An early start and a light breakfast of soup. We tried to get away before 8 but as usual we were the last ones out of our lodge. There was a large group of Spaniards and our two new German friends. They are intending to go further than us today. We followed the path down through Chhomrong following the route we took yesterday. Then the path went up and down before crossing a small river and then gently ascending. Julian was much better today; walking well without any grumbling. He has some small blisters on his little toes which I sorted out with some plasters yesterday. He didn’t complain about those either and so today was the best walking day so far. At lunchtime we stopped in a small lodge with a great view up and down the Modi Khola valley. The path continued around the valley and by now it was in the shad all the way. It’s so much easier walking in the shade. During the afternoon a very fit young Nepali overtook us with a cheerful “Namaste!” which means, hello. He was wearing shorts, a teeshirt and a jungle hat and he seemed full of life. His eyes were just shining with energy. A little later on we caught him up when he stopped for a break. He gave us a can of Red Bull and when he took it out of his bag, I noticed he had another two packs of 6 in there. That would account for all the energy. Julian noticed that he had a large tattoo on his lower leg. Taking a closer look we saw that it was a dragon and a fish with some flowers behind. Julian straight away said that he wanted one! I told him to ask his Mum! We arrived at Bamboo at about 3pm. There are about 4 lodges here and they are all full. The porters will have to sleep in the dinning room tonight I think. We have agreed to to let a young Austrian man share our small room. It really is like a prison cell; small wooden beds, a tiny window and a 25 watt bulb. Still, we are high up in the mountains miles away from anywhere and we’re lucky to be here. The Austrian, Peter, has long blond dreadlocks and lives in Thailand. He’s been living there for 4 years and seems to have an idyllic life on Ko Panghan an island I visited in 1995. Lucky chap! When we arrived at this tiny village this afternoon, a group of Englishmen were playing Cricket Dice! People kept stopping to look what was going on. It’s difficult enough to explain cricket but to try to explain it with dice…hmmm, no chance. Julian is writing his diary while we wait for dinner and the English lads are on to Yahtzee and beer. It would be nice to have a drink but not until the way down, as they are. Two young Americans are playing Rummy with their porter. Julian again is intrigued because the woman has a stud through her lower lip. I asked her if she had been hit by a truck and once the ice was broken we all had a very pleasant evening. She also has a tattoo; and so does Peter. They described to Julian how they are painted and the five hours you have to sit in a chair while the artist works away with a needle. He doesn’t want a tattoo anymore. I decided to teach Julian, Peter and Narayan Rummy and I had to ask the Tattoo Lady to remind me of the rules. I never found out her name and never will because they were going down the mountain as we were going up. In the end we settled on a mix between her rules and how I remember playing Rummy with my Grandmother. We could them the Annapurna Rules. A great end to a good day.
This is Peter from Austria.
Yeti Fan 2011 