Three weeks in Nepal & the Dhaulagiri circuit trek - daily trip journal entries & links to all the pics

Links to all our journal entries from the trip...three weeks in Nepal including two weeks trekking the Dhaulagiri circuit.

link to all the photos

Nepal 2012 - pre-trip planning and logistics
October 8th, Our first day in Kathmandu
October 9th, A tourist day in Kathmandu
October 10th, Driving to Beni and the start of our trek
October 11th, The trek begins! Babichaur to Phedi
October 12th, Phedi to Sibang
October 13th, Sibang to Naura
October 14th, Naura to Boghara
October 15th, Boghara to Dobang (8000ft)
October 16th, Dobang to Salagiri
October 17th, Salagiri to Italian Basecamp (11,500ft)
October 18th, Italian Basecamp to Japanese Basecamp (13,500ft) Finally in the alpine!
October 19th, Japanese Basecamp to Dhaulagiri Basecamp (15,200ft)
October 20th, Dhaulagiri Basecamp to Hidden Valley (16,000ft)
October 21st, Hidden Valley to Alubari (12,500ft)
October 22nd, Alubari to Jomsom (9000ft)
October 23rd, Pokhara or bust....
October 24th, unwinding in Pokhara
October 25th, leaving Pokhara, returning to Kathmandu
October 26th, Sightseeing in Kathmandu
October 27th, Mt.Everest and Boudhanath Temple
October 28th, Incheon, South Korea.

Sun, Oct 28th headin' home!

We were back to the airport at 11:30am to begin the marathon journey home.

The first three hours got us to Bangkok where we had a surprisingly good Thai dinner at the airport. I had joked that the Dairy Queen we saw in the airport probably had some interesting flavors, like a green tea blizzard and sure enough, they did have a green tea blizzard of which Becky happily partook.

A midnight departure from Bangkok got us to Korea early the next morning. There were no flights to Seattle that day, so we had planned on doing a couple bus tours of Seoul and staying at a hotel for our 35 hour layover, but we checked at the ticketing counter after landing and they got us onto an afternoon departure for Vancouver, BC. We did a short two hour bus tour out to a nearby Buddhist Temple in the city of Incheon. Despite the sleep deprivation, it was pretty cool to see the difference between a Nepali Buddhist temple and a Korean Buddhist temple. Had we actually stuck with the 35 hour layover, I'm not sure how we would've been able to rally for a full day bus tour of Seoul....maybe next time!

Around 6:30pm we took off for Vancouver, and got to watch the sun rise for the second time on Monday as we landed the next day (that same day?) in BC. A short layover, and a puddle-jumper to SeaTac and we were finally home!

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The Buddhist Temple we visited on our brief stop in Incheon...Grand Bridge in the background

Sat, Oct 27th, Mt.Everest & Boudhanath temple

Up at 5 and off to the airport soon after. There were lots of people lined up for flight-seeing trips! It seemed like every puddle jumper plane in Kathmandu was loaded with tourists, heading out for a mountain flight.  Over the course of the hour-long flight we saw so much amazing terrain; Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Lohtse, and Everest. They even opened up the cockpit door mid-flight and let the tourists go up one by one to peep out the front windows.

Back in Kathmandu, we caught a cab ride out to Boudhanath temple. There was more gawking at amazing old architecture and a lazy brunch. We then ventured back into the zoo of Thamel that afternoon to buy gifts for family and eat our last dinner in town.

...the next day

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Mt.Everest!

and Cho Oyu too!

Fri, Oct 26th. Sightseeing in Kathmandu

We were out the door by 7:30, had breakfast at the Weisen Bakery, then took a cab ride out to Patan to see the ancient city out there. Very cool architecture, lovely gardens, and we had a leisurely cup of coffee at one of the museums. We also visited the Garden of Dreams, a beautiful collection of turn of the century western architecture and formal European style gardens. Then back in to Thamel for another dal bhat lunch and then a lazy afternoon at the hotel. After cocktails and cards in the hotel lounge, we hit a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner and on our way back to the hotel picked up canned coffee and pastries for our early morning Everest flight the next day.

