I am clean(er), showered and partially dressed in clean clothes. ‘Partially’ as I only have a clean t-shirt and panties remaining to me, and I don’t want to put on the other, slightly grubby, clothing till I have to. I am resting in my room in Syarubesi. It has two beds with adequately clean sheets […]
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The lasting image
The image that think will stay with me from this walk is not the mountains or the waterfalls or even the landslides, but of the old woman in the Langtang teahouse, methodically finishing her dinner every night and then, equally methodically, raising her plate to her face to lick it clean in long, vertical strokes, […]
Up to the top
I decided that instead of going to Kyanjin Gompa, the top of the Lantang walk, I would stay at Langtang. Or rather, that I would go for the day and then return to spend the night at Langtang. Since I was already feeling the altitude a bit this seemed wise, moreover it meant that we […]
What a night
What a night indeed. About an hour after dinner (daal bhat which I shall never have again) I felt funny about the stomach. Oh fuck, I thought, and indeed it was so. Food poisoning such as I’d never had in memory. The toilet was beyond repellent, think Trainspotting but in a Himalayan village, with an […]
Slow going
What a day. Beautiful, of course, as we followed a rushing river upstream, climbing through its valley, clambering over landslides, crossing rope (steel) bridges, rising and falling but mostly rising. I had warned my guide that I would be slow, and I was. The advantage of travelling by myself came home to me as had […]
The luxury option
I was collected bang on time and then, of course, it took a while for matters to settle. I was taken to the place where the jeep departs, as is often the way it was basically a ditch on the side of the ring road from which a jeep erupted every 15 minutes or so. […]
Final day
All preparation is done, payments made, and I am off to Langtang tomorrow me. This afternoon I met my porter, a man in his fifties I think. He seemed very pleasant though not talkative. I hope he will take a good bit of my burden as I am not thrilled with the weight of my […]
Slumming it in Thamel
Here I am in Thamel. Early this morning the Gentleman Friend and the Boddisatva left for their week-long conference. I stayed to pack and then took a taxi to Thamel where I am now staying in the Kathmandu Hub Hotel. It is very cheap, and certainly feels it. but it is mostly clean (with the […]
Tibetan horns
We went to see the Seeker in her monastery again, this time with an ulterior motive: we had been told on our last visit that these few days there was great festivities in the monastery for the birthday of the Guru Padmasambhava and we should drop by if we could. So we did, and arrived […]
Morning wo
In the morning, the Boddhisatva and I woke early so we went off to the alu wo (pakora) place for breakfast. Luckily breakfast places are open, though they seem to close very early and not even a cup of tea is available. The pakoras were fresh and delicious this morning and the light was clear. […]