Nepal (1981) Part 3

Young child near Khartali

30 January 1981
From Amatal, we continued our eastward traverse high above the river.  For the first hour, much of the land was cultivated and inhabited.  We came upon a beautiful house -- actually three buildings in a yard with fruit trees -- extremely fancy by Nepal standards.  A young man invited us into the yard and we had a look around, then shot some pictures.  (We are to send him one of himself and his mother.)  His address indicates that his father is the village mayor, which may go a long way to explain the nice home.

Nice home at village Panchayat.

Another hour took us to the top of the spur of this ridge.  The countryside here was very arid and sparsely populated.  We hiked down about 1000 feet to the confluence of two rivers, where lunch was being fixed.  The river provided a good opportunity for bathing, but it was too cold for me and Ingrid had forgotten her bathing suit, so we just washed hands, faces and legs.  After lunch, Ingrid began suffering from an upset stomach (bloated) and I also felt lousy, primarily from a sore throat.  The afternoon hike was very long, although flat, following the river.  In many places, small sections of the trail were washed out and the footing there became uncertain.

Trailside house near Amatal

We finally reached camp at an elevation of 3300 feet on the bank of a river in a fallow rice field.  Ingrid conked out almost immediately and I passed out at 8 PM, shortly after dinner.  (I only ate soup and dessert.)  I was feverish and had a bloated stomach for a few hours -- I think a result of exhaustion.  I was almost hallucinatory in my sleep with very unsettled dreams.  Finally, before midnight, the fever broke and I slept well the rest of the night.

The bugs were terrible at low elevation, even during this winter period.  My lower lip was bit and had swollen to twice its size.  I still feel, after four days, that I am not getting any stronger.  I am more sore and tired with each passing day.

Today, it seemed that nobody wanted to get out of bed and the kitchen crew had to whistle us to breakfast.  I just had black tea -- my stomach not yet being right.  We hiked a nice flat trail for about an hour, coming to a chain bridge.

Children in the village of Bigute

We took a short side trip to a bazaar town that had perhaps six shops selling slate for roofs, batteries, cloth, and some other general sundry goods.  We then crossed the river and began a steep ascent towards our second pass.

Crossing the Tamba Kosi.

Another bridge, across a smaller river.

We saw at the bridge a wedding procession with the young bride carried by her father in line with several musicians.

Nepali woman at Juka.

We climbed about 1500-2000 feet before stopping for lunch in the village Juka.  After lunch, we hiked another three hours, traversing and slowly climbing towards the south.  I'm feeling stronger today than yesterday, a good sign.  We stop well short of our scheduled goal; however, this is no great surprise as we are the first Himalayan Journeys trekking group to walk the Bharabise-Mali stretch.

We have a good storm for an hour or so near sunset, with thunder, lightning, rain and hail.

Good views of Gauri Shankar as we climbed today.

Yak driver, Pema Dorje, Sila, Jeta, Dhan Bahadur, Ang Lhakpa, Dorje

Among the Nepalese working on our trek are these men:
• Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa (the Sirdar) -- he is in his late 30s, has climbed Everest (1973 Italian expedition) and Daulagiri
• Jetha Sherpa (guide) -- about 18 years of age
• Lhakpa Nurbu Sherpa (guide) -- also about 18, from Namche Bazaar
• Kerin (cook)
• Dorje (cook's assistant)
• Duan Bahadur (cook's assistant)

Our trekking group was small, eight in all including the leader:
• Tom -- from Palos Verdes, CA
• Glenn -- from Cambridge, MA
• Hugh and Terry with their son, George (age 12) -- from New York, NY
• Nancy Jo -- from Madison, WI
• Ingrid and Bill -- from Oakland, CA
• Woody -- the western trek leader, with Himalayan Journeys in Kathmandu

31 January 1981
Lunch Stop
We woke early today -- tea at 5:45 AM -- and were on the trail by 7 AM.  We continued our southeastward traverse climbing toward the head of the valley through forested land.  There was a small amount of fresh snow on the ground from last night's storm.

We reached Serukapti after hiking about an hour, then began a steep climb of about 2000 feet to the pass.  The climb was deceiving.  We climbed very steeply up a slope for about an hour -- very tiring.  As we continued, the trail followed the spur of the ridge for another 45 minutes.  We finally seemed to crest, but instead had to climb the ridge -- fortunately for only 15 minutes.  From the crest, at 9400 feet, we again had a view of Gauri Shankar and several other peaks.  We hiked a slowly descending traverse for another hour before reaching our lunch stop on a hot southern slope.  The air temperature was about 72 °F, but with very bright sun.  The hillside is uninhabited and we have a good view down to the village Jiri in the valley below.  The vegetation is largely fir and pine trees plus rhododendrons.

Both Ingrid and I feel well today and fairly strong.  We may be over the hump as far as our condition is concerned.  We slept very well last night for the first time on the trek.  I'm beginning to get into this thing!