The Blithe Traveler: Onward to Syauli Bazaar

Onward after lunch and a nap, that is.

That is a bottle of ibuprofen on the table in front of me. Necessary, believe me.

The weather continued to be glorious, and we were sitting on a roof terrace in the sun. It was lovely. Lunch was delicious and spicy hot and after Hope serenaded us with the umpteen millionth version of Amazing Grace, Genesh sat down to chat.

I'll have to paraphrase here, because for heaven's sake, I didn't memorize the conversation, but it went something like this:

"You know," he said, "I had my doubts." He gestured to my sandals, and at the children. "When I said you needed better shoes, you said 'oh, it's just going to have to work out,' I thought, 'how are these people ever going to make it to Poon Hill??'"

He went on, "But you all walk, and walk, and fast! And then, when we went up Poon Hill yesterday, you didn't even stop! The children just marched up that hill for one hour, in the dark and cold without even stopping! And the children, they never complain! They just keep on walking." He shook his head. "You people, you are really strong."

Indeed, we are a deceptive lot. But, smart enough to nap when we can. Yeah, I'm totally bragging here, but, it was really, really nice to have Genesh tell us we did just fine, despite our obvious planning flaws. It's entirely possible he was blowing smoke to get a good tip, but, I don't think so. He seemed so sincerely, genuinely, amazed that anyone stupid enough to trek in Nepal without hiking shoes (1) could manage it with relative aplomb that I believed him.

We headed right on out of Ghandruk (where only the wimpy spend the night!) and onward to Syauli Bazaar. We probably hiked a good six hours, all down hill. Oi, my aching calves.

The river was our ultimate goal, as you may recall, we started at that level. It is amazing looking at these photos to think that we hiked all of this, powered by dal baht and the occasional Peep.

Grain out to dry, and the chickens are playing.

Next: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

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(1) And it was really stupid. I could have broken an ankle or gotten my toes crushed. If you go back about a year and read my post on hiking the Skokum Volcano Trail, you can see that I can't even follow my own advice.