Phaplu to Junbesi

We stopped in Phaplu at a tea house for lunch and water and then we started off towards Junbesi.

It was so awesome to be finally walking. At every turn there was something interesting to see. Not many tourists go this way so we were a bit of an oddity and locals seemed curious about us. We passed a school and the children waved to us and yelled Namaste until we were out of sight.

It happened that many boys who were students at a Buddhist monastery were on the trail with us. They had been at a different monastery for a ceremony and were on the way back to Junbesi. Our guide struck up a conversation with three of these students and we ended up walking with them for most of the way. They shared with us fascinating details about their schooling. They said they had been learning English from an Italian fellow, go figure!! They were shy to speak with us at first but eventually they got quite chatty.Read more