After breakfast we take another tour of the school similar to the one we did when we arrived. The main building looks fantastic, there really is nothing like a coat of paint to transform a room. The locals are back in the pit working on the retaining wall, it’s probably about two days of work til completion. While it’s disappointing we couldn’t finish this crucial part of the job it’s nice to see that it’s going to finished all the same.
We pack our tents and dusty clothes and get ready to hit the track again. The principal and staff as well as some of the students and the locals have gathered to give us a send off. The English teacher gives a speech that wonderfully sums up the trip and leaves us all with a tear in the eye. The goodbyes take about half an hour as we farewell all the locals and kids they we’ve come to know over the last few days. Then it’s back on the track as we descend back down to the river.
It’s about a five hour walk mostly along the riverbank to the town of Betrawati where we camp for the night. Along the way we pass through several little farming villages all of which utilise the river in the most ingenious ways. There’s dozen of little manmade canals guiding the water into the houses or down onto fields. At one place the water has been harnessed to turn two large, smooth rocks for crushing maze. It’s a brilliant and an incredibly effective system. Walking through these villages is a bit like travelling back to another time. All the hand tools, the lack of electricity and modern machinery feels like another era. It’s probably the closet thing we’ve got to time travel.
We arrive at Betrawati in the early afternoon and feels like we’re back to civilisation. There’s power and shops and even cold beer. The braver amongst us even submerse themselves in the cold river. I however have become attached to dirt and filth and have decided to hang onto it for another day. It’s been ten days since I showered or shaved and I’ve decided to leave that luxury for the opulence of my Kathmandu hotel room.
Tonight is a feast of all the best bits left over from the kitchen. Afterwards we enjoy a few beers by the river as we trade stories of misadventures in Nepalese school renovations. It's been a great trip and it's a bit sad it's all about to end.
