At 1 am I awoke to the sounds of loud banter and giggling. I wasn't the only one woken up by the nuns who seemed to be having a soirée with some visitors. I managed to get back to sleep 1 hour later but of course the daily pooja kicked off at 5 am. Jason snuck to the door where the pooja chants were coming from to listen in. It was the famous class/dining/bed room. One of the kids saw him through the crack of the door and invited him in.
The Manaslu - Tsum Valley intersection near Lokpa
Finally at 7am a big pot of tsampa porridge and flasks of tea were brought out to the hordes of trekkers, guides and porters about to go on their way. The Canadian and British families were going up to Gumba Lungdung and the rest of us were leaving, Tsum Valley heading to Nyak at the crossroads (cross-valleys rather) between Tsum Valley and the Manaslu Conservation Area. We crossed Domje Bridge to get into the greener southern side of the valley (we used the drier northern side going up). The terrain was still rough, with constant ups and downs. We crossed two bridges bypassing two very deep gorges, etched into the surrounding peaks of Ganesh Himal peaks. We emerged into a wide open agricultural plain and then arrived at the labyrinth village that is Ripchet, in the timeless stony form that is typical up here. The trail were following swung into the fields from Ripchet, but after we got lost in the village. We climbed down short ladders between each fallow field at the same time being stalked by 3 kids who were on holiday (the Tihar celebrations had just begun). We took a break in the playing fields of a local school. The kids took an interest in the map, so I showed them a few interesting bits.
Ripchet
The rest of the trail up to Lokpa was a gentle uphill. We reached the crossroads to the trail that led up to Chumling, where we stayed 5 days ago, avoiding that horrible landslide crossing. We once again got to enjoy the sun on the patio of Lokpