Standing on the hill in the pale dawn, we were diappointed by clouds. But in the distance, far to the North East the peak of Dhaulagiri shone clearly; the sun was rising. The rays extended skyward as gaps in the cloud cover, opened by nearby mountains, allowed a shimmering glimpse and shortly the landscape was visible. But the light was soft and indistinct, the light of an overcast day. By 5:30 the sun was up and the rays beamed earthward through the golden disc was reduced to a misty glow. In a short fifteen minutes the land began to dim; the moon had begun to block the sun. In 45 minutes it was again almost dark and at 6:42AM the sun was nearly gone, and through the now thinning cloud cover I could make out a sliver of sun, round and glowing, two unattached points straining to complete the ring from behind the dark moon. Within minutes the light once again emerged, slowly a large arc, then a half, then the full circle and daylight appeared again and with it blue skies. The eclipsed sun re-emerged. No cataclysm that I was witness to, just an extraordinary cosmic display.
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