Elevation: 2141Departure: 0700 = very early.
Today we played trail tag with the Israeli, his guide, the Australian couple, their guide, and the pair of New Zealanders and their porter. And then we couldn’t find anyone with whom to consult when we hit Kutumsung and couldn’t quite figure out the trail. So we hiked on knowing we’d either find more of Kutumsung or find Chanauti from which we could take the bus back to Kathmandu.
We found the Israeli man and his porter and were joined by the Aussies shortly after ordering lunch. We never did see the Kiwis again; wonder if they got swept away by the downpours that afternoon?
This afternoon has the auspicious honor of beholding the worst trail I have ever navigated on any continent. It was a trail cum rain gully lined with slippery, red mud down a hill with a grade of 70-ish%. In how many languages can you say ‘miserable’?
That night, for the first time, lodging was a challenge. There were two lodges in town we passed up in favor of finding the gompa, which has an affiliated lodge. ‘Course no one knew what we were talking about when Mark asked about this lodge, but we got what we thought were reliable directions uphill to many lodges. Up we went. Mind you, I was ready to stop once we hit town, so I was not thrilled to be continuing, but I had agreed to search for this mythical gompa.
One stupa, too many steep hills, and a giggling group of girls later, we came to what seemed to be a new, clean lodge staffed by three girls under 10. Onward to the Lama Hotel, where the guide of the Israeli man was trying to save rooms for the Aussies and their guide. Onward to a private home where the residents looked at us askance when we asked for a room. Onward to a very pathetic, dark lodge we just kept walking past. Onward to another modern, but very locked up lodge at the top of the hill. We sat after agreeing to give her 15 minutes and in 13 she, her son, and their buffalo had turned up to let us in.
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