After what was, surprisingly, not a very good night’s sleep, for many of us, not just me, we were up at the crack of dawn, at 5, to catch sunrise on the Himalayas. Once again, we were blessed with perfect weather, + were able to see the sun’s first rays on Kanchanjunga, + then, shortly after (because it was further west) Everest. That sight gave us positive identification of the world’s tallest mountain, about which there had been some dispute before. It was, however, bloody cold out there, so we weren’t sorry to get back inside, where the fire was revived from near-death, where we could sit in comfort + enjoy our breakfast – chapattis + eggs. There was a short group photo-taking session outside, before we said our farewells – B + D were heading north to Phalut, while the rest of us were cutting across to Rimbik.
A group of 5 Indians were going the same way as us, + altho’ they left a little before us, + were, if anything, a little fitter, we didn’t have any trouble catching them up, for whenever there was any doubt at all about the route, they came to an immediate halt, seemingly unable to make a decision. At first, however, there were no decisions to be made, for we simply retraced our steps back along the path. Beyond the point where we had scrambled up to meet the road yesterday, we suddenly came upon a steep climb. A most unpleasant shock, as we had been told it would be downhill all the way from Sandakhpur, + it was all the steeper for being unexpected. When we’d finally dragged ourselves to the top, we came to the point where the road forked, + found 5 Indians standing around looking perplexed. To be fair, we did have the advantage of Janet’s notebook, into which she had copied various bits of advice out of the Trekkers’ Comment Book in the Youth Hostel, + it came up trumps, giving clear + precise instructions.
Another hour further on, however, it was of no use. The 2 groups had become intermingled by now, + I was in 3rd position, behind 2 Indians, laughing, joking, + bounding ahead. But then there was a split in the path, + they stopped absolutely dead. As I came up to them, they asked me, “Which way is it?” I had no more idea than they did, of course, but at least I could take some steps to find out, so I walked a little way along both paths. This seemed to indicate that we wanted to take the left-hand path, for that one seemed to keep to the ridge, while the other descended steeply. The only piece of advice that I could remember reading about the route was that one shouldn’t drop down off the ridge. We waited for the others to assemble + talked it over, deciding eventually to take the left-hand path. At this point the Indians decided the other path was best. That was their privilege, of course, but they seemed determined to persuade us too, + in a forceful manner. This didn’t stop them following us for a short time, but they were fairly half-hearted about it all, + turned back a little further on when the path was not as clear. It didn’t bother us one way or the other, for it soon became clear to us that we were following the right path.
It was a remarkably pleasant walk, gently winding downhill through some woods. We all stopped for a lunch-break when we rejoined the paved road – we all pooled what we had (in our case not a great contribution) + enjoyed a pleasant meal. From here the road zig-zagged down, but the footpath took a far more direct route. Best of all, it kept cutting across the road, so we had constant reassurance that we hadn’t strayed. Eventually came to a collection of buildings, one of which was the Rimbik Youth Hostel, giving us reason to hope that we had at last reached our destination. That made the next, final section all the more dispiriting – Rimbik turned out to be very spread out, top to bottom, + it took us a very long half-hour to work our way all the way down to the village proper, most particularly the Shiva Prabhab lodge, a much recommended guest-house that was our final destination. I brought up the rear, to encourage Janet, coping with fatigue + blisters. By the time we arrived, 3 bottles of beer were already on their way. They were polished off in next to no time, so Dave + I, as the males of the party, adopted the typical male role of provider, + went down with the man who helped run the place to fetch another dozen. While there, we naturally had one for ourselves too – we needed it, for it was a fair little walk from the lodge to the village + shop. Those 12 soon went the way of the 3 preceding, so once again Dave went down with me for more. Using some complicated calculation of his own, Dave decided that 9 was an appropriate number. Plus, naturally, the one for us going. This time we played cards as we drank, but the booze can have done nothing for my card playing, for I came last.
My memories overall grow very sketchy at this point, for it must be said I had become very drunk. Dinner arrived to curtail our cards, + I am told I tore into mine, excused myself, + staggered directly off to bed. It was still reasonably early, but I was not to be in bed for all that long, for a couple of hours later, an imperative call of nature, that to throw up, was visited upon me suddenly + urgently. The room was unfamiliar – I called upon Val piteously to help show me the door, only just making it outside in time. I was violently + messily sick, but found myself in the surreal situation of having 3 large dogs surrounding me, greedily gobbling up the vomit almost before it hit the ground. It was a very odd position, but at least the beasts were efficient, + saved me the trouble of clearing up my own mess – the paving-stones were spotless. I had a further visit outside during the night, but had little to offer the dogs. It was fortunate they didn’t turn upon me in their disappointment.
One of my fallibilities is that, when the opportunity to have a few beers comes along, I take it only too greedily… with the results indicated here. No one to blame but myself, of course, but on the whole I was enjoying the extra company; for too much of the time, Val and I have just each other to interact with.
