Part 2 - And up and down and up and down

Today is a long day. Our destination for today is Dorpathan (2900m). We are crossing several small villages with many, many, many little children. It strikes me: you see a lot of little children, but less adolecents. Maybe they have left the villages? Anyhow, they know what to do during long nights and cold winters....Kids love our digital camera's. Sometimes we are covered with children when we show them the pictures on the screen. Nice to give them something back this way.

Dhorpatan is a vast swampy grassland, a former airstrip. Actually, it is a Tibetan refugee camp. In the afternoon, some Tibetan women come to us, wanting to sell some Tibetan handicraft and souvenirs. I buy a beautiful string of prayer beads. I will always remember that I have bought it from the friendly Tibetans. They say we are the first tourists in one year. Though the Dolpo trekking is routed here as well, it doesn't seem very attractive for foreigners, that's for sure. In the evening, it starts to rain....and it doesn't stop. Early in the morning, I already expect that we have to pack all our bags in the rain. Luckily, at 6 a.m. it's dry. Paul, our Dutch guide, is not so lucky. That night, he putted his shoes in the outer tent, not realizing that the zipper was not fully closed. The result: a completely water filled trekking boot!

The day starts pretty fne. The sun is shining and we have a good mood. We expect several stiff climbs. After a breathtaking first climb, we are standing on the first pass, Phaguni Duri (4000m). We really feel the altitude already. At lunch, the firt raindrops are falling. O o this doesn't look good. We are only halfway...

Then, hell breaks loose. Raining raining raining ...never ending raining. The temperature suddenly drops. Covered in rainsuits and all sweaty inside, we scramble to the top of the next pass. It rains so heavily, that even our water resistent clothes are no longer water resistent. We both have a terrible mood, but we stay pretty calm. (Rick and I hate rain and as soon as it continues to rain, we start swearing. Not a good habit, we work on it).

The decend is pretty cool-despite the rain. It is so muddy that it is funny. Our shoes completely disappear in the mud and we glide off the mountain. And...on arrival: the rain stops suddenly. We just have enough time to set up the tent. Thankur (3250) is nothing. Or actually: it is one house. Or hotel. Or hut. Or ruin. Or stable for goats, cows and chicken. Anyway: they say it is a bed and breakfast (really???). Mmm. We don't care, because it's warm in there. We sit down around the fireplace to let our clothes dry a bit. No dry thread left and it's very nive to become warm again. We have to get used to the thick black smoke in the little room. This cannot be good for your health. At the other end, the overcrowded carbondioxide producing highways in our country may be more harmful....

That night, it's raining and raining. All our baggage is moist. I'm glad the next morning the rain has stopped. It is a foggy day and we start our walk in a dampy forest. Beard moss all over the place and a lot of mud. We walk up and down the slopes in this tropical rainforest. Because it is so foggy, you can't see anything. We are walking on a ridge, but on both sides you see nothing than clouds.

At the end of the trip, we can see our next port of call: Pelma (2525m). After a steep descend, we see the schoolyard but.....it is no suitable campsite. In earlier years, the school playground was an excellent campsite. But now they are building a new school, so the whole playground has become a construction site. But: no worry. As soon as we arrive, some shovels are arranged and my own Bob the Builder (Rick) starts to flatten the ground. The result: a perfect place to camp! Now the tents can dry. As soon as we wants to install ourselves, we are surrounded by an enourmous crowd of little children. They are gazing at us for hours -  I think this event is a welcome distraction!

So far, our trekking is pretty tough. I have a lot of respect for my parents, who did this trekking as well. The difficulty is, that you have many steep climbs and decends. So after several days walking, we have ended up only at 2500m. We are sweaty and smelly - we did not had the chance to wash our clothes. We have to walk several days before we have a day off.

From Pelma, we have an excellent view of our next day trail. We have to go all the way up - an incredible climb. But....the next morning the weather is fantastic. It's very hot actually. But no worry: we have fans and groupies along the road. In the first village high on the hill, the whole community is standing on their rooftops, smiling, waving and cheering. We can't stop taking pictures.

Our campsite is Dhule (3333m): a very small villge, consisting of a few houses. We camp on some terraces on the mountain hill. A very nice place. It is a very authentic place and the people tell us that in July last year, they have seen the last toursits. When they see us, they are stunned. Little children are very shy and hide themselves. But, after a few hours, they are so curious, that they leave their hidingplaces! (See the amazing Teletubby outfit of this little fellow. He immediately stole my heart). Rick is injured. While putting up the tent, he pushed too hard on one of the pins. So he pressed it straight into his hand. Auwch. No big deal. Our experience: a trip without an injury is no trip at all. (We are crazy, I know).

I'm looking forward to the next days. we will leave the forest behind (yeeha!). You have two kinds of people: 'bush people' and 'no bush people'. We are no bush people: we like open plains, deserts, stoney cliffs and bare mountains. In about 3 days, we have our first day off. We are longing for it, after a 16 days walk. Our most solid CPI (critical performance indicator) for measuring trekking difficulty is the servings of peanuts already eaten. This day, the first serving is digested.