Tumbuk Kholā

A shorter one today because I'm tired (but mostly feeling better minus a cold). After stepping out of the door from our teahouse in Deurali, we gazed out upon our very first view of snow capped peaks on the trek, with a clear view up to Pikey Peak and a handful of other mountains rising to 5,000m, which apparently given their abundance in Nepal, hadn't even been named. The descent from Deurali into Bhandar was a real highlight, passing through untouched local life, where the view into the vast valley was complemented by sightings of baby goats and namaste-nodding natives. Heading back up the other side from our low point of the day, the beating sun did its best to slow our ascent into Namkheli, during which some guy stopped to stare at us on passing, getting uncomfortably close to me while clutching a machete (no, really, we think he wanted cigarettes?) We've received some odd looks in Namkheli, I don't think they receive many western tourists here at all (if ever?), especially being slightly off the extended Everest Base Camp routes. Finally, with the sun setting, our day was capped off with our first experience of a full-on monsoon, blackening out the sparkling sky and scattered hillside lights with the violent crescendoing of thunder and eruption of a dense downpour.Read more