and then was assigned to Magellan.

"I was poisoned. I joined every jump in jeeps or helicopters as well," he shines.

One day he went to "close an account" smiling with the doctor who claimed there was no chance he would go, and walked in front of him upright in IDF uniform. And works as the director of the sales department at the Nature and Parks Authority. After thanking everyone, he adds a little tip: "Do not be disabled if you do not have crazy black humor."

• • •

Tomorrow is expected for all of us the longest and most difficult day of the journey.

Just before bed, and to everyone's delight, Lauren Ben Said manages to find a momentary reception on the satellite phone that accompanies us.

Lauren, a veteran of the association, is the man who imported the Gilgolons from France, and he is also responsible for skiing at the association.

For three days now we have been without cellular reception, cut off from the world, and now there is finally a connection with civilization.

Shimon demands that the quota of minutes for emergencies be left for an emergency, but those who especially miss stand in line and receive a minute to talk to the house - which only increases the longing.

At night it is difficult to fall asleep.

The tiny stone rooms have no electricity and no heating.

The temperature inside is the same as outside.

This time of year it can drop to minus 12 degrees.

Luckily for us, this time it is only minus 2. The Nepali darkness, on the way to the bathroom outside, is accompanied by a light dance of snowflakes.

Wednesday, October 6th.

5 in the morning, and before us one last and particularly challenging climb.

Everyone is already packed and ready, armed with flashlights.

It's still dark outside.

A canopy of stars above us, and the mountains gleaming white through the darkness.

At every moment the landscape is painted in a different insane hue.

After a five-hour climb and an extra 600 meters, we approach a climax: the Torhong La Pass, a 5,416-meter saddle that connects the towering mountains to a height of more than seven kilometers. The first to reach the small wooden sign, surrounded by colorful flags, is Amit "Your mother was wrong," I immediately inform him, "even one hour is not between you and the others."

The last meters of passage (called "stripe" here), are done by all the rollers in a transverse row, ending with the attendants running as one stick, in tears and hugs.

Even the porters, who have seen delegations from all over the globe in their lives, are swept away by the excitement.

At such a height, in such thin air, all the partitions between the disabled and the walking, between religious and secular, between women and men, finally melt.

ותיקי גולני מצרפים את כולם לשירת "גולני שלי" ופורשים את דגל הסיירת עם הנמר המעופף. ארז שולף, מצידו, את דגל ישראל שנשא עימו כל הדרך, והמשלחת מונצחת בתמונות בהרכב מלא. אודי המלווה מברך "שהחיינו", ונחנק בדמעות.

גיל אלון, מושבניק מכפר יהושע ומוותיקי הסיירת והעמותה, מצטרף לדתיים ומבקש להניח תפילין. זאת הפעם השלישית בחייו שהוא מניח, השתיים הקודמות נרשמו בשני המסעות הקודמים, בדיוק באותו מקום. הדס, בתו, מתעדת בנייד את האירוע החריג.

• • •

גם אליה, רעייתו של איציק, מפתיעה ומצטרפת להנחת התפילין. איציק, עורך דין, נפצע בגיל 17 בתאונה מצערת: הוא עבר ניתוח פשוט בהרדמה מקומית, ובטרם התפוגגה ההרדמה ניסה לרדת במדרגות. התוצאה הכואבת: הוא צנח שלוש קומות והפך למשותק.

אליה, רודפת הרפתקאות מושבעת, עלתה לישראל מברזיל. היא חולה בעצמה בטרשת נפוצה, ולפני 15 שנה הכירה את איציק באתר היכרויות שמיועד לאנשים שמתמודדים עם מחלות ומוגבלויות. כיום הם גרים במזכרת בתיה ומגדלים שלוש בנות. אליה פעילה בקהילה הקונסרבטיבית שהקימה במקום.

"כשהצעתי לאיציק לצאת למסע, הייתי בטוחה שהוא יסרב. איציק מאוד זקוק לסדר של הבית, לשגרה. היינו כמה פעמים בחו"ל, אבל מסע מדהים כזה בחיים לא היינו מסוגלים לעשות לבד. קיבלנו פה מתנה אדירה". אליה מתרפקת על איציק בחיבוק רומנטי, ולרגע נדמה שרק שניהם כאן, בגובה חמישה קילומטרים וחצי.

אחרי ההיי ב"פס", אתגר קשה לפנינו: הירידה למטה, שתסגור הפרש של 1,700 מטרים לעומת מיקומנו כעת. בסיכום היום כולו נגמא 25 ק"מ - בהליכה של 14 שעות ברצף.

