“Because you never know what will be the consequences of misfortune or you’ll never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.” Alan Watts
One of my favorite parables is called The Chinese Farmer. It’s the story of a farmer whose horse runs away. The villagers rush over, convinced it’s the worst thing that could have happened. “Oh, what terrible misfortune!”
The farmer simply replies, “Maybe.”
A few days later, his son finds the horse and returns bringing several wild horses with him. The villagers celebrate his good fortune – “Oh, what a blessing!”
“Maybe,” the farmer says again.
Then his son tries to tame one of the wild horses, falls, and breaks his leg. Once again, the villagers mourn the terrible news. “Oh no! This is the worst thing to happen!”
“Maybe.”
Soon after, the army comes through the village, drafting every able-bodied young man into war. Because of his broken leg, the farmer’s son is left behind.
The lesson is simple: we rarely know whether an event is truly good or bad until we see how it fits into the bigger picture.
Last night I woke up at 4 am vomiting – I’ll spare you the details – and have not felt well most of the day.
Not only was I annoyed that this is the first time that I’ve been sick while traveling since 2023 – getting sick in India feels almost like a rite of passage – but that also meant, no hiking for today.
No advancement on the map.
Massimo was great about the whole thing as were the owners, Virgil and Duena, of the guesthouse where we are staying.
He stayed by my side, helping however he could, getting me water, emptying the vomit back (gross), helping me to the bathroom, etc. When I was finally able to fall asleep for a while, he sat beside me reading a book so he’d be there if I needed anything when I woke up. It’s important to have a good travel companion in times like these. I don’t know what I would have done without him. Also, his Italian language has come in quite helpful to translate between everyone.
Duena, went to the pharmacy and got me medicine, made me tea and toast, cleaned everything, and took good care of me as well.
Everyone’s kindness has been appreciated. It’s never fun to be sick.
While I was resting this afternoon, my phone started blaring the warning alarm for bad weather. The message was in Romanian of course.
The section we were supposed to hike today was a 22 km (14-mile) climb over a steep mountain, with nowhere to take shelter if the weather turned.
I don’t enjoy being sick…
But maybe it kept us from getting caught high on the mountain in a dangerous storm.
Just maybe.
I’m still feeling pretty weak so we will see what tomorrow brings. Duena and Virgil have offered to drive us to the next starting point on the trail and skip the mountain all together. They said the trail in the mountain will be terribly muddy and a little dangerous with all this rain.
So we will see.
For now, I’ll rest and be thankful we are not stuck on the mountain in a rain storm.
I’m not sure what illness I have/had but fresh homemade cheese could be the culprit. This is a warning (that I did read in advance) in the guidebook.
As of this evening, Massimo and one of the other hikers from Romania are also starting to feel sick.
Massimo made the joke, “Oh good, we can all go to the hospital together.”
They both started taking medicine immediately, so send good thoughts that nobody else falls sick tonight.
There is only one bathroom for us to share. 😳
Much love & gratitude. Namaste 🙏
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Massimo took some photos of the BBQ they had for lunch so I would have some photos to show you from today since I only alternated between the bedroom and bathroom.
The man holding the fork is Virgil – he is a wild card and so funny.
