We didn’t make an early start – we’ve gotten lazier on the return trip. There had been some thought of going from here to Gosainkund, a collection of lakes a day over to the east. Val was certainly very keen, but I was pretty much equally opposed. There were no facilities at Gosainkund, tho’ there was a hut, + without food, a stove, warm clothing, + with both pairs of boots held together with cotton + prayer, I felt we weren’t equipped. The real clincher was that Val was still feeling unwell, + the Gosainkund trip involved a hefty climb. So once we’d finally obtained our breakfast, we set off, initially at a steady pace. Our leaving time was not very different from that of the last couple we had encountered when walking to Syabru from Barku, + we had thought them to be dreadful slowcoaches. We covered the first pleasant stretch to Barku in good time, but we weren’t inclined to linger there. Whether it was because we were seeing it better, or because it had actually deteriorated, the lodge was filthy – scraps of food on the floor, everything grubby, the flies, bad before, were 10 times worse with the few days of sunshine we had had. So a quick refreshment (tinned pineapple juice) + off.
Now, of course, we ran back into the roadworks, + such is the disruptive nature it has upon the trails, we lost our way for 15 mins or so. Once on the right trail tho’, we pushed on strongly to Dunche. To our near-ecstatic delight, we found a shop selling chocolate, so we washed down a couple of bars with an enormous tin of pineapple juice. Dunche was even worse for flies than Barku – the place was positively humming. It certainly needs some rain to settle it down. I had thought Dunche would be our final destination for the day, but Val was keen to push on, + reach Ramche, if possible. I thought that was probably a bit ambitious, but was willing to shove on while there was still light. So off we rushed at what seemed to us a hectic gallop, even when we were directed to detour over the top of a huge bluff rather than around it, the way the path used to go, which route the road had now usurped.
We thought we had passed thro’ Thare when we marched on thro’ one village, pausing only for tea, but we had forgotten all about one place (which this obviously was) so it came as a serious blow when we realised we had arrived at Thare, with the light beginning to fade. So, our grandiose plans had to be abandoned, + we checked in at the same place we’d stayed before. We waited our turn, + then some, at the water-pipe to have a quick wash. There were a number of intra-village arguments about the use of it – when turned on at the top of the village, the water was cut off at the bottom. And people there seemed to resent us using the facility at all.
For our evening meal, Val had dhal bhat, while I had mashed potato + eggs. I had to give blow by blow instructions on how we liked our eggs cooked. For the potatoes, he boiled them, + handed them over, + I did the rest. Suited me. We shared the bedroom with 4 local guys, but they were just beginning to quieten down when 4 Dutch travellers arrived, demanding food + grumbling bitterly about being directed on from Grang + then getting lost. I could sympathise – getting lost in the dark is no fun.
We do seem, despite the various ailments, to be in pretty good shape by now, after several weeks of pretty punishkng walking. But it is clear that we are rushing through as fast as we can, keen to return to the heady delights of Kathmandu.
