After a long recuperation sleep in a below average guest house… Well, it was okay except for all the signs/rules for guests including “do not put packs on beds.” Which begs the question: If their beds can’t handle my pack, how are they going to handle me? It was in a nice spot over looking a big river valley and received some nice warm morning light. Hardly and other trekkers sans an Israeli couple. I asked for cornbread with my breakfast in the morning and received a huge fried pastry like a papadon made with corn and sprinkled with sugar, which was quite nice.
From about 2/3 up the side of a mountain, our trek led us straight down many switchbacks and stairs to a suspension bridge over a river and back up the other side. Eventually we reached a stretch that had been wiped out by a monsoon landslide four years ago and we had to take a huge detour way up to a higher altitude than we started.
Along the way there were terraced farming plots of wheat and other crops, including some marijuana. It was amazing to thing these people spent their days working their ways up and down these huge mountainsides. We occasionally came across couriers with massive packs of fragile cargo on their backs like eggs or bottles drinks which could not be trusted on a mule’s back.
There were a number of massive landslides around that claimed many lives. One in particular contained a huge rock that looked to be about the size of a ten story office building that lay about half way down the hill. There were many memorials next to the track for those villagers who died in the landslides.
We arrived at another wonderful guesthouse around noon with amazing views of snowy peaks and deep river valleys. Plus my room had an attached bathroom a big bed for me with private mountaintop views from my bed. Probably the nicest guesthouse yet. And it was just a 20 minute walk from some wonderful hot spring pools. It’s about 1800m above sea level.
My legs have become very stiff and sore and my feet have finally bubbled up a few blisters from all the steep stair climbing and descents, and the hot springs sounded like just the ticket to treatment. Unfortunately, they were straight down another long set of never ending stairs to river level. We paid a visit for about an hour of soaking and my legs felt much better in the end. The pools were man made along the side of a beautiful ice cold snowmelt river. during the summer monsoon season the baths get destroyed by the flooded out river and they need to be rebuilt every spring – so a small fee was collected at the entrance for financing the annual construction.
The climb back up seemed a lot easier. Back in the guesthouse, the manager is a good friend of my guide from ten years ago – so they have been enjoying each other’s company quite a bit. The manager also happens to be one of the better cooks I’ve come across on this trek, so I’m quite happy.
Tomorrow we finish off our trek by following the beautiful crystal clear snowmelt river back out to where we started – with hopefully minimal hills. I haven’t heard a car horn in 4 days now and I’m savouring the tranquility before we get back to Pokhara and the traffic that leads to it.