...the next day

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Thurs, Oct 25th, back to Kathmandu

Ongchhu left the hotel early. He was on the morning bus to Kathmandu and we were flying out later. We toodled around town that morning, found a good cup of coffee and some pastries, and walked out to a big park to take in the view of Fishtail Peak and Annapurna in the distance.

We also got our lodging sorted out for our return to Kathmandu. Since we didn’t know when exactly we’d be returning, we didn’t have reservations, and an email from the Hotel Nepalaya made it sound like they didn’t have room for us the day we’d get back so it was on to Expedia to see what we could find. I was pretty set on the Hyatt after seeing it on the map the day we arrived at the start of our trip, but Becky had a good point that it wasn’t particularly close to downtown, so we compromised and opted for the Yak & Yeti, which was still walking distance to the Thamel district, but it was supposedly Kathmandu’s oldest five-star hotel and should certainly be much cushier than the Nepalaya.

The flight to Kathmandu was ridiculously fast compared to the seven hour rollercoaster we would’ve otherwise endured to get back via the roads. While at the domestic airport in Kathmandu, Becky got us two seats on the Everest flight-seeing trip on Saturday. The afternoon rapidly burned away with a trip to the Nepalaya to retrieve our duffle of clean clothes we’d left behind, getting lunch, and vegetating in front of the tv in our posh digs at the Yak & Yeti.

That night Ongchhu met us as the hotel and we all walked over to Thamel to have a “farewell” dinner with Furwa. We found out along the way that we’d be joined by four other trekkers who were embarking on a Kanchenjunga trek the next morning with Furwa and Ongchhu. We all met at a very nice Thai restaurant and had a really fun evening getting to know the two French, one German and one Ecuadorian trekker. One of the French guys had been trekking in Nepal NINE times! We took great delight in the fact that despite being at a Thai restaurant the French guy ordered chicken Cordon Bleu and the two Nepalis ordered dal bhat.

...the next day

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Wed. Oct 24th. unwinding in Pokhara

After a long night of sleep and a late breakfast, we tried to put that epic drive behind us and we spent the day touring the sights of Pokhara. We visited a Hindu temple that was in a massive natural cave that had a river running through it, we took a boat ride out to a nearby lake, went to the national mountaineering museum, and had some of the best dal bhat of the trip at a place our cab driver recommended.

That afternoon Ongchhu surprised us with the news that we’d be flying from Pokhara to Kathmandu. The itinerary stated we were supposed to drive, but I think since Furwa knew we had paid for an itinerary with a flight that we didn’t get, providing us with a forty minute flight to Kathmandu instead of a seven hour bus ride would make us happy. And it did.

...the next day

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Tues, Oct 23rd. Pokhara or bust....

This trip seemed to alternate between really good days and somewhat tough days….this was a tough day.  Since we had no plane tickets to get from Jomson to our next stop in Pokhara, and Furwa hadn’t arranged a backup plan to have a private jeep take us down the road to Beni and on to Pokhara, we were put on the ‘local bus’. The first few hours were rather comical. Becky and I both wore dust masks as the road dust and diesel exhaust was pretty bad, but the scenery was a great distraction from the pot-holed single-lane road, and some thoroughly entertaining Indian tourists on the bus danced in the aisle to the blaring music. After a couple bus transfers and break for snack, we arrived mid-afternoon in Beni, covered in dust, with our guts thoroughly scrambled from the rough roads and Becky’s nerves frayed from peering out the bus window down into the abyss of the gorge that dropped away from the roads edge.

We took a break, had a late lunch of dal bhat and were very happy to hear that we’d be getting a taxi for the final 2-3 hour drive into Pokhara, but as we left the restaurant the cabbies saw they’d negotiated a rate with Ongchhu for ‘locals’ and refused to drive us for that price once they saw we were tourists. So, the taxi ride disappeared and was replaced with our final leg on another local bus. This was no longer a small 20 person bus, but one of those huge, brightly painted school buses packed to the gills with locals. I wasn’t a particularly good sport,  having a woman’s purse smacking me in the face with every pothole and a gentleman next to me resting his posterior on my shoulder as if I were a barstool burned away any humor I had left for the day.

About an hour out of Beni, the bus came to a halt and we could see traffic had stopped. There’d been an accident - a motorcyclist crashed into a jeep and died. For the next five hours we sat on the side of the road, the police came and went, the sun set, and Ongchhu kindly delivered us a large Tuborg beer to us to help take the edge off. Ongchhu explained to us that in Nepal, no one has insurance so when there’s an accident, the police facilitate the financial negotiations right there on the spot. The motorcyclist’s brother arrived and there was a heated debate/argument/something in the distance as they attempted resolution.

Well after dark we saw a bright flash of flame in the distance. Ongchhu explained that when the police get cold, they usual light tires on fire. We weren’t sure if they were the tires of the crashed vehicles or what, but sure enough in the distance they were burning some old tires.

Finally at 10pm, five hours after we’d stopped, traffic began rolling again. Two more hours of bumpy roads and we finally pulled into Pokhara at 12:30am, 18 hours after we’d left Jomsom.  We got to the hotel, tried to clean the days dirt from our flesh and hair and promptly went to sleep on a bed that felt like it was a block of wood covered in a thin sheet of foam. The next day we’d notice that the place was called the Hotel Bedrock….coincidence?

...the next day

link to all the photos

 


















  it was dusty...really dusty.



the cops are cold.... time to burn some tires!

Mon, Oct 22nd Alubari to Jomsom (9000 ft)

Amazing what sixteen hours of sleep at a lower altitude does for one’s energy level. I felt much better this morning and we packed up for our last day of hiking. The descent into Marhpa passed through some very diverse foliage; scrubby juniper bushes up high, then big gnarled old pine trees, and finally the valley bottom with its vineyards and fruit tree orchards.

We visited a Buddhist monastery in Marpha. Ongchhu was a great tour guide! He showed us around the place and pointed out the closed off buildings high above where some monks live in solitude for years at a time.  We also got to sample yak butter tea…it tasted pretty good…more like a milky, salty soup than tea, but my stomach was still a mess, so I only had half a cup…Becky had her cup, my other half, and then had one more cup!

By early afternoon we’d hiked into Jomsom, a small town at the tail end of the Annapurna circuit thus it had lots of westerners, hotels, and the only airport within a day’s drive. Because Jomsom is in such a deep gorge and the afternoon winds are so strong, there are only a few flights in/out each morning, and given that it was trekking season, it wasn’t looking very likely we’d be getting that plane flight out that was on our itinerary. Tickets hadn’t been bought in advance since we didn’t know exactly which day we’d finish so we were probably going to be bouncing home on the jeep trail back to Beni.

Nima’s final night as our cook brought a dinner of fried chicken and a cake for dessert. Our whole gang sat in the hotel dining hall eating cake and we did our best to kill a bottle of local apple brandy. We gave out our envelopes containing the tips to all our staff and then it was off to bed to get a good night’s sleep before the rough ride out tomorrow.

...the next day

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Sun, Oct 21st Hidden Valley to Alubari (12,500 ft)

Rough, rough night. The altitude headache came on hard while trying to sleep and despite taking Diamox, I only got about three fifteen-minute naps the whole night. Becky slept much better though and was doing great in the morning. I also came down with a stomach bug and my appetite was shot. I only managed to eat one piece of toast and some coffee for breakfast. Fortunately I didn’t have to return a full plate of food to Nima because Becky’s appetite is making up for lost time and she ate nearly all of my breakfast in addition to her own.

Had to swallow my pride on the last bit of elevation gain up to our next high point, Dhampus Pass, and hand off my pack to Ongchhu and my camera to Becky till we reached the pass and the climbing was done. The view from the pass was amazing though - made up for the fact that I felt like garbage. We could finally see across to the next massif which contained Annapurna. We could even see Manaslu way off in the distance, and supposedly the barren land we could see far to the north was actually Tibet. Pretty incredible view.

