May 23 & 24, Trekking Day Two and Three

Even being on vacation, I cannot sleep past 5:30 a.m. So I awoke with the mountains and the early birds, the sky was pink and blue and the clouds had cleared a nice views of the range. I began to pack my gear, put back on my boots, and woke up Elise and Vesa to begin first full day of trekking. We were headed towards the town of Gomson. Our path wasn't hard to follow. We cut through big corn mazes leading us to beautiful waterfalls and open fields. The sun was hot even in the early morning. The jungles are so tightly packed that there wasn't a chance for a breeze of wind to cool us off. Without fail every village we came to, Vesa stopped for a Coca-Cola. I still don't know how he drank all that sugar in this humid environment. I would have killed over.

We passed many children in their school outfits traveling to the next town. Namaste, Namaste! They were all so eager to say hello and give you big smiles. As we were walking a few small children came out from the corn fields and began to follow us, "Sweets?! Sweets?!" They were asking for chocolates and candy. "Sorry no no sweets" and I kept moving. That wasn't going to cut it for one little girl. She grabbed onto my hands, and began to crack my knuckles as she demanded sweets. For being four or so, she had quite a strong grip! I had to almost wrestle her off and book it, I thought for sure she was going to break my hands. And that is why you should not give children candy, they go mad for it.

After about 6 hours of trekking up and down rolling rocky hills and in between jungles we came to a bridge that over looked a beautiful big waterfall with many pools underneath. We were burnt, sticky, and our backs needed a rest from our packs so we all looked at each other and agreed to climb down the hill and swim. The water was so refreshing and it over looked the vast hills down the river which we had just traveled through.

We jumped in and began to climb higher on the falls to the upper pools to stand under the falling water. But leave it up to me to be the first to get hurt. As I was climbing, my feet began to cramp from the cold water. I slipped, fell down off the boulders and hit my leg hard on the bottom rocks. Well falling is nothing new for me so I proceeded back up the boulder. But wow did my leg hurt! I decided maybe to get out of the water and make sure everything was ok, probably just a bruise. Yes there was a bruise and my shin was very swollen and I had a very very deep cut.. actually two very deep cuts. My first reaction, seriously, was to pull out a small needle and thread from my first aid kit and begin to sew my shin back together. It wasn't looking very good. But the idea of sewing my own.. well I just put a lot of big bandages on it and hoped for the best.

We got to Gomson late afternoon. Our room came with its own complimentary spider, this one even bigger then the previous friend we found. Our hotel overlooked this deep lush valley and on the other side of the river was a massive waterfall. Spectacular! We had dinner under a grass hut overlooking the falls, the rushing water and vibrant green trees was picture perfect. This night we were joined by huge beetles landing all over us and our food. How many more days until we were out of the king-kong sized bug land? Well overall it was a great second day and my leg was feeling strong so I decided not to stitch it. Phew!

May 24, we had a very long and very high ascent to accomplish today. Elise and I arose early and skipped breakfast to get some of the climb out of the way before the hot sun hit us. I had been taking Nepali lessons for a few months before I came on the trip and I was excited to pass the local farmers and ask for directions and talk about the trail in Nepali. When that sun hit it would laugh at my SPF 30 and torch my skin. We were consuming so much water as we went up, up, and up. Our packs felt heavier then ever. We were stopped by a Spanish couple who were on their way back from a 20 day trek. They were making a video of their journey so we gave them an interview, received some well wishes, and proceeded on up the rocky trails, through the jungles, over the bridges, back up the rocky trails. At the top of a long boulder stairway was a small restaurant (they just pop up every now and then) that overlooked another huge waterfall. We stopped for a meal and watched the water fall, all thinking how good it would be to jump off the cliff into the cool pool. The wonderful thing about this waterfall was when the sun hit it just right it would cast a clear and colorful rainbow all along the rock face and trees. It was brilliant. I could have stared for hours in amazement.

After lunch we began to climb up and up again. This time out of the trees and into the large fields of marijuana. They were quite beautiful and spread all over. We passed many grass hut villages along the way and stopped to watch the women prepare grain and work in the fields. It was a 10 hour day and we were losing energy towards late afternoon, which was also the steepest part of our climb that day. A soldier came out of the trees to greet us as we were moving along. They were blasting the side of the mountain, where we were walking, and he needed to move us quickly before they set off the dynamite. Good idea! He led us up a steep cliff that traversed around the mountain, high above the mountain they were blasting into. We shared the road with porter horses wonderfully decorated in colorful headpieces and bells. As I did every time I passed the horses and mules, I gave them some encouragement because they have a hard job and I appreciated much the rice they brought to the villages.
Men with big chicken cages strapped to their heads and backs also ran alongside of us and the horses, we were all trying to book it off the hills before the blasting.

We arrived in Tal around 6:00 p.m. and headed to the last lodge in town. We were exhausted. It had been a long and eventful day. The sun had finally started to set and the cool evening air was a blessing. Tonight we met Felix and Max, two young men from Germany. We had dinner with them and exchanged life stories. They were a lot of fun, first time out on their own seeking adventure and definitely had great spirits about them.

No matter how strenuous the day was or how much I wanted to toss my pack into the valleys below, at the end of the day it all felt well. My friend Bill always says something to the effect of "nothing nature is rushed but yet everything is accomplished" That's how I feel about this trek. There's no way to rush it and we can only travel as far as our bodies and minds will let us, but at the end of the day I felt that however far we got and whatever we did or saw was exactly how it was suppose to be. Tomorrow is another day of new sights and challenges. But for tonight, we are in Tal.