Like any good story, you start with a setting, some character development, some rising action, followed by the climax - or turning point of the story. The Larke Pass was the climax. From here on out, we have what is called the falling action and conclusion of the Nepali trek story. Don't worry, there are more stories to come. In most books, the falling action and conclusion usually are quite brief. For this reason, I have condensed the last 5 days of the trek into one entry - and I promise it will be brief.
Bimtang - Day 16. The morning after the Larke Pass.
Lisa and I have slept for over 13 hours. I feel like a new man. Bimtang still proves to be a fairly cold night as Ice has molded over our tent. Our rain fly was not put on right as a humid chill and dampness fills the tent. We are dropping another 5000 feet today so I am told the weather will continue to be balmy.
We walk through some lush, tahoe-like scenery and reach camp in the mid-afternoon. We decide to explore the town, as there is an apple brandy distillery on site.
(Hours later)
There is no distillery, only roaring chickens. Tonight is the last night of camping. We wish the porters goodbye as we tip them accordingly. Kumar makes a good luck cake for us as rick tries the Nepali distilled alcohol called roxie. I get cajoled to take a sip. It reminds me of Sake, only worse.
O.K. Time to do the evennig rituals of blowing up the thermarest and clothespinnng the broken tent zipper shut. Talk to you tomorrow.
Day 17: Tilje to Tal.
So it was naiive to think that the hard hiking was indeed finished. I am confused as to why we keep going up steep, lush, trails with bamboo hugging either side. I am so over hiking right now you have no idea. A few times, the trail is completely unrecognizable. It turns out that the monsoons of last season caused a landslide which destroyed the first half of the trail. Nepli workers are despreately trying to repair it with the latest tools such as shovels, pick axes, and hand saws. A note to self to tell the Home Depot corporation to open up a new branch this side of the pacific.
As soon as I could not take it any longer, we enter a gate. Rick tells me we are now officially on the Anapurna trail. It is like I entered the land of Oz. These roads look like interstates compared to what we have hiked on for the past 3 weeks. We see a teahouse - which is basically the Nepali bed and breakfast. If you hike on the Anapurna trail, you actually get to stay in teahouses with beds every night of your trek. This sounds like such a foreign concept to me at this moment, but I'm not complaining.
We all sit down at a table. There are menus. They serve coffee. I am sitting on a chair. Such are the finer things in life. We are back in civilization. The only down side is that Nepalis are on Nepali time, so it's not rare to wait over 1 1/2 hours for your food to arrive. If you order chicken, for example, allow the appropriate time for the chicken to be caught, slaughtered, and sauteed.
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We push on for 3 more hours today. We see "trekkers" that look more like they stepped out of their cubiicle for a brief stroll around the office. They have all of these fancy trekking poles. They look funny. Ok. It's possble that we look funny coming out of the bushes with our bamboo walking sticks, but that is for a jury to decide.
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We sleep in Tal. We have a roof over our heads. I'll call the grounds "rustic". I am quite happy with rustic, no problem at all. No hot water yet. That luxury will have to wait for another day.
Day 18: Tal to Jagat to a little South of Syanje
Today , we arrive at a fairly clean and nice guest house. It is now Lisa and Jose's job to inspect the guest house before we go in to stay. We meet many foreigners. One foreigner of note is a German rastafarian who insists on blowing his digoredoo at dnner while he east Dahl Baht with his right hand. He claims it just tastes better this way. I should tell him that he probably went to one too many Grateful Dead concerts.
The only other notes of the day is that I accidentally order "pato pani" - trail water, instead of ordering "tato pani" - hot water. That gives a good laugh to the manager. Maybe I should just stick to english for a while.
Day 19: Syanje to Khudi
At this point, the temperature is balmy. We are in the jungle and we are back at 1,000 ft. elevations. It looks like we are going to shave off one day of the trip. Khudi is simply a bus station with 2 teahouses. We stay at a very average tea house. We don't care anymore. It's right next to the bus station. The owner persuades us to watch a slide show of his trip down some himalayan pass. We barter with him to show it to us for free, even though he initially offered out of his own goodwill. Some of these people are just plain funny with their logic. I fall asleep in the middle of the presentation and retire early to my room.
Day 20: The last day - the return to Kathmandu and Civilization
My sandy eyes glean out on the dim table as we wait for the 7 AM breakfast. Tika is reading the local newspaper out loud. The little boy is using the sink nearby. He is the owner's son, and is cute enough. He wears a Diadora shirt with English print on it. I'm sure he has no idea what it means. We have seen Michael Jackson, Usher, AC/DC and Eminem impregnated upon Nepali T-shirts. I don't think Nepalis choose the t-shirts based on their rock icon, I just think they are glad that they own a T-Shirt.
Bobby and Rick join us now. Rick has tweaked his knee and is popping every pill known to man. Bobby is miraculously clean as ever. Anup and Vinay have pressed on 2 days ago with Gopal in order to try to shave off an extra day on the trip. Tika thinks that they are most likely back in Kathmandu by now. Jose is always the slowest in the morning. He is most likely fumbling through his pack for the 5th time this hour.
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We are fortunate enough to hire a minibus for the voyage home. While plush at first, Nepalis are 'efficient' enough to fill the vehicle to 135% maximum capacity. We make it back to Kathmandu within 6 hours even with the Maoist celebration parade that appears right outside of town.
We all arrive to the Kathmandu Peace Guest house. Civilization is upon us. After taking showers, we decide it's time to eat some American Food. We find a restaurant in Kahmandu called "K-Too". They serve steak and hamburgers. I am in heaven as I eat my half pound burger. It feels like the best burger I've ever tasted.
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Alas, Part 1 - Nepal is now over, for the most part. Anup's birthday is tomorrow. He leaves the day after tomorrow. Vinay, the day after that. Rick, Jose and Bobby leave early next week. The fellowship is now broken. Not to worry, like any good miniseries or trilogy, there will be more stories to tell. Lisa and myself will continue on. Here is the rough guide.
Part 2: India - through mid-december
Part 3: Thailand through early January
Part 4: Cambodia and Viet Nam through early February.
Part 5: Taiwan.
Whatever happens, whenever it happens, i'll try to tell you about it.
Keep traveling, wherever you are.
--Travelling Sherman
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