The rest of the day was spent on a three hour snowy traverse following a ridgeline towards the end of our trek. Best skiable slopes we’ve seen all trip. It was kind of painful to be walking by them with no skis around. As we neared the end of the ridge the wind in the Kali Gandaki valley really picked up. Supposedly it’s the deepest gorge in the world and when a valley is hemmed in by two 8,000m peaks it’s easy to see why that claim may be true.

We dropped nearly 4,000ft straight down towards the Yak grazing terrain of Yak Karkha and then on to Alubari for our final tent camp. I was glad to be at a lower altitude, but my stomach bug had sapped my energy. All I’d eaten that day was a piece of toast, a Kit-Kat, and three energy gels. I finally started a round of Zythromax and went to bed for the night before dinner was served.

...the next day

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Sat, Oct 20th Dhaulagiri Basecamp to Hidden Valley (16,000 ft)

Out of camp at 7:30 - cold and clear as usual. A large Spanish group and the small independent groups were also moving this day. We went up and across the Chhonbarden glacier and along the moraine towards French Col at 17,173 ft.  We started off with all our clothes on as the temp was around 20F, but once the sun came out we ditched the down jackets only to put them back on as we neared the very windy French Col. By the time we hit the pass, I was starting to feel some mountain sickness. I finally went on the Diamox and it seemed to help.

The view from French Col made the trip for me. So many huge mountains, icefalls, and the barren swath of land across Hidden Valley that we imagined what most of the Tibetan alpine must look like.  About an hour after we descended from French Col, the clouds started rolling over the top obscuring the views. It would've been a real bummer to get there and not have been able to see the view.  After many stops for photos, we finally rolled into camp at 2pm.  All the porters had beat us to camp - now that their loads were getting relatively light they had definitely picked up the pace.

We passed by where the large groups were camped and traveled a bit further to have some privacy. After several days of being in a pack of a hundred or so hikers and porters, it was nice to get back to just our little group. Nima found a small trickle of water running below some ice, so the fuel should stretch a bit longer since we don’t need to melt snow for drinking water.

...the next day

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Fri, Oct 19th Japanese basecamp to Dhaulagiri basecamp (15,200 ft)

Very easy day today. Just a three hour hike up the rubble-strewn lower glacier following an obvious path up to the next expedition basecamp that’s used by most climbing parties on the standard summit climbing route. The terrain was ridiculously scenic as we climbed the glacier, wrapping around Dhaulagiri, but we were a little dismayed by the amount of trash littering the basecamp. Seriously…what the hell is a car tire doing lying on a glacier at 15,000ft?

Ongchhu mentioned today that we could skip the acclimatization day and continue over French Col tomorrow if we were feeling good. I had been looking forward to spending a rest day here to take in the scenery and make sure AMS wasn’t a problem, but it sounded like we were also running low on fuel so we should probably keep moving if folks are able.  We were told not to worry about the fuel - that we could switch to a wood fire for cooking once below treeline on the other side, but we still mentioned that we could switch to purifying our drinking water with iodine instead of having it boiled and we certainly didn’t need luxuries like warmed washing water in the morning if fuel was low. Becky and I felt fine, so at dinnertime we all decide to skip our rest day and push on over French Col and into Hidden Valley.

...the next day

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Thurs, Oct 18th. Italian basecamp to Japanese basecamp (13,500) Finally in the alpine!

Up at 6, all the camps were on the move this day. Ongchhu said the tough section of trail has improved since he was last here in 2005, but it’s still a rather interesting bit of 2nd class terrain with a bad run out.  No problem for those with moderate loads and decent boots, but Ongchhu lent a hand to a particularly sketched out porter from another group whose shoes had no traction and were sliding around on the icy trail. We later saw the porter giving Ongchhu a blessing for his assistance.

We got out in front of the other groups, so we were down onto the glacier and heading up the valley as the rest of the groups bottlenecked behind us. I didn’t sleep well last night and had a headache all day. I tried to stay hydrated, had some caffeinated Gu, and started wondering if I’m not breathing deeply enough while sleeping and that is making for the headachy, rough mornings.

