I had a fantastic sleep! I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the second day. I am surprised, my muscles feel great. No soreness. That's promising. I look outside the window hoping to view clear skies...... but no. The valley's are covered in fog. I can faintly see the outline of the ranges, oh well. Breakfast consists of porridge and fresh fruit, yum. A great way to start the day. We aim to start walking at 7:30 today as we have a long day ahead of us. To make day 3 easier (Day 3 is to be the hardest day) we have added some of day 3 to today. Instead of 4.5 hours, it will be about 9 hours today. Today's trek consists 890 mtrs ascent and 970 mtrs decent. Scott has taken charge and showing us the best exercises to loosen up the muscles. We finally head off at 7:45 am. We left Chisopani (meaning 'cold water')and walk down a steep track surrounded by scrub with a few rhododendron scattered in the mix while passing homes perched on the hillside.
The women are tendering their buffalo's and goats. They seem to be an inseparable part of the farming community. Most mornings, their cows and buffalo’s get a loving wash and are offered food before the days activities begin. The cow is seen as an animal that has power to provide the person whatever they ask for.
We walk through a beautiful little village, where the children were hanging off the building yelling out "Nasmaste", meaning hello. They run up to offer us beautiful flowers however they did want something in return. Chocolate, sweets, pens, chocolate, sweets they continue to chant. After some discussion we felt it wasn't a good idea to offer any sweets as there is no dental care and pens can be used as currency rather than for schooling. After adventuring up a little 'hill' we reached a teahouse for a break so those in the team could fix their pending blisters. Although comspeed blister plasters are great, hikers wool is absolutely amazing. It is 100% NZ pure lambs wool. I will definitely be buying some when I get back. I fully recommend it! We continued to climb the many exhausting steps (made out of stone)
for a few more hours until we finally reached out destination for lunch. What an incredible view! It felt like I was at the top of the world! We had extensive views of the mountains and the terraces. It was absolutely stunning. (photos to come)
The terraces were a green brown color(apparently during the monsoon they go a very bright green), blue when they are far away, dotted with white where there are villages catching the sun. (Photos really don’t capture the incredible beauty of the place). The browny green of the natural vegetation is interspersed with horizontal green streaks, associated with villages, where they have terraced the ground for agriculture.
After a yummy lunch of fried rice, vegetables and yummy green curry sauce we continued to climb for another half an hour and finally begun our descent through rhododendron forest until we descended upon a little village, where we were meant to stay the night. However, what stood before us however was another steep climb. Okay, Lee-Ann, it is time to suck it up and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Off we go... each step is another step closer. At about half way up the mountain, I see Vicki waiting for me. "Lee-Ann, I trust your opinion and I just want to ensure that I am not going insane. Does that look like a dog's head?" I just cracked up laughing! She was right, or maybe we were both going insane! There was a huge rock face in the side of the mountain however, when we were diagonal to the rock face, it really did like a German Shepherds head. Sad I know.
About 30 minutes later we reached our rest stop. Christian announced it was his 50th birthday shortly and wanted to celebrate with us by giving us good old home baking yummy! It was so good. I can't believe he carried this heavy box of baking up all the hills. He's the one who is mad! Okay only another 1.5 - 2 hours to go. Focus.
We continue to walk past homes and even a monastery until we finally reached the top of the hill. We still have at least 45 mins to go. It is starting to get really dark and the fog begins to move in. It is 5:30 pm now. I begin to wonder whether we will reach our destination by dark. The light becomes dim, the clouds continue to move in and the skies start to rain. The path is narrow and rocky at times. Suddenly out of the fog we see one of the porters rushing to bring us coats. We continue down the track hoping each corner will bring us the sight of our home for the night. Time seems to move so slowly. There was only six of us as the others had raced ahead. It is starting to get really cold and then we suddenly hear noises. With great relief it was the rest of the crew waiting for us at the tea house. We were ushered into a dark smokey room with wooden tables and seats and a huge fire belly blazing away. What a welcome sight that was. Apparently we have hot showers tonight. I am so excited and so exhausted! We had walked from 7:45 am till 6:15 pm that evening. Hmmm, I wonder what tomorrow will bring. It is meant to be our hardest day to come. Bed, I can hear you calling. Although a tight squeeze (no space between the beds - twin share and only enough room to close the door) I fall into bed and I am sure I am fast asleep before my head hits the pillow. End of Day 2.
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