Laurebina Yak to Gosainkund

Elevation: 4380

In the background is Gosainkund the day we were leaving -- blue sky finally!

Elevation: 4380

Dreadful up hill. Made worse by the clouds that accompanied us and then hung around all afternoon. Took a walk around Gosainkund [Gosain Lake]. Legend has it that after Shiva rid the Kathmandu Valley of snakes, he took a drink from this now sacred lake. Not sure about the legend, but I know there were many, many underpants strewn about the lakeside. Many more than one would expect in such a sexually repressed society... or maybe that's exactly what one would expect at a secluded lake in the mountains in a sexually repressed society? Quite a hike for some nookie!

Managed to beat off the hoteliers in order to walk through town to check it out. Ended up choosing the same lodge as the two Canadians (different people than from Langtang Valley), whom we had also encountered in Laurabina Yak, and we exchanged stories and heckling.

Also of note were the three Nepalis in their mid-thirties who joined us for the night at the guesthouse. These were not the noisy ones the proprietor of yesterday’s lunch spot had warned us against, but Mark did have an interaction with one of them that left a sour taste in his mouth. What to do?

Life on the trail has settled into a familiar rhythm: Breakfast. Walk, walk, walk. Snack. Walk, walk, walk. Lunch. Walk, walk, walk. Snack. Walk, walk, walk. Collapse. Dinner. Play cards/knit/read. Sleep. Repeat.