The trail wound its way up an incredible, steep walled gorge and with the rocky trail covered in about 6” of snow it made for slow, slippery progress.  We rolled into our next camp around 1pm. It was nice to get there while it was still sunny.  Chheten had some AMS symptoms and went on Diamox. I casually asked Ongchhu if we really have a Gamow bag, which is basically a pressurized body bag someone with severe altitude sickness can be placed in to reduce symptoms, since Furwa said we’d be carrying one. He said we didn’t – that Furwa decided it was too heavy and it never left Kathmandu. This was one of a few cases where we certainly couldn’t fault the fellows we were traveling with, but we didn’t exactly appreciate that decisions/changes were made about our trip without our input.

...the next day

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Wed, Oct 17th. Salagiri to Italian Basecamp (11,500ft)

The tent was soaked, but most of our gear stayed dry. Fortunately today would be a fairly short day, so with any luck we’d get to camp and be able to dry things out again before the afternoon rain returned. We were a little worried about one of our porters, Dawa. It seemed like everyone else had pulled out warmer gear - down jackets and synthetic pants - but he was still in jeans and the same thin jacket he’d had from the start. Luckily Ongchhu had some spare long underwear to loan him.

Finally up past the subalpine foliage today and out into the open - we reached treeline!  Not much for views as the clouds arrived as we cleared the forest. Becky ate her entire lunch today, so I think she was fully recovered. One of the locals who lives at the basecamp cabin during trekking season has an adorable dog that’s quite the beggar. As we sat in our tent eating lunch, he laid down right at our front door and stared at our plates. He reminded us of the little kid in Sibang asking for biscuits so we named the dog Bizgood.

We went for a short hike past camp in the afternoon up to the moraine to look at the glacier and the route beyond. Supposedly there’s a steep section down onto the glacier that is the worst bit of trail we’d see on the circuit.  With there being several large groups, two unsupported teams, and us all leaving for the next camp tomorrow, getting through the crux bit of trail might be a bit of a bottleneck.

Dinner as usual was fantastic; chow mein, mashed potatoes, garbanzo beans, and pineapple for dessert.

...the next day

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Tues, Oct 16th Dobang to Salagiri (10,000 ft)

The plan for the day was either Italian basecamp or Salagiri, which was a couple hours closer.  As we hiked up we ran into a few porters heading home who said Italian basecamp was rather crowded with a few large guided groups, so rather than be squeezed for space, we stopped early.

We passed through pine, bamboo, and rhododendron forest with ground cover primarily of ferns and lots of moss on everything. It actually reminded us a lot of home! Just as we got to camp the clouds started spitting and by dinnertime it was pouring rain. The rain was worse than it had ever been. The floor of the tent was getting a bit wet in the corners and we were happy that the porters were staying in the nearby shelter with a fire instead of the thin, floorless, cook tent. We finally got to sleep around 9:30 as the hail, thunder, and lightning finally let up.

...the next day

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Mon, Oct 15th Boghara to Dobang (8000 ft)

Becky woke up with another fever, upset stomach and absolutely no appetite so I finally convinced her to start taking her Zythromax. There was no more slack in the schedule after our half-day yesterday so we needed to get her feeling better fast so we could start hitting the stops on the itinerary to have enough time for our acclimatization days higher up. Our temporary porter had hung with us till Boghara, but finally headed home. This made everyone’s loads pretty bad. Fortunately Ongchhu and Nima were both willing to carry more than most guides and cooks are willing to carry. Becky was too weak to take any weight, but I wanted to help with the load so I took the tent. That 14lb pig of a tent didn’t exactly make my frameless Go-Lite pack carry all that well, but it was only for a day. Nima hefted my pack at lunch and said ‘good carry’…maybe that meant I was doing an okay job.

Amazingly, we made it to Dobang. High fives all around for humping the heavy loads and Becky was a real trooper for keeping a solid pace despite her bug. There were a few large buildings in Dobang that all the porters were staying in while the clients tented it. Rain again in the late afternoon, fortunately all our gear was in the tent before the sky really opened up.

