Day 6: Hile - Pokhara (via Naya Pul)

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And Who Knows Which is Which and Who is Who

We head off at 8am for a three-hour walk to Naya Pul where our chariot awaits to carry us across the finish line in Pokhara. Today we are well rested and, with oat porridge in our bellies, we set off at a sterling pace (at least by our standards). It’s not long before we notice that "The Missile" is hot on our tails. We up the tempo, determined to complete one day before Tina does. Babu is bemused by this.

I look over my shoulder from time-to-time to check for Tina’s whereabouts. She is nowhere to be seen. We reach a river crossing and, following an abortive attempt to cross it, are forced to wade barefoot across the slippery bed of rocks. Conscious of the time it has taken to negotiate this obstacle, we check again for Tina’s whereabouts. Again, she is nowhere to be seen. Hmmm. We quickly pass through Birethanti and soon arrive in Naya Pul where we begin the final climb to the finish line. We are aware that we will clock in a time of two hours - one hour ahead of schedule. We barely have time to appreciate our efforts when Babu spots Tina climbing the final ascent ahead of us! 6-0 to the German!

As we sit in the taxi during the drive back to Pokhara, I reflect on what went wrong today. Perhaps Tina’s guide took her on a faster route? Was Babu in cahoots with the German, sabotaging our gold medal efforts by taking us down a slower route? P'raps he was simply trying to teach me a valuable lesson in life?

Back in Pokhara, we sit in Love Kush (!) sipping drinks. I pick up a copy of the Kathmandu Post and strangely find myself reading my horoscope…

Aquarius: The key word in a relationship (especially the one you have with yourself) is ‘acceptance’. Can you observe your life without passing judgment? Can you accept all facets of yourself? Can you practice kindness regularly?

Hmmm.

For the sake of completeness, here’s what was published for Cav and Kieron...

Scorpio (Cav): Sometimes the real meaning isn’t in the words that are spoken between two parties. Instead, it lies in what goes unsaid. Listen to vocal tones, the conversational pace, the body language. Speaking can only do so much.

Aries (Kieron): That whole eye-for-an-eye policy just means that eventually all the parties involved will go blind. Ever thought about operating with another body part--like turning the other cheek? It’ll get you where you want to go.


Cav's epilogue:
Today's been something of a tale of the tortoise and the hare. We penciled ourselves in as the tortoise to Tina's hare as we set out to prove that the plodders would win through in the end. As it turns out we were probably the hare. What's interesting is that Tina was almost certainly the hare too. So who's the tortoise I hear you ask?

Well, for the last few days we've kept passing a couple of British girls who, slowly but purposefully, have simply kept on going. At times they’ve looked exhausted. However, while we were running the gauntlet with our Deutsche hasen (that’s German for hare folks), our plucky tortoises from Peckham were already back in Pokhara enjoying a glass of Nepalese plonk, having completed the trek the day before. We later learnt that they’d been trekking for nearly a fortnight and had completed more than the prescribed distance on a number of days and were soon to head off to Everest for more of the same punishment. I make that 6-6 with England finally winning on penalties!

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Photos

Padi fields...
...and not the only 'padi' observed today - Stace threw one following our defeat to "The Missile"

Ba - ba - ba - ba - Baburam!
Our fine guide, Babu, sporting one of those warm Nepalese smiles (or is it hiding a dastardly deception?)

Mission accomplished!
The end of the trek. A hot shower, fine Italian food and a beer in front of the telly, watching the end of the football season beckons.