Lastnight the food was really nice, we opted out of having the bread after because the portions were so big. But gorkana did get us a packet of oreos so we munched on those and had some hot chocolate. We were sat in the dining room with 3 Germans and one of them in particular was so bossy and rude. Liam said in hushed tones that he bet she snored really loud. After food we went to bed at about 7.30am. We were both really tired but it was so so cold. We decided to share a bed even though they were really small just so we could be warmer. We put 2 blankets underneath us, my sleeping bag opened up on top of us plus 2 more blankets on top of that. As well as that we were fully clothed, partly due to being cold and partly due to us getting up so early in the pitch dark and the freezing cold so it would just be easier. So much for hoping we don't get up in the night. I had to get up a record breaking 3 times, each time more cold than the last and barely able to see in front of me with the head torch through the dense cloud surrounding the place. Despite sort of feeling neither of us slept that great I think we did sleep because before we knew it it was 4.15 and the alarm was going off. Whilst we were having our couple more minutes in bed, gorkana knocked on our door and said he didn't think it was worth going up. He had warned up this was a possibility before bedtime, saying if the cloud cover was too much it simply wouldn't be worth it because the whole point was to see the view. So, to Liam's pure delight and my half delight half disappointment we went back to sleep until about 6.30am. We took our esr plugs our and were greeted by the sounds of big fat snores....so the german did snore!
We were out nosing around the cabin by 7ish. The cloud had gone by that point ( by 7am we would have been on our way back down had we gone), and the views were stunning. Just opening our door you were hit in the face by cold air and a massive snow capped mountain right in front of you. Looking around you see more of them, surrounding the whole complex. We were only about 3 miles from Tibet so most of the peaks we were looking at were Tibetan mountains.
We had a little walk up the hill to see more of the view, we stood taking photos and admiring the views for a good 45 minutes or so before heading down for breakfast. A nice big fat pancake topped with apple slices and honey for me with 2 cups of coffee. Liam had 2 cups of coffee and poached eggs on chapatti. He had to go into the kitchen and show them how to make it because their description of poached egg wasn't the same as ours! We also had some Tibetan bread with marmalade on, we were stuffed and very happy with the food. After packing up we set off at around 10.30.
It was lovely walking down, all the meadows were full of crickets so everywhere you walked they were just jumping everywhere! It was chilly but with walking it wasn't unpleasant, and the scenery was worth it. Thinking back the walk really wasn't that bad, in fact it could have been a lot worse. There were a lot of times when it was very steep and we all slipped a few times. It was very rocky as well. But a lot of it was through the forests so it was all green with the sounds of animals and insects, so loud you had to shout to be heard sometimes and so quiet you couldn't hear a thing at others. We walked through little streams, over lovely spongy earth, over massive roots and below big thick trees. All the while the mountains just visible through the branches.
I found it quite difficult though as it was hard work yesterday and my muscles aren't great when going downhill. I tired easily and knew I was slowing them down by quite a lot. We walked for perhaps 1.5 hours and we got to an old village where we stopped for a drink. After a good rest, applying more talc to our socks and I'm putting some plasters on due to rubbing we set off again. We walked for about 3 hours, down down down. We walked though villages and rice fields, forest areas, high dangerous rock face parts and meadowed areas. We saw lots of different insects, we saw crabs, and in on stretch a you walked all you could see we're loads of little butterflies fluttering all around you. All with a real Buddhist Himalayan feel to it, with small children laughing and singing, running after you all excited and asking for chocolate all of the time, and villagers carrying loads on their backs as part of their daily routine. We saw a small boy of perhaps 11 pulling massive pieces of timber down from the forest, it was so difficult making your way down as it was let alone dragging all that wood. Gorkana said each piece of timber brought the family 40 rupee, which is nothing and for so much work! We gave the boy a 50 rupee note snd gorkana carried one piece on his shoulder because it kept falling off the pile. Seeing that kind of thing really does put our fitness levels to shame. Although i was hot and tired, and fell and twisted my ankle at one point, I still managed to appreciate all the beauty. Liam absolutely loved it. I said to him at one point if fairies and elves existed they would live here.
We finally got down off the mountain and started walking on one of the newly built roads. We would have had perhaps another 45 minutes but a big truck drove past and we hitched a ride the rest of the way. It was so bumpy! I swear a few times we were in the air by about 3 inches and Liam looked really uncomfortable, but it shaved off a good amount of time so we were happy.
Our hotel is again basic but it's just what we need. It actually has warm water so it's kind of a luxury. I was desperate for a shower, particularly a warm one because we've not had one for nearly a month. We had a late lunch of chicken fried rice and some ginger lemon tea before Liam messed around on his iPad and I got clean. We spent the rest of the evening downstairs drinking some beer, playing cards with gorkana and watching the bustle of the other tourists dotted around. I had tomato soup for tea because it hadn't been long since we ate earlier, it was nice enough and homemade from local tomatoes... but not Heinz! Liam had a plate of Chips, then afterwards we halved 2 deserts. We tried a snicker roll which turned out to be a snickers wrapped in dough and fried...way too much dough which ruined the ratio. We also ordered apple pie, which came out looking sort of like a big pastry or apple turnover, but when you cut into it all the little slices of apple ooze out with....chocolate sauce!! It was so yummy I loved it! Liam said it was too sweet but we will agree to disagree on that one. We then went across the street to some random shack that came across as sort of a local pub so that we could try donee one local wine because we'd mentioned having some hot wine from the hotel before bed. We sat with 2 men who's english was pretty good and tried some of the homemade local wine, roxy. They also shared their buffalo meat which was nice but the roxy was disgusting, I had one sip and hated it. Liam drank about half of the glass then gave up. He said it was sort of like vodka in a way and needed a mixer with it. I thought it needed tipping down the drain and would have gone for a cup of curd again over that and that's saying a lot!
It's now 9pm and we're in bed. Half of my face is nicely coloured while the other half is still white. We both have burned shoulders and necks and my muscles feel so tight they hurt like hell. Liam hasn't complained of any muscle pain yet but I'm queen of muscle tension so no surprises there. Up for 6.30 breakfast and 7am bus back to kathmandu tomorrow.