When we arrived, some locals were butchering a goat. Nima asked if we wanted any with dinner, but given Becky’s currently fragile stomach, we stuck with the usual fare, but all the porters took advantage of the extra protein!  Becky’s appetite had returned though and she put in a special request for Nima’s chicken soup and dal bhat. Nima really outdid himself this night. After telling us earlier in the day that bananas might help Becky’s stomach feel better, he showed up at our tent that night after dinner with a freshly made banana pie.   Becky couldn’t eat much of it that night, but we saved some for breakfast the next morning.

...the next day

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Banana pie for dessert!

Sun, Oct 14th, Naura to Boghara

The plan was just for a half-day this day. From here on out there really aren’t decent campsites between those on the itinerary, so as we started the trip a half day ahead of schedule, we kind of needed to get back on track so we could camp at the remaining towns and glacier camps up high. Becky was still feeling a little off but better than yesterday. We stopped and set up camp at lunchtime today. Everyone had a chance to do laundry and get cleaned up. The weather was changing even faster now that we were getting closer to the alpine. Within just a couple hours, the hot clear weather changed to clouds and rain.

After dinner the weather cleared back off again and we walked up to the nearby schoolhouse. A large guided Dutch group was camped there and as we found out, usually when a big guided group hits a small town, there’s usually some kind of traditional dance presentation (and a request to make a donation to the school/town).  The presentation and speeches in terribly broken English in the dimly lit schoolhouse were very endearing though, and it was a lot of fun

...the next day

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Dance party after the cultural program in Boghara's school

Sat Oct 13th , Sibang to Naura

We met the school director this morning. He came by to show us their computer lab - about ten PC’s, one with an internet connection using a satellite dish and photovoltaic solar panels set up on the roof for power. It was very cool to see a school so far out there with a computer lab.  We made a small donation.

Breakfast was cream of rice, pancakes, and eggs. We later found out that cream of rice would usually make an appearance at breakfast when Nima had made too much rice for the porters dal bhat the night before.
We heard from Ongchhu that our temporary porter wanted to quit three days earlier than planned.  Not sure how that all resolved itself, but after we started hiking for a while, we saw him, still carrying a load. Maybe he negotiated a few more rupees…who knows.

We were still a half day ahead of schedule due to being able to drive past Beni on the first day, but eventually we were going to have to start covering more distance….we tried not to worry too much about it, but it was a little strange being on a trip where so much of it was completely out of our control.

The weather was hot this morning and it was a sweaty climb up to Muri. Becky was dealing with a bit of a stomach bug and had a low fever.  At lunch today, the team got use of a house and Becky took some Aleve and some Nuun tablets in her water and took a nap inside. We’re both carrying Zythromax prescriptions, but were reluctant to start in with the heavy antibiotics at the first sign of some bug. Lunch today was surprisingly western, even for Nima’s usual standards of providing us with familiar food. We had hotdogs, cucumber salad, french fries, and a cheesy fried bread that Nima made from scratch.

As usual, by 1pm the clouds were building and the overcast weather was a welcome relief from the heat. Becky was feeling better after lunch and we put in a solid four hours of hiking that afternoon, which after our previous days of travelling in fits and starts, it was nice to feel like we covered some ground.
We met a couple guys from Annecy, France who were hiking the circuit unsupported. They had big packs and a grocery sack filled with ramen (what we assume was their limited resupply of food from the local markets along the way.)  it would’ve been interesting to try it unsupported, but I think the language barrier and resupply challenges would not have been that much fun. Plus having Ongchhu along was a huge part of making this trip so much fun! Having an interpreter and someone that can tell us about the villages and local wildlife & foliage made it a much more complete experience.

