The long day!

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Day 9 Lamagaon (3300m)– Lokpa (2240m)

A long day that deserves a long blog!

Up relatively early and Gordie feeling a fair bit better so decided to make it a big one and try to make up a bit of time. Not sure if we’ll get to Lokpa but thought we’d give it a go. Himal again carried Gordie’s pack so he’s optimistic about how it’ll go.

Lots of ups and downs to start with.

On the way down one hill came across an area of dead plants. Seems they were wild marijuana, which is prolific here, that Himal thought had been killed off by the local police. These were the only big plants we’ve seen but the sides of track are frequently full of very small plants. Been thinking it would be interesting to rub one into the outside of a backpack to test the dogs on arrival back in New Zealand. Unsurprisingly there are limited volunteers for the experiment.

We then proceeded to the rockslide area we’d crossed on the way up. Again a character building experience, in places only about a foot wide and one step wrong and you’re toast. All made it across ok but coming up we’re some other trekkers who looked very unnerved by it.

Stopped after about three hours at the little tea house at Gho for the obligatory lemon tea. Very basic and frankly the worst lemon tea of the trip so far. Hard to understand how it is possible to muck up putting tea bags in a thermos and adding boiling water, but these guys did! Himal suggested we buy a packet of the local biscuits, turns out they were crackers of some sort that would have been good with blue cheese but on their own we’re pretty average. So all in all not our best stop.

From just after the rockslide we had the choice of following the route we had come up the valley or branching out and using the lesser used track on the south side of the river that goes through the village of Ripchet which almost directly opposite Chumling where we stayed earlier.

The walk from Gho to Ripchet was really enjoyable. Generally in bush and under trees. It had the obligatory ups and downs but really relaxing. It was obviously the alternative track as we saw no other people except those at the few houses that we past.

Ripchet, like it would seem every village here, was at the top of a hill so a long puffy climb up to it. On the river side it looked uninspiring but when we finally got there the land on the other side of the village (over the ridge line) was flat and fertile with villages planting crops.

We were accosted by a group (perhaps posse is a better description) of local kids. They looked like they ranged in age from the obvious leader who was about 8 to a little girl who was two or three. They also looked like they hadn’t had a wash since the last spring, if then!

The kids followed us to the edge of the fields where we stopped for a drink and snack. The eldest one then entertained us with his ability to parrot anything we said to him. It was actually incredible to see, everything we said he could repeat back. I’ll try to post the video this if it works.

The path from Ripchet down was then concrete steps, a testimony to the stupidity of NGOs spending money here. Ripchet is off the main trail, has only one small tea house and the track away from it to the north is narrow and in our whole time on it we saw no one else. There was probably the equivalent of at least two Hakas (600m drop) which actually were harder on our bodies than probably any other part of the trek to date. Everyone had sore knees, tonight the tea house will surely have a subtle aroma of Voltaren!

At the bottom of all the steps and one suspended walkway we came to the bridge we’d previously crossed on the way to Chumling. There was a small encampment there cutting and stacking timber. The guys taking the timber away were carrying six planks with a total weight, we estimated, of over 80kg. I tried lifting one and couldn’t yet these little Nepalese guys just rolled it onto there backs and steadily plodded up the mountainside towards Chumling.

After the brief stop to watch the timber porters it was a long but uneventful trudge to Lokpa. By the time we got their we had been going for over 9.5hours with only about 3/4hour of break, so we were all very weary and happy to finally be there.

Lokpa had the first internet for the last week so we all made the most of it contacted loved ones and friends back home.

Because we were now back to 2300m altitude we could have a beer which was well enjoyed by all!

An early night all too tired to even contemplate cards!

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Photos

The kids at Ripchet
These kids really were the highlight of a very tough day.