The trek is over but the journey, not quite. Ironically today's wake up was the earliest of the whole trip. 5 am! Our bus from Kathmandu departed from 7am and we needed to ensure that we were prepared to descend briskly and have a bit of breakfast at Arkhet Bazaar well ahead of departure. Amir's niece descended with us as she was also heading to Kathmandu. The morning dew made the random stones on the path very slippery. I had the honour of one last fall on my arse.
It turned out that Yam slept in Arkhet. Just as well, lest he felt the wrath of his wife up in the village. He was sober this morning and looking very sheepish. It was almost like all the evil of yesterday had evaporated. So, the first teahouse ended up being the final teahouse. We had egg and chapati as the bus company accountant / ticket salesman organised right on the same table as us. It appeared that the teahouse owner had a bus operation too since he had a seat at the table and was counting up large wads of Nepali rupees. The hilarity of these very 'transparent' dealings was accentuated by the dozens of men milling around, staring at the proceedings.
We were off on the rocky, bumpy bus. I was lucky to actually have a bit of legroom this time. We had barely left Arkhet when a bus coming from the opposite direction broke down. There was no way of bypassing it as it was getting repaired. So naturally most of the men on our bus left and went to 'investigate', that is, mill around and stare. The conductor of our bus rushed back about 15 minutes later and returned to the repair site with some big cog wheel. It seemed to do the trick and the rough road beast came back to life. We were on our way again. The Manaslu trial was still heating up with more trekking groups walking from Arughat. It was Saturday so many kids were smartly dressed, walking towards the towns or hopping on our bus.
After Arughat it was clear that we were taking different route to the one we came on. It was a very hilly and hazardous route, ridden with steep drops, muddy gullies, fording points and tight, narrow bridges. We picked up lots of passengers and cargo going on short journeys. The Buddhi Gandaki river was still inescapable, glimmering and snaking slowly down below. It was a rhythmic trip: turn boy signalling, apprentice driver (with his mentor right next to him, to my relief!) swinging the large steering wheel back and forth whilst hitting his music DJ switches, my constant balance readjustment, and the never ending continuum of forest, rice paddies and villages.
'Mission accomplished' toasts back in Kathmandu
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