It was a foregone conclusion that we were not going to cross Larkle Pass. The enjoyment factor of dropping down a steep, icy escarpment on the West end on a sunless morning would be non-existent. Also major risks lay on the pass itself, mostly from unpredictable weather. So unfortunately we had to start backtracking all the way to Arket Bazaar, where we started.
Facing south from Sama, the return to our regular reality begins
It was probably the 12th consecutive sunny morning in a row for us. We left Samaguan and strolled through that massive field dotted with yak out to pasture and surrounded as usual by the those gleaming Manaslu minor peaks. The descent traffic picked up, mostly porters. Within 2 hours we had swung past Shyala and started the woody drop down to Lho. The cow/ yak watering point was as usual interesting. There were a couple of nervous moments: a jittery nyak guarding her calf and 2 big horned yaks blocking the way. I am still amazed at how docile these big beasts are. I couldn't possibly imagine how the domestication of these species went about.The shepherd, who was an old man had a lot of work to do keeping this enormous herd in good order.
The serene shadow of the Buddha stupa in the morning
The oat and apple porridge as well as the honey smothered Tibetan bread that I had that morning was starting to boost me forward but there was this constant uphill up to Lho that was slowing all of us down. Despite the repetition of the scenery from 2 days ago, the early morning shadows cast by the sun gave the grassy and pine tree dotted foothills a special relief. We didn't stop at all at Lho, just barely noticing the jobsite that was our guesthouse a couple of days ago. They were installing a green painted roof over the wooden frames that they had hammered in all night when we stayed there. The poor sods that night will have their high altitude psychotic nightmare episode accompanied by a different construction beat to ours.
Under construction yet open for business. No problem!
Mount Manaslu looked even more beautiful behind a gompa, all lit up and cloudless. From now on it was a rather tortuous downhill trend swinging back and forth across the Buddhi Gandaki river. A large traffic stream of French trekkers started coming through in the opposite direction. The All Saints or Autumn midterm break has just begun, their daydreaming at work a month after 'la rentrée' (return from summer holidays in France) now over.
Last gaze at Mr. Frosty in Shyala (Courtesy of J. Chow)
It was pretty constant from Lho onwards. We had lunch at Namrung, at the prestigious guesthouse of 3 days ago. As usual there very generous portions of D.B. Power! We were making very good headway. Amir had predicted sleeping here tonight and it was only midday! Krishna and Yam powered ahead of the rest of us in order to secure the famous Gandaki Hotel, known on the trail for their exceptional cuisine. Hanja finally stopped at the 'Smokey Joes' to be sure whilst Krishna ran ahead. We got room no.1 in the end...and top notch pizza and momos tonight!
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