Day 11 Hiking

Day 11

It’s our last day of hiking and Vikas is still calling me “Carol”. Not that it matters since I now answer to Carol! And to be fair, we insist on calling Sarus ” Sir-oooos” when it’s pronounced more like “Sorros”.

We had a good night last night. It was such a long day’s hiking that we felt extra-grateful for the porters, and Jade bought them an enormous beer each. With our options limited, Jade and I shared a tiny bottle of rum in order to join everyone else.

We didn’t go crazy, and no one was particularly hung over, but there was definitely some grumpy-bums this morning! We were up and away at 8am after a very modest sleep in, and followed a dusty road for almost an hour to a lovely tea house that over looked the river. We weren’t meeting the bus until 1030am, so hung around there drinking a curious blend of black tea and coffee until it was time to go.

It was another 20 min before we ambled on the first town that we had lunch in on our very first day, then another 10 min back to our staying place at Nayapool.

I confess to feeling rather jaded and superior to all the fresh and clean trekkers coming in the opposite direction. Compared to them we were positively disheveled and filthy; we hadn’t changed our clothes or showered properly in days. As they squeaked along in their sandshoes, shiny hair, and white T shirts, I thought back to our trek and the hail, sleet, mud, and buffalo poo that we’d experienced and mentally shook my head. These newbies were going to discover that “nothing is truly waterproof” and their standards of what is still good to wear will drop dramatically. Sometimes stooping to “definitely can’t wear it” but attempting to cover up the odor with deodorant and perfume (FYI it doesn’t work). And their sandshoes are going to feel like bare feet in the first decent downpour!

But that is what we have learned and for them to find out! We finished with a group hug and a cacophony of high 5’s (something we had indoctrinated into our porters, apparently Nepalese don’t learn to high 5 as babies). We are now en route to Kathmandu for a couple of days of sightseeing and to visit seven women.

If you haven’t already, please head to our website and purchase a Seven Women product. They are skills training disadvantaged women, employing them by purchasing their products, and provide literacy and numeracy lessons to lift them from the cycle of poverty. They’ll be opening chapters in indigenous Australia and Africa later this year.

Also, if Nepal is on your bucket list, come now! Around 60% of Nepalese are unemployed, and they rely heavily on tourism and trekkers to make a living. We have had a fantastic experience with Hike Nepal, who will not just guide your trek, but make all your arrangements from the minute you touch down in Kathmandu.