This night’s camp was a nice change of pace from the previous two nights that had kids around. We camped in the Chhonbarden Gorge just past Naura in the grassy yard of a house occupied by two old ladies. They were very friendly and let Becky take their picture. They laughed when Becky showed them the image on the screen. No dogs barking tonight or other village noise - just the roaring rapids nearby.   Tea time tonight brought a plate of Becky’s favorite cookies. After we’d had a couple, Becky walked the plate around to the team and they happily helped us polish them off. Ongchhu finally caved tonight to our incessant requests to help set up camp and he let us put our tent up. Maybe we’re finally wearing him down!

Dinner was fantastic - spaghetti with cheese and tomato sauce, mushroom pizza, okra, and pears for dessert.
Ongchhu mentioned to us that Sonam, one of the porters was getting a bit of a rash from his thighs rubbing together. I’d had a similar problem from long days & sweaty legs hiking the John Muir Trail, so I passed along my tube of antibiotic ointment and a fresh pair of boxer briefs. Poor Sonam looked a little embarrassed by it all, but the ointment and briefs did the trick!

...the next day

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Fri. Oct 12th, Phedi to Sibang

Our first full day without any jeep transportation! As would become the daily ritual, tea was brought to our tent at 6am along with a basin of hot water and towels to wash-up, then we headed over to the cook tent for corn flakes with banana (and hot milk! An interesting, and very tasty change-up to regular cold milk on ones cereal), then coffee, toast, and eggs with green onion.

Everyone seems to be moving well. The porters take frequent breaks, but Nima and his two cooking assistant porters scoot ahead of us just before lunch to set up the kitchen. Every day involves an hour or two break for a sit-down hot lunch.  One of the sillier highlights of the day was when a local man approached Ongchhu to ask him about the difference between Hollywood and Bollywood. Not sure why he needed to know just then, but Ongchhu was happy to explain.  Another gem was chatting with our team about who is married, has kids, etc, Chheten - one of our porters who only speaks limited English - piped up with ‘single life is golden life’. We all get a good laugh out of that.

No shade where we stopped for lunch today, so we used the umbrellas (as would become a regular occurrence) as sun shades.  Had our first encounter with large groups of school kids and as we’d heard usually happens, they immediately greeted us by saying ‘pen, pen, you give me pen?’ or ‘you give me sweet?’, or ‘give me doll?’  Ongchhu told us the best policy is not to give them anything. If you want to help them out, donate to the nearby school or a charity.  Eventually the kids lost interest in us and headed back to home or school.  Another funny incident this day was walking through the village of Dharapani and seeing what would be the first of many groves of marijuana plants just growing right along the side of the road. It appeared the biggest problem for the farmers was keeping the cows and goats from snacking on them.

The end of the day came a little earlier than we expected. The porters were getting pooped out from their ridiculously heavy loads and were lagging way behind.  We had hoped to get to the town of Muri, but that was still a half-day away. We pulled off the trail and set up camp at an elementary school play field in the village of Sibang. After our lunchtime encounter with all those kids, we weren’t quite sure what to expect pitching a couple tents in a field that had fifty or more children.  Fortunately the kids were wonderful. Few asked for any treats, and Becky entertained a lot of them with her pictures of home, the slinky and yo-yo, and as requested, she sung a few songs. The deal was that she’d sing a song, then they were supposed to sing one. I think it worked out closer to them demanding two or three songs from her for every one song that they would sing. There were a couple soccer games going on and  a few of the little kids that didn’t have a real soccer ball made do with plastic bags filled with grass.

As we sat in the cook tent having our afternoon tea, this adorable, chubby little boy walked by several times each time saying something that sounded like ‘bizgood?’ I finally realized he was asking for a ‘biscuit’ It broke our hearts to say ‘no’, but these kids were doing just fine. This area was thriving with farmland; rice, corn, beans, quinoa, potatoes.

This afternoon was our first afternoon rain. This was a bit of a surprise. We thought ‘after the monsoon’ meant that we’d have dry weather every day, but apparently the common weather pattern in this area is clear weather in the morning, then the heat of the day causes clouds to build, then by mid-afternoon there are some rather threatening clouds and a bit of rain, then during the night the clouds clear out.

..the next day

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The village of Dharapani

Schoolkids in Sibang