Solar Eclipse!

July 22, 2009 | Category: Arunachal Pradesh, Wow! | by: Spencer

Spence: Today I had the chance to go to villages with Lobsang. We had to hike a long way, so we left early (4am) to try and beat the heat…the sun can be intense here. It was already light when we started hiking, but as we were hiking along it started to get dark. At first we thought it was just dark clouds rolling in for another monsoon rain storm, but then it started to get really dark, and we remembered that a solar eclipse was predicted for today! It became dark enough it was like night. Then all of the sudden, the clouds parted right around the most amazing sight. The dark moon emerged with the bright glow of sun rays around the edges. Wow! I was going on about how amazing it was, and how beautiful it was, and how lucky we were to be there to see it. But, one of the house mothers who was with us was pretty scared. Growing up in this area there are alot of myths about eclipses.  It was a good omen, in my mind, for the start of a great day.

Heather: I was expecting the eclipse, and excited to see my first one.  I had agreed to help in the kitchen all day, and had already been working for an hour when someone said to check out the sun around 6:30.  It was pretty cloudy, but they were thin around the sun, and we could see a glowing crescent through the clouds that was getting thinner.  Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in nice and thick at just the wrong moment, and we weren’t able to see anything but one lone star when the sky got dark.  And it was really dark, which was crazy, since it had already been light since 4am.  From the outdoor part of the kitchen, we could hear people from lots of villages below us kickin’ up quite a ruckus.  Ngawang told us that they believe that a dragon is eating the sun, and they are scaring off all the accompanying demons until it is born again.  Pretty cool….  9 photos.

One Comments

  1. darcia
    on September 1st, 2009
    1

    At least you both saw it, and were able to take photos. I haven’t seen an eclipse in years. Awesome.

  2. Tami
    on September 21st, 2009
    2

    Spence and Heather, I am so happy for you both to share in these awesome experiences. What an amazing journey. I would love to come and visit and be in your shoes for a couple months. Thanks for sharing your passion for adventure, people and places with all: it’s truly inspiring!

Leave a Reply