Khopra to Pauduwar Trek Day 10

Today we hiked downhill on stairs 1600m. Our calves were screaming a bit from the day before. The stairs were being replaced in parts by one local man and the man who financed the project was overseeing. He dug out the area and hand placed each stone. We came back to the treeline of Rhododendruns and alpine flowers. We had a beautiful lunch spot hosted by a family with a cute kitten. The view was amazing. As we came into the village of Pauduwar ( pronounced powder), the gardens, flowers and old Stone buildings were prominent. It is Festival time and we could hear the music and celebrations all the way down the mountain. The locals paint their houses white at Festival time and one lady was covered head to toe in splattered white paint! We saw some ladies separating soy beans, and another 90 year old woman tieing off the corn husks for cattle. She was so beautiful with the nicest smile. Once we got settled and washed up, we had our hot drinks and then walked to the school just below us where lots of the local girls and women were playing volleyball. Our Porters usually join in and so they played too. We went into the school to meet the Headmaster. She has been Headmaster for 10 months. She was teaching prior and is local. They have no money from the government for resources. They rely on community donations. One of our group members presented her with some new basketballs. We then went to meet the local cheesemaker. He collects the milk from locals and other villages and makes the cheese from cows milk. He then sells it to hotels in the bigger centers. He pays himself and one employee and the rest goes to the local school. We bought 2 kg from him and we all split it. It was so delicious. We had our dinner and then our lead guide, Chitra made us a cake made of buckwheat and millet. It was really good. A nice way to end the day. A bit of info about the Festival time here in Nepal:

2024 - October 3 - 12 Dashain is the most important festival to Nepalis, and stretches over 2 weeks with various stages and events. It is a celebration of good prevailing over evil, and most families offer male goats, ducks, chickens, eggs and coconuts to the goddess Durga. They also smash pumpkins or watermelon if they dont want to offer a goatRead more