Trip to Nepal
October 2006
Day 6 - Chamje to Bagarchhap

 

Donkey trains could be any size from about a dozen to about five dozen.  You could be traveling against them or with them.  They would generally avoid you, but you didn't want to be walking next to the edge of a cliff; you wanted to be on the rock wall side if donkeys were coming at you.

Days later, we'd be hit by wave after wave of these trains, so many that the traffic jams would become a major problem, with several donkey trains backed up at the suspension bridges along with foot traffic.

It was hot, more than hot enough for lizards to sun themselves happily on the rocks.  There were also some very large beetles.

We had just crossed this suspension bridge, when these three guys came along on the far side of the bridge and tried to get their two cows and a calf to go across the bridge.  One of the cows was refusing and they couldn't make it.  So one of the guys picked up the cow's calf to entice the cow to cross.  It was a very funny scene, and it did eventually work, but the cow was exploding piss and crap and the three guys were a mess.

Small temple - I guess it was Hindu, because it lacked Buddhist prayer flags.

Cute enough to grace a calendar.

Two sisters in Bagarchhap who ran, with the husband of the one on the left, the Marsyangdi Hotel and Lodge.

I hadn't been aware of how watery Nepal is.  It's awash in the stuff.  They have piping, rubber hoses, vinyl hoses, bamboo sluice sleeves, water coming out of taps without ever stopping.  Springs and waterfalls popping out of hillsides.  They irrigate their rice, corn, pumpkin, squash, cabbage and more.  They even have oranges, but it's like eating a wild variation before science bred the Florida naval like juicing oranges.  Even though it's said, and it is true, that everything tastes better on the trail, the oranges were still a bit sour.  Later I had apples, however, that were also wild but were absolutely delicious.  In these lower areas, banana grows wild too.


Day 7 - Bagarchhap to Chame