We meet Jane and David

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October 23, 2008 Thursday about 7 a.m. Duvon

Day 2 (Wednesday, October 22) Left Tolka at 7:30 a.m. after breakfast. Food is very good and filling. Went downhill for several hours, up and down, across small bridges. Then down, down, to New Bridge: which is a very long bridge. And then, up, up, up. I was quite pleased not to be nearly as winded as yesterday and experimented with the “rest step” finally deciding that it is essentially walking up, taking one foot at a time like a toddler walking up steps. (Except not actually resting 2nd foot on the step, just pausing). Good thing that I did because Bruce got quite winded after lunch and I finally taught him - it is slow but he stopped being winded and actually arrived at Chamrong tired but breathing well. We spent the night at a lodge in Chamrong.

At lunch in Jhinu we met Jane and David from the UK, both retired and about our age and political persuasion. Jane lives in Wales and David in Sussex. (Guess where our next foreign adventure is going to be!) They are being guided by Dilman’s brother, Vim. They knew of Dilman and had tried (almost succeeding) to hire Dilman privately. Anyway Dilman had arranged to meet up with them and is now our guide but also sort of “head guide”. Bruce and I are happy with this arrangement because we enjoy being with another couple. I’ve just finished breakfast and am about ready to start off. Off to the toilet and tooth brushing!


Day 3 (Thursday, October 23, 2:25 p.m., Bamboo) We left Chamrong after Breakfast at about 7:45 a.m. Arrived here at Bamboo about 1:45. We’re eating lunch - very good. We started by going down, through the village of Chamrong, then up, then through a bamboo forest with monkeys and goats and birds. We leap-frogged with two quite young porters carrying baskets of soft drinks. one was playing on pipes as he walked. I walked a lot alone; a very good morning. Since I haven't mentioned it yet, the trail is usually quite narrow but well engineered. Steep parts consists of steps (sometimes literally thousands) built of stones. Typically the trail goes down a few thousand steps to a bridge, across the bridge, and then back up a few thousand steps.

(continued at about 6 p.m., Duvon) After lunch we continued on to Duvon - altitude 8016 ft. It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes. Lonely planet said it should take 1 hour and 5 minutes; so we did ok. We met a shepherd with many, many goats of different colors and length of hair. The goats were coming down the trail; the shepherd stationed by the stream and herding them across the stream and then up the hillside. Mostly he was just yelling at the goats when they stayed on the trail instead of heading up. Jane and I waited till most of the goats had gone by. I took a bunch of pictures of the kids.

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