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We left Tatopani a bit earlier because of the long hike ahead to Ghorepani. The name "Ghorepani" derives from ghore meaning "horse" and pani meaning "water". Historically, Ghorepani was an important place along the road to the mountains for watering your horses and donkeys.
The hike to Ghorepani involved about 6 to 7 hours of climbing. Tatopani was at an elevation of 1190 meters and Ghorepani at 2750 meters, a gain of 1060 meters (3475 feet). The weather was partly sunny and very humid. After 45 minutes of climbing, we caught up with Ville, Anna, and Eusman and their guides and porters, and hiked with them for a bit. We were hiking through the green, steep, terraced foothills of the Himalaya. Everywhere were farms and small houses with the occasional village nestled into the hillside. There were no views of the major peaks due to the clouds.
At one point, a group of high school-aged girls passed us heading downhill. As they passed me, the giggled and kept looking in my direction. After they had passed, I continued to hear them talk and giggle and when I turned around I found them looking back at me. One of the
guides shouted out to them asking them what was so funny. When they answered, the guide burst out laughing and hollering. Apparently, one of the girls had found me quite attractive and was "interested" in me. Another guide asked me whether I wanted to turn around straight away and head back in the direction the girls were headed. I laughed and politely declined. We all thought it was pretty funny. Nice to know that at age 36, I can still turn the head of a Nepali high school girl!
After lunch in Shikha, we continued upwards. We gradually left Ville, Anna, Eusmaan, Dol and Dol, and the others behind and I did not see them for the rest of the trek. Over lunch I had learned that Anna's brother was making a summit attempt on Everest that day or the next and was anxious for email to check on how he had done.
As climbed, we met up with a 13 year old boy named Krishna. Since Krishna did not have school that day, he was headed to Ghorepani with a plastic water bottle full of ghee (clarified water buffalo butter) to sell. His brother worked at one
of the hotels in Ghorepani and would be staying with him. Kapil is very good with kids. He talks to almost every kid we passed along the way, and he soon struck up a conversation with Krishna. The two of them walked ahead of me, talking and laughing. When Kapil farted, he tried to blame it on Krishna, and we all laughed. Krishna shared his bananna flavored gum and coriander candies with us. He also found a tree with tart, edible fruits on it, and shared what he picked with us. From time to time, Kapil and Krishna would hold hands, as is common for Nepali male friends, or Kapil would put his hand on Krishna's back. We learned that Krishna wanted to be a teacher when he grew up. I wanted to get a picture of Kapil and Krishna, but had buried my camera in my pack because it was starting to rain a bit. I figured that I would get my chance for a photo when we arrived in Ghorepani and I would also give him a chocolate bar as a thank you for his company and for sharing his candy with us, but as we arrived in
Ghorepani it began to dump rain and Krishna, far ahead of us, took off to the hotel where his brother was working. Kapil and I were too wet, cold, and exhausted to chase after him, so we went into our hotel. I did not see Krishna again.
In the hotel, I took a gloriously hot shower. Then I came down to the dining area where there was a wood stove fashioned from an old oil drum. The stove warmed the room nicely, and I hung up my wet clothes to dry. An older New Zealand couple were there. The Kiwi pair were dining in my hotel because earlier they had seen the hotel owner preparing freshly picked bamboo shoots for curry and the hotel owner had suggested that they come over for dinner. I sampled some of the bamboo shoot curry with my dinner and they were delicious. The Kiwis, Kapil, and I talked about Nepali, American, and New Zealand politics as well as the hiking.
It rained for most of the evening. Our original plan for Ghorepani was to get up at 4 am the next morning and climb Poon Hill for a sunrise view of the
mountains. The view from Poon Hill is supposed to be magnificent and include peaks such as Annapurna I, Annapurna South, and Machhapuchhare. Kapil was hopeful that the night time rain would mean clear skies in the morning. He said that he would check the weather in the morning and wake me if it were clear. Otherwise, I would get to sleep in.
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