paulkersey
Two Pair
Introducing the Black Yak Tea House and Card Room. The inspiration for this set came from a trek to Everest Base Camp in 2014.
On day 12 of the trek from Dingboche to Namche, our group faced several challenges: a collapsed bridge, a steep 600-meter descent, and ongoing worries about a missing team member that had traveled ahead. One team member fell extremely ill, slowing our group's progress. As dusk turned to darkness, thick fog rolled in. We all donned our headlamps for the first time of the trek.
Because our guide was assisting the sick team member at the back, I was the one out front leading the group. While carefully navigating the narrow path near Namche, we pass two stupas in the dark. We turn a corner in the thick fog, I glance up to check what’s ahead, and I’m startled by a black yak just standing there, quietly staring me down. Not more than 10 feet in front of me.
I stop to assess what to do, but our guide yells from behind for us to “keep moving!” – we pass him on the mountain side and continue on. But it was a shock because yaks are usually accompanied by sherpa, or have bells so you can hear them coming. We finally reached Namche, relieved and exhausted. But that image of the yak has been engrained in my memory ever since.
The colors chosen for the set are inspired by what I saw along the way; rhododendron forests, snow capped mountains, the khumbu ice fall (which stretches on for miles and sounds really cool as the ice flow cracks beneath your feet), and the colorful prayer flags of Nepal.
5,644m is the elevation of the highest part of our trek, the summit of Kala Patthar overlooking basecamp.
I wanted to include "tea house" because that's the general accommodation along the route, and "card room", because card games are the only form of entertainment at night. Fun fact, some of the higher elevation tea houses are heated by burning yak poo patties. Makes your eyes water...
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the look of this set. Thank you so much for reading. And big shout-out to @mattross1313 - thank you for all of your hard work in bringing this set to life.
If anyone is interested in a full sample set of 10 chips (43mm), I'll be ordering some extras in the next Justin group buy. I just ask that you cover the cost which works out to $20/set shipped. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.
Happy chipping!
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