Yeti Fan 2011

Last night at Jhinu (1,780m) was the warmest we have experienced for about 9 days but it was still chilly. We’re halfway back down the valley and we are looking forward to getting back to civilisation. At breakfast we met Peter and Sue again and Julian showed them part three of the Sir Rutherford Alcock story which ends with a riddle. I read this part to Julian a few days ago and now he is asking English speakers if they can work out the answer. Peter and Sue did quickly as did some Germans yesterday. Tonight I will read the thrilling climax to Julian.

Our walk today followed a path that ran alongside the river and eventually came to a place called New Bridge which has a “new bridge” across the Modi Khola River. I asked Narayan how old the bridge is and he replied that it is quite old but they have never changed the name of the small group of lodges which make up New Bridge. This wood and cable suspension bridge is only about 10 metres above the water but it’s about 50 metres long and real Indie Jones stuff. Julian sailed across without any problems despite there being a pronounced sway once you meet the middle. From the bridge the path followed the river before rising steeply to Landruck which is the twin village to Gandruck across the valley where we stayed 8 days ago. The weather today was cloudy and despite having 7 or 8 lodges, Landruck felt like a ghost town in the clouds because there were very few trekkers around. We decided to press on so that we can get further tomorrow. On the path we met two Americans going the other way. They were following the Lonely Planet guide which suggested going up this side of the valley and coming down the other. This was my intention until I discussed the plan with our guide, Narayan who advised walking the other way round. We shared a hilarious 10 minutes with the Americans during which I told them that all the villages on the other side of the valley have a McDonalds and a Starbucks and the guy blamed the route choice on his girlfriend! These chance meetings on the trail are almost as special as the views of the mountains. We are now in Tolka at 1,700m; I would have liked to have gone on but the next village is at 2,100 which would have meant another freezing night. Julian went a bit quite as we found our room in the lodge. I think he has had enough of the walking in the mountains. The menus in all the lodges are the same too and there is not much on there that he likes. It’s all a mixture of tomatoes, vegetables, cheese, tuna, rice, potatoes and bread. This could be in the form of curry, pizza, spaghetti, noodles or a fried potato dish. Julian pointed out to me today that there is no meat on the menus….. I hadn’t realised but it’s true there is no bacon, sausages, ham, chicken, hamburgers; nothing. I promised him a big steak when we get back to Pokhara and he said I could have 100 bottles of beer! All the lodges sell beer and small bottles of Indian whiskey and Nepalese rum but I haven’t touched a drop while we’ve been on the trail. To raise Julian’s spirits I played him three short video clips which I asked Kayo to secretly record on my iPhone for him. They are encouraging messages from back home and I’ve been saving then for when Julian really needed them. They hit the target perfectly and he started laughing almost at once. He’s now having a pre-dinner sleep and no doubt dreaming of his steak.