Chapter 20
From his high position at the top of a cliff, Hamal watched the scene that opened in front of him. In his native Afghanistan he had acquired a taste for mountainous landscapes crowned with eternally snow-capped peaks. A wide and magnificent valley spread out before him, and there, in the background, was a glimpse of a blue river that seemed to emerge from the mountain. From the height of the cliff, the trail descended about one thousand feet in altitude on a rather steep slope and approached the river. The Afghan looked at the caravan of llamas that despite their fatigue seemed to smell the nearby water source.