Trek Day 3 ... I want my mommy!

Another early start and even though I don’t sit and watch the entire sunrise I still pop my head out to claim the view.  Yep – still stupendous!

 

And we’re off …

 

I get out the trekking poles and now I feel official.  

Look at that smile AKA look at the innocence and naivete 😂at the beginning of today’s journey.

The first two hours is all downhill.  

Remember all those stones steps coming up to Ghandruk??? Now we need to go back down, and then down some more because we are crossing the valley and heading to our next village destination – Tolka.  

 

OK – feeling the quads and calves as we descend.  Trekking poles make a BIG difference.  Of course, the locals don’t use them LOL, but I am SO glad I brought them.  They provide extra stability on a generally uneven path.

We pass a couple of small groups of trekkers but mostly it’s just us, random dogs, and porters.  One group of porters was even running down the stairs with packs on. OMG!  I mean it wasn’t a full out sprint, but they were huffing it and moving at a good clip.  

I discover that when I am trekking – either up or down – I don’t notice the view unless I stop to lookbecause otherwise, I am always looking down for good footing.  This place is just one giant tripping hazard. (Sorry, Mom.  No trekking for you!) But since we have been swallowed up by the hills, any moment I stop to look is worth it.  ALL the views are stunning.

 

We have a tea break (and a smoke break for Bidur. Yes, a smoke break. OMG how does he do it?!?!) and I enjoy a milk tea. My “tea pattern” has emerged – milk tea in the morning and then masala tea in the afternoon.  Love them both!

Trekking maps are in all the villages.  

This little home/shop/lodge is the standard in villages.

The ascent begins. 

 

More groups of kids singing. More waterfalls and creeks and streams, more stone steps – lots and lots of stone steps, and hills all around.  Everywhere, hills.

 

You would never know from this picture that just a second prior they were laughing and smiling.

They all (kids and adults) get very stir when the camera comes out and then when I saw show them the photos they all (kids and adults) laugh and giggle.

I don’t tire of this one bit.  It’s life in the hills. but I am feeling the increase in elevation (not that I was at a super high elevation but again it’s the endless steep ascent that is let’s just say “rigorous.”)

 

We trudge and trudge.  All the while I am thinking to myself – thank God I didn’t plan a longer trek.  But I did honestly enjoy the challenge in some strange way.

A few more times I must sit down just long enough so I am no longer light-headed and can catch my breath. No exaggeration.

How precious?!?! See the basket on the ground?  

That's where you place your money offering.  

They have flowers on there that they offer to you.

 We pass a grain mil.  The owner of the mill was repairing the door frame.   I am allowed to go in for a quick picture.  Villagers pay to bring their grains here to have ground.  Life in the hills is very primitive.  It is so hard to be here and think of the life in the US at the same time. They may as well be different planets.

 We cross one bridge over a rapid stream.  It’s not a suspension like I was hoping for.  Darn.  

But wait, not too much farther along another bridge and this one IS a suspension bridge.  Yay!

This is the only place on the trek I don’t look down. Not even once.  We were VERY high above the river, so I just forged ahead and crossed easily and quickly. Though Bidur said I looked drunk at the beginning when the bridge sways the most LOL

 

Once across ...

I don’t know how much time has passed at that point, but we pass through a couple of small villages.  Bidur asks if I want to stop for lunch and I don’t.  (My little coffee and breakfast biscuit really sustains me for a good bit, plus that level of exertion just makes me not want to eat.)

 

We arrive in Tolka, but Bidur wants to make sure we stay at a good lodge.  He wants me to have my own bathroom (that is what makes a lodge a good one) and I agree wholeheartedly. 

 

 Sidenote: I realized something on this trip.  While I don’t need Ritz-Carlton, I do like more than super rustic.  Clean is especially important.  I would say I am not a “roughing it” girl.  

 

We arrive at the lodge for tonight – it’s probably 1PM. I am EXHAUSTED!  Today was brutal. I am not going to lie. It was either UP or DOWN.  There was essentially no easy section during today’s trek. 

 

I loved it but I was so glad for it to end.

 

Bidur asked me how I felt, and I said, “I want my mommy.”  He and Sujan cracked up!

 

I headed straight into the room and crashed for a couple of hours. I didn’t even eat lunch first.  I ordered it for 3PM.

 

When I crawled into bed I heard lots and lots of laughing and there was quite a crowd at the place.  When I awoke for lunch, it was completely quiet.  I realized it has been the lunch crowd I heard earlier.  

Turns out there was only me and one other small group of young women trekkers staying overnight at the lodge.

 

After lunch I took my laptop, binoculars, and book to the garden area overlooking the hills and valleys and spent the afternoon just enjoying the peace and quiet and beauty.

At one point a group of young girls walked by the garden on their way home and they recognized me from earlier when I stopped to listen to them sing.  (They had even given me a garland of marigolds AND a tika after I made a money offering.) They said, “Hi!  You gave us money.  Thank you so much.  We bought candy.”

 

How cute is that?!?!

 

I had a plate of fried rice for dinner and relaxed and read and fiddled around on my computer in the main dining area.  

Once again off to bed at 8 … this room and bathroom was VERY basic and mostly clean.  I just couldn’t look to closely or think about it too much 😉

Tomorrow would be “easy-peasy” Bidur says.

 

Sure.  LOL.