Day 23 - Singing In the Rain

Tukuche to Ghasa

It is pouring again in the morning but I just can't stand still anymore. Therefore, after breakfast we are continuing our trek. Not only that, but I'm intending to carry the big backpack myself. I'm pissed off.
Pipi does not say anything although he's obviously unhappy about walking in the rain. He rolls up his pants and puts on his long raincover and looks very funny. His legs are so thin and it looks as if he had no pants or underwear on.

The stretchto Kobang is straightforward. We get there fast. And I'm singing in the rain. I feeel relieved and happy about moving on, even though the rain doesn't even lessen.
The vegetation changes slowly ad soon there are forests on both sides of the valley. I also see a few lost butterflies.
We reach Kokhetanti on the other side of the river over a suspension bridge after another hour. Here the trail is damaged and we need to follow a muddy workaround trail. he river valley also starts narrowing here. The volume of the water has increased dramatically because of the rain.

I have a technical problem: the backpack. it used to be extremely comfortable. I've used it for many years and even as recently as on the way to Tilicho Lake without any problems. It is not the weight, but rather the fact that it doesn't sit properly on the hips. It hurts and I discover the problem. I have no hips. Instead of sitting on the hips it now sits and rubs and presses on the bones.
Since I came to Nepal I didn't eat any meat. Rice and daalbhat every day.Funny, I do not miss meat at all in my diet. However, it looks like I miss the meat on my bones.
In spite of the rain I have to stop from time to time and try to readjust my pack. My pants are soaked by now, the gore-tex jacket, too, and the boots are almost there. But that's not a reason to give up.
We stop in Kalopani for lunch at a place where the women at the counter are busy chatting and chewing gum. Pipi shows me that he's soaked. I'm not doing any better though. Boots and socks are wet. T-shirt and underwear are wet, too. Fortunately, it is not cold.
However, by the time lunch finally is ready - almost 1 hour later - I am cold and shivering. It took them forever to prepare lunch. The longest time ever. At least after the hot soup I stop shivering.

Putting on the wet gore-tex jacket afterwards is totally unpleasant, but we do it after finishing lunch. I put on the backpack and start running in the rain to warm up. And I sing, I sing all the time. The rain doesn't bother me anymore, the pack I got used to and I've seen in the toilet why it hurts: there are 2 red swollen spots on my hip-bones the size of an egg.

The Kali Gandaki valley narrows shortly after leaving Kalopani. The river is a brown, dirty, scary torrent. And so are all its tributaries.
After crossing a suspension bridge the trail condition worsens steadily. We pass several spots where soil and rocks the size of fridges and even small cars have come down and cover the trail/road. Farther, we reach 2 big slide areas where the road has been completely covered by te mudy, brown, sticky mass. Just like everybody else we need to climb these up and get over. The boots sink into the sticky mud. I am happy for my gaiters which I had carried all the way but never wore before.
I am happy for the gaiters especially when I sink way above my ankles in the huge mass of the second slide. For a moment I feel panic. What if I can't pull myself out of here. The heavy pack is only contributing to me sinking deeper. But I'm happy for my poles and I manage to pull out my feet and step farther and over. Pipi breathes relieved. I can see he was scared. He stops a little farther to wash his boots. He got mud inside as well. I don't bother since I expect more similar thrills ahead.

Indeed, after a few minutes we reachthe big slide. We could see people from the distance negotiating the traverse. Porters with heavy loads, women with kids, trekkers. Pipi doens't even want to go check. He says "Trail very difficult. We can go around. Half an hour." I look at him and hesitate, but then I agree.

The workaround trail takes you very steeply up the slope. It is a dirty and wet trail but there's no real risk of slipping I find. At every step the boots stick to the brown mass to an extent where you need to work to make the next step.So I might get stuck there rather than slip down the slope. It goes up and up again and then traverses the slope and finally descents in switchbacks on a grassy slope where a herd of sheep is grazing. The dogs are watching us bored and lazy. No reaction there.
5 minutes later we reach the village of Ghasa. The weather suddenly looks as if it is going to clear up. What an unexpected turn after spending most of the day in pouring rain.
We stop at the Golden Inn Guest House which has nice attached bathrooms but no hot water and no electrivity. Never mind.

After a cold shower I feel refreshed and I am happy to switch to sandals. Next door a surprise: Gunhild and Johannes, a young and very nice German couple I met briefly in Kagbeni and then later in Marpha, are there. They had left Marpha before me but then spent 2 days in Kalopani waiting for the weather to improve. They, too, are frustrated about missing the views and they're thinking about getting up early in the morning and going back up to Kalopani for the views, then return and continue to Tatopani.
That's a great idea. I'm in!

Clean and fresh I take my camera and go exploring the surroundings. The sheep are just about to come down from the slope and they're fun to watch. It's a huge and noisy traffic jam. The sheep that have descended onto the road hve stopped. The ones above on the precipice look down and hesitate. The lambs are running around meeing for their moms. The shepherds are yelling and trying to get them all to move. The dogs are lazing around uninterested. It's fun watching.
It takes maybe 30 minutes to finally get the gang going. The smallest lambs are carried by the shepherds in the woven baskets on their back. Yu can hear their scared desperate mees. Eventually the dogs follow them lazily and bored.

I ask a shepherd what the dogs are for and he tells me to protect from the tiger. once in a while a tiger comes and attacks the herd. OK, I have to take that though I'm a little startled. I knew that tigers live down South in Terai and not up here at 2000m and above.