Part 4 - Towards unexplored territories

Wow we are so happy with the day off at Sahartara. After a 16-days walk, this day is very welcome. After the rugby-party in the morning, Rick and I decide to descend to Tarakot.

This lower village is very authentic and has many, many chortens. I can't get enough of them and take thousands of pictures. Going down is a bit easier then going up. We walk on our sandals and it is bloody hot. But heh, you have to do something on your day off isn't it?

We look forward to the coming days. The next morning, we will have a half day walk on known territory: after that, we will enter an unknown area. After the junction with the Tarap Valley (leading to Do Tarap, a high light of the Dolpo trekking), we will continue to Terra Incognita. Exiting! So, we descend to Tarakot and walk the next hours along the river to the Tarap Valley.

We cross field of buckweed and fields of....cannabis. Incredible mani walls and several chortens along the way. Rick and I are walking all alone, just following a high path above the river. We have lunch at the Tarap junction. And then...the adventure begins. It is very exiting when you go to explore unknown areas. We soon find out that our map is a 'creative' one. But there is a good trail, so we are just following it. It must lead to somewhere....We meet some young adults and ask them about the Mu La. They say it is accessible, so that is good news. (But...Nepali don't say 'no', so you can not be too sure).

The path is exhilirating. It is very, very steep and going up and down. I allways wonder who has ever cut out all this in the rocky mountain walls.

That must have been so much work. It's very very hot: I even have blisters on my ears. The hard way has begun! We walk through pine forests and see rocky mountains ahead of us. Late afternoon, we cross a side arm of the river. There is a brand new bridge (???) and a fantastic camp place. Based on our map, we thought this would be a good spot - and it is. The side arm is called Mushi Khola. That evening, it is full moon. The stars are twinkling and the moonlight is so bright, you don't need a headlight. This is amazing. You can nearly touch the Milky Way....

The next day, the weather is fantastic. We are longing for the bare mountains which are so  Dolpo-like. And yes, after going up and down (Nepali flat) through sandy terrain, we see a huge river bed. Lunch time! Rick and I have brought some old trekking meals (from our trip to Turkey) and decide to eat them. It is a very welcome pasta meal! After lunch we follow a spectacular trail along the river. We see yaks and after a while, we enter an astonishing, small village called Kakotgoan.

People are very surprised to see us, because this is such a remote area. And...I can hardly believe it..in the local 'bar 'they offer us coca cola and beer. Ok it is Tibetan, but WOW this is amazing. It is called the hard way, but this is an  incredible surprise. An offer we can't refuse. We find out that it is only a two days walk to Tibet from here. (For Nepali :-)) The 'bar' is someone's house which we enter by a small ladder. In the dark living room annex kitchen we all sit on the floor. On the wall are shelves with all kinds of pots and pans. This visit is unforgettable! The local Lama invites us to his monastry, which has been renovated recently.

To our surprise, just outside the village we see a brand new building. This is surreal, compared to the old houses right next to it! We donate some money and continue our journey of today. The last hours are spectacular. Ladakh-like sceneries, old chortens and mani walls make our day. On a plateau besides the river, we decide to make camp. It is incredibly windy, so we call this camp Windy Camp (3300 m). What a place.....

It's Tamme's birthday today, so we have cake for breakfast! Yeah! Again an incredible footpath along the river. Going up and down and up and down. After a few hours, Paul suggests to climb a bit higher (app. 600 m more) to visit a village called Gahrengaon. We are a bit early and the weather is good, so we all climb up to the village. We cannot imagine that there would be a village in this bizarre, harsh landscape.

After a stiff, windy climb, the village pops up. It is completely incorporated in the landscape. We are so happy to see this. And...so are the villagers. They are very surprised to see us and soon we are invited for noodesoup. That is so weird: Chandra (our sirdar) is cooking noodle soup for us in the house of a stranger! We enjoy it very much and after a 1,5 hour break, we follow the path all the way down to another amazing village called Terangoan.

After a while, Paul has good news: there is a camping place for us. In fact, it is a kind of terraced camping: we are allowed to camp on an old rice paddie. The whole village is surrounding us while we are unpacking our stuff. They have never seen tents, sleeping bags, cameras etc etc.

We are looking at them and they are looking back. A lot of them have sore eyes because of the altitude, dry air and dust and are asking for medicines.