rainy night in Bhandar


dal baat lunch with milk tea


Shivalaya (my lunch spot on day 1)


drying corn along the trail


terraced hillsides outide of Jiri


starting out from Jiri


Hotel in Jiri

The first day of the trek was very eventful and stressful and exhilarating. I realized almost immediately after leaving Jiri that Peter was going to be hiking much much slower than I was. I could not go at his pace. I waited for him to catch up for the first couple of hours, but by the time I stopped for lunch, he was hours behind me, and I never saw him again. During this first day, I lost the trail once, going 20 minutes in the wrong direction across a ridge. I learned very quickly that asking children for directions is useless because they are so thrilled to be talking to a foreigner that they give an answer like, "yes! no!" But asking adults for directions is essential. I must have asked Nepalis 100 times which trail to take, and they never steered me wrong. These little dirt trails are filled with life; there are homes every couple hundred yards, and porters carrying things between towns. I happened to be traveling during the Dasain festival, which meant that some of the towns were virtually empty, but there were lots of city kids headed home over the hills, wearing flipflops and tight jeans . I met three Australians during lunch and walked with them and their guide for a few hours, giving me a chance not to have to worry about the route. This first day of walking was so beautiful and lush but also extremely difficult as well with a 900 meter ascent and 600 meter descent (get out your calculators, 1m equals 3.3 ft.). This would start the pattern for the next 6 days--up up up and down down down, straight up a mountain on steep switchbacks, and then down the other side. The most hilarious moment on this first day was when a woman carrying a 50 kilo bag of rice on her head (up a steep trail), stopped, leaned against the hill, and answered her cellphone. The trail was very slippery because of a recent rain, and I fell several times within the first hours. I soon picked up a good stick, though, which became my walking stick for the entire journey (it's back here in Kathmandu with me). It began to rain in the afternoon (this became the trend for the whole journey), and I arrived at my night's stop, Bhandar, feeling exhausted, and like I'd never done anything physically more difficult in my life. Bhandar is a tiny town of maybe 20 buildings, and I stayed at the welcoming Shangrila Lodge. I read by a single lightbulb while the owner's children did their homework across from me. I ate dal baat, served by the children, with the entire family watching me and a room full of porters next door. As is standard, I was offered extra helpings until I said "enough." I went to sleep wondering what the next days held in store for me.