5th Day of Walking, 6th Day of Trek

Another good walking day today, I guess I should appreciate these short and reasonably easy days while they are still here, soon it is going to freezing unpleasant days that go on for hours on end. Today we walked around four and a half hours from Lower Pisang to Manang. There were two routes we had the option of taking, the upper trail where you could see more and it took around 7 to 8 hours, but it was much harder and around 3 hours of just climbing. The other option was the lower trail that would take 4 to 5 hours and mostly flat, or “Nepali flat.” Since it snowed last night the trail was icy and potentially snow-covered so I opted for the easier way, Chandra tempting me with, “we can go upper way if you like climbing,” like some sort of trick question.

            While walking today we were alongside of many porters also going our way, which was quite a sad sight. Luckily many of their companies had given them warm jackets, though their footwear was far from optimal. Many of them wore sandals and some wore thin canvas sneakers with no tread, terrible for the icy cliffs they hauled their loads along. We were walking down one cliff in particular when this girl carrying a full basket on her forehead fell. Her basket spilled and Chandra helped her pick up the contents then ease back onto her feet. He handed her his pole to use while walking down the rest of the hill, which is when I noticed her clothing. She wore rubber flip-flops on her bare feet and thin cotton pants with a wrap skirt over it. On top she wore a lower cut shirt, probably a cotton kurta, with a thin cardigan over it. I was shocked and concerned wishing there was something I could do for these suffering people. Even some thicker socks would help; an old pair of boots would be better than what they have, or what they were lacking.

Later on in our walk we passed Lucy and Deep, the Australian and Nepali girl and boy I had met in Danaque, then seen again in Chame. We passed through many cow farms and I also saw my first Nepali yaks, which I mistook for cows. We are now at our guesthouse in Manang, which is quite nice, which I am happy about because we are going to be here for two days. Tomorrow we are going to take an acclimatization day hike to help when we go up higher the day after tomorrow. It is quite warm and sunny here, which is really nice so I may try to take a hot shower and wash some clothes. Chandra says that here is my last chance until Muktinath to bathe so I should take advantage. I am waiting for the solar power to heat up the water right now; I hope there is enough for all of us smelly trekkers.