Day 51 - Tolka and Dhampus (Annapurna Range, Nepal)

Day 51 – Hers.

I awoke feeling myself for the first time in a few days – if still a little weak.  It was bright, sunny and, not yet, too hot.  The views of the mountains and little cottages in the valley were stunning as the sun rose, lighting each section in turn.  After breakfast from the area’s set menu, (the selection and prices are set by the Annapurna Conservation Trust, getting narrower and pricier the higher you go....) we set off uphill toward the pass at Bhichok Deor, soon traversing a long and wobbly suspension bridge.  We had some additional travelling companions this morning – a local family was taking a young boy off to boarding school, bringing along their infant and all the little boy’s belongings.  It was a steep and slippery – after yesterday’s rain – climb, and Dennis even helped to carry the little boy a ways, giving his young sisters a break.  Our first rest stop was quite short – as the leeches came out of nowhere and began to climb up our boots from the moment we stood still.  Tek came to the rescue yet again – clearing our boots and hurrying us along to a little lodge where he bought salt to rub into our boots and socks.  Whew. That worked – and we carried on, climbing through forests of some odd strain of oak and giant rhododendron trees (I never had any idea they could get that big...) until we reached the very misty high pass and felt a little chilly for the first time on the trek.

From the pass, we began a gentle descent – still through the forest - where we saw mushrooms, orchids, a striped woodpecker and an assortment of butterflies. It was a beautiful walk, a couple more hours, to our lunch stop at yet another mountain lodge.  We were there to watch the beer delivery in advance of high season: twenty-odd donkeys, each weighed down with sacks of bottles of Everest and Gurkha beer for the tourists.  Perhaps they should have to carry their own.....

We had less than an hour to walk after lunch, still gently downhill – but Tek was looking decidedly worried and as we stopped to have our park passes checked, he went on ahead.  We rounded the bend and saw our porters sitting near the gate of an unfinished lodge – still a building site, really – and Tek walking back and forth between two other lodges.  It seems that our accommodation was overbooked and the alternative that the lodge had provided us was not up to Tek’s standards.  As usual, he soon had the situation under control and we strolled on a bit further to a lovely lodge with a balcony for viewing a panorama of nearly the entire Annapura mountain range.

Tonight was not the time to see it though – within 10 minutes of our arrival, the heavens opened – torrential rain, hail, thunder, lightning – all very spectacular in its own way!

We showered and then dashed through the raindrops to the ‘dining hall’.  Tien and I chatted to Tek, Dennis, our host and two Australian men – brothers, one of whom worked for United Missions in Kathmandu, advising on water supply – that we had first met the evening before at our previous lodge.  We ordered popcorn and hot lemon drinks.  TIen then disappeared – she had inveigled her way into the kitchen to watch the cooking.  When Barry and Cindy joined us, we all peeked in – but there wasn’t enough room for all of us, so we chatted until dinner.

After dinner, the atmosphere changed and developed into a bit of a party – our last night on the trail.  Barry bought the local rum (It’s called Kukari, I think.)for the porters, our host brought out his traditional drum and we sang (and even danced a bit – though Tien refused that idea....) for a couple of hours until it was time for bed.  The rain had finally stopped and the place was rife with leeches and frogs..... A tiny frog jumped out of our way as we walked back to our room; his daddy guarded our bathroom door.  Tien gently shooed him back outside – and we settled in for the night.