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As usual the early birds were up before the morning tea exploring the surroundings and soaking up the mountain views. Bed-tea was at 0630 hrs and the row of cocoons along the hut floor slowly emerged to accept the morning brew. Breakfast was outside in the fresh air surrounded by the dzo and horses. Porridge was good, as was the mash potato and cheese toasted sandwiches. Today’s trek was along a muddy track through pine and rhododendron forest. The start point was at 3700m with a prediction that we would be going downhill. The lunch stop 3 hours later was at 3696m, so despite some of the steep slopes in both directions the prediction was nearly right! We could hear the river for most of the morning but it was falling away down the valley and we appeared to be contouring around the hillside. In some places we were surrounded by mist and occasionally the sun broke through to warm our tired limbs.
After the lunch-stop at Phedang (the night of the thousand yak bells) we set off down hill for the final leg to our night stop. The path was steep and we lost about 800m in about a kilometre. The bamboo was visible again in the forest and the air was humid. The path was slippery in places and the dzo struggled to keep their footing with their heavy loads. The dog was still with us and he managed to get too close to one of the dzo, which resulted in a kick for his troubles. Thankfully, the muddy path had been repaired with logs to make it passable in the worst places. As the team gathered at the teahouse the mist cleared, the rain came and the midges started to bite. Our day’s journey was finished and we relaxed over drink. As the rain increased to a full downpour the team quickly dispersed. Some went to the tents and others ran to the hut where the shopkeeper lit a fire and served more drinks. Thankfully, Tega decided to book us into the trekking hut so we did not have to endure wet tents for our last night.
The cook team prepared a special meal to celebrate the last night of the trek and we had a small party. The trekking team provided some drinks from the local teahouse to keep spirits high and the support team provided the entertainment with singing and dancing. We all sat on chairs around the room like wallflowers, clapping and smiling whilst the all-male support team danced the night away. There is something in our culture that struggles with all male dancing but we were all dragged up by our party hosts to trip the light fantastic. We even managed to sing a few songs ourselves. Some of the other trekking groups called by the hut to see what all the noise was about and they joined in the singing for a short time. It all ended before 2200 hrs in part due to the poem in the style of Noel Coward and we were all able to get some well-earned rest.
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