אם בעלייה הכל תלוי ברצון, בירידה זה כבר סיפור של הגוף. השרירים מתכווצים במאמץ אדיר. צעד אחרי צעד אני יורדת, משתרכת מאחור. הגילגולונים מקפצים על מדרגות הסלע, בעוד שריריהם של המלווים נמתחים עד הקצה - בניסיון לבלום אותם.

באמצע הירידה אנחנו עוצרים במקום שבו אירע לפני שבע שנים אסון סופת השלגים הקטלני. ארבעה ישראלים נהרגו אז: נדב שהם, אגם לוריא, מיכל צ'רקסקי ותמר אריאל, זכרם לברכה. המשלחת עורכת להם אזכרה קצרה אך מרגשת.

ממשיכים לרדת. דידי סגל (70) ממושב היוגב שבעמק יזרעאל, זקן השבט במשלחת, צועד בסמוך אלי. זהו מסעו השלישי לאנאפורנה, כאיש הטכני שאחראי לתחזוקת הגילגולונים. הוא חבר קרוב של משפחתו של ארז גרשטיין, וכך התחבר לפריינטה. למרות גילו, דידי מצוי בכושר פראי. אצלי, לעומתו, השרירים כבר התאבנו.

אליה ודביר הולכים ורוכבים לסירוגין על סוסים נמוכים שנשכרו במיוחד כדי לסייע למתקשים בשלבי הסיום. עמית מתעקש להמשיך בכוחות עצמו. כשהוא מגיע בתום הירידה התלולה והאינסופית כשעה אחרי כולם - הוא זוכה למחיאות כפיים נלהבות. מתברר שאחרי הכל אמו צדקה בנבואתה.

כמעט סיימנו. עוברים דרך מקדש בודהיסטי בעיירה מוקטינת. נשים בלבוש מסורתי צבעוני ועם נקודה אדומה במצח, ריח נרות וקטורת, צלילי פעמונים, נזירים שדופי גוף ועזי מבט, דוכני מזכרות עמוסים ואופנועים שנוסעים בדרך הבוצית. שלווה ורוחניות מתערבלים בכאוס ובלכלוך בכל מקום.

עולים לאוטובוס שמקרטע בדרך איומה. הגוף רועד שוב בטלטולי הדרך, אבל גם את התענוג הזה צולחים הנכים בגבורה. את הלילה מעבירים באכסניה בכפר ג'ומסום. שם יש כבר קליטה ויש גם מקלחת חמה. מה צריך בחיים יותר מזה.

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יום חמישי, 7 באוקטובר. משכימים קום לקראת הטיסות הפנימיות בחזרה לפוקרה, במטוסים קטנים שאורגנו למשלחת. אחרי המתנה של שעות מתבשרים שמזג האוויר הערפילי בפוקרה לא מאפשר המראת מטוסים לכיווננו. באין ברירה, מתארגנים לנסיעה של 12 שעות בג'יפים ובאוטובוס.

רק הבוקר הצהיר שמעון שמדובר ב"דרך שנכים בשום אופן לא יכולים לנסוע בה", אבל בהיעדר טיסות, הגיבורים מוכיחים שוב שאין קושי שלא יצלחו. הדרך הלא סלולה מתפתלת שוב על שפת תהום, עוברת על גשרים רועדים, עוקפת בולדרים שקרסו עליה במונסון האחרון וצולחת שלוליות בוץ טובעני. טוב שעובד יודע לשלוף ג'יפ שהתחפר. בדרך עוצרים לחלץ עצמות במפל אדיר ובבריכות מים חמים. למלון בפוקרה מגיעים לקראת חצות.

The Shabbat is celebrated at the Chabad House in Kathmandu, which was closed for a year and a half due to the corona. It was opened in our honor, and also ahead of the return of Israeli backpackers to Nepal. Flowing and trying to describe the intensity of the experience: they come from the heart, and with them the tears, and in fact, sometimes just tears.

One of the only ones who says nothing is Noam.

He chooses to write his words the next day in a Facebook post, which opens with lyrics by Gali Atari about the wonder bird in stone sculpted in faraway Nepal.

And he adds his own words: "And numbers, that in the last two weeks a wonderful expedition has left the country for Nepal. Among its members are nine heroes with the soul of a bird, but some of their limbs are fossilized like the stone bird.

"It was a heavenly journey where we climbed to the roof of the world, touched the sky and raised them a little higher. A journey where the stone bird flew so high."

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