Headed gingerly back down the valley from the snowbound Macchapuchhere base camp, sliding down steep banks where thesnow had compacted into ice from other hikers (even the porters fell over a few times !). Fell over fairly spectacularly myself, luckily managing to break the fall by a combination of my rucksack and watch... Further down the mountain reached the Jhinu hot springs near Tikhedhunga, having an afternoon off hiking to soak and steam in the bath temperature mineral water, occasionally interrupted by freezing dips in the adjacent glacial stream. Later watched some Nepalese style music and dancing, briefly joining in at the raucous and sociable teahouse, with a mix of local villagers, guides, porters and trekkers from all over the world. A couple more days of hillly walking brought us back to Pokhara, passing an impressive
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