3rd Day of Walking, 4th Day of Trek

Today we had a short day. We started walking at 7:30am as usual, but only walked a total of about three and a half hours. We came from our guesthouse in Danaque to this guesthouse we are staying at tonight in Lower Chame. Last night after I was writing I was sitting out at one of the tables in the courtyard and the woman of the family that owns the house invited me to come eat my dinner in the kitchen house where it was warm. There I sat on a small Nepali stool, one that everyone has in their homes and stores here. I sat and watched them prepare food, mine included, a large portion of fried potatoes with veggies and eggs. The warmth from the cooking fire was amazing, us now having risen to an elevation where it is quite cold. More people from the guesthouse came in and gathered around the warmth to eat their meals also, all in pairs from all over the world. I had a nice conversation with a boy from an island off of Australia, then a girl from Australia that has been traveling all over since last January. Now she is in Nepal doing this trek with a Nepali boy from Thamel that she met while in India. We all sat together in the kitchen fro quite a long time, but eventually I was able to gather my strength and head out into the cold up to my room.

I woke up this morning to a cold day. I started with a breakfast of muesli with hot milk and apples and a cup of milk tea, which both ended up being less good than expected. We were then off on the trail, Chandra telling me that it was going to be a steep climb in the beginning, but then flat for the rest of the way. That warning was hardly enough though, what I encountered during that first hour was much worse than I expected. I stared up at the many many steps it took to get to the next visible plateau. The climb was backbreaking, nothing comparable to the Swayambhu steps, which I thought were terrible. I kept my head down, remembering the advice I had heard so many times, “looking up at the mountain or incline will just make you more exhausted and make it seem much worse than it really is.” Anyway, so there I was, huffing and puffing up this almost-literal cliff, keeping a steady pace close behind Chandra. The path, like all paths and roads in Nepal, wove back and forth, the switchbacks killing me.

Finally we were at the top where the vertical path we were climbing met the level dirt motor-road. We set our bags down on the bordering stonewall to catch our breath, and for me to stop sweating like an overweight cow. As we sat another man moseyed up the vertical climb. The difference between us and him though was he was casually wearing nothing fit for climbing, mere tennis shoes, jeans, a leather jacket, and the flyest shades in all of Nepal. He casually strolled by chatting on his cellphone like he was walking down a city street. If that wasn’t demeaning enough, another group followed close behind, the first one over the crest, the porter, carrying an entire duffle bag with a strap across his head, Nepali style. He too was not breaking a sweat and wearing a nice plaid shirt and some clean khaki pants. All I could think was “You’ve got to be kidding me.”  A few steps behind puffed a white guy and his more appropriately dressed guide. They smiled and Chandra and the guide and porter of the mountaineering looking white man chatted in Nepali.

The walk was fairly agreeable after that with a few slight inclines and river crossings. We met the same group again later on at a small teahouse a few hours away from Chame. I had a good conversation with him about trekking, and my future plans, and also about America. I came to learn that he was from Toronto, like a few other people I have met here, and also that he is traveling alone as well. The scenery shifted again on my walk today and took on a great similarity to home with its pine trees and cold air. It actually smelled kinda like NH in the fall too, there were dead leaves on the ground and apple farms along the way. It was very calming seeing familiar things after being away from it all for so long. Chandra and I started to talk some while we walked today too, which was good and helped the time pass quicker/took my mind off how sore my legs are getting. We talked about apples and NH and trekking and eagles. Once we got to this guesthouse we are staying at I decided it was a good idea to take a supposedly “hot shower.” This shower went in and out of being hot and ended up making me clean, but terribly cold. I got out and put on everything I own and I promise you, I am not taking another shower while at these altitudes, it is not worth it. Yes that may mean no shower for a week, but I felt physical pain in that small wooden shower outhouse shack. Pain I am not willing to feel again. Haha :P

My thoughts on today…

Ø  No yeti thoughts surprisingly!

Ø  I feel like being silent while walking all day is in fact making me more anti-social :[

Ø  Whenever you pass a fellow trekker on the trail you greet each other with “Namaste” :] I love it!

Ø  The warmest place in the guesthouse is the kitchen so that is where I sit and watch them cook. This is very comforting because it reminds me of watching my mama cook :] <3

Ø  For some reason whenever I am in a kitchen here someone is chopping a big piece of meat into smaller pieces with a very dull cleaver and a stump. This just reestablishes my choice to be a vegetarian every time.

Ø  I <3 milk tea. I can’t get enough.

Ø  I found a bug in my fried rice at lunch and there are hairs on my bed, yet I am unfazed. This is what Nepal will do to you.