Shala River

It's an early 6am start this morning. I have left all my stuff outside the dorm so as not to disturb the girls. It's a 10 minute walk to catch the bus and 30 minutes to find which one you are on as there are so many.Its about 1.5 hrs on the bus as we snake around the mountain pass with beautiful views. We descend the bus at the entrance to a tunnel and as we walk through cars are passing us. There are a lot of people waiting to board the multiple ferries and I get up top where at least there is shelter. A guy comes on selling fruit and honestly the fruit and veg here are amazing because every thing is home grown. He asks for 400 which equates to 4 euro and as I'm on the boat eating them I realise they are crawling with ants , I'm not about to waste anything so I brush them off and eat them but for the first time here I feel ripped off by being a tourist. The boat journey is 3 hours but what a ride. We sail through huge mountains and the beautiful clear water glistens off the limestone. You would seriously think you were in Thailand. I meet a couple from Israel and they have a bottle of whiskey which they are keen to share and once that is finished out comes a bottle of vodka flavoured with Akai. I'll be drunk before I get off.
Everything is really organised here and a bus is waiting for us as the ferry docks. We get an opportunity to eat and wee and a quick cigarette. On board the bus one of the young couples realised they have left a bag on the first bus. The driver also has a wallet of a Saudi guy who has left it on the bus. It's got his driving license and credit card in There is an Arabic guy on the bus and between us we try and find him on Instagram and message him. The bus literally drops me at the side of the road and I walk down a track to find the guest house. I'm greeted by a great bunch of people who are heading out for lunch. As we make our way back to the road a bus is coming along and I stick my thumb out and crazily the bus stops. It's funny as it's the guy from the docks and the seven of us get on the bus sitting on the floor.. He takes us up to the village and recommends a restaurant to eat at. We enjoyed food and then take a dip in the glacier lake . Seriously it is so so beautiful but soon cold. You can literally only stay in there for a few minutes. We walk back to the hostel which takes about 15 minutes. We all share a dinner cooked by the guesthouse and another added bonus is the fact that I don't have to get in a bunk bed. After dinner we set up the phone to watch the football and 10 minute intro the game the owner brings a television to the back of the house. The kindness shown here is amazing. Him and his daughter sit with us to watch the football as we are watching the daughter points out the wolves in the mountains howling. It's at moments like these whereim sitting in the middle of the mountains watching the world cup on a television with the wolves howling in the background that makes travelling like this worth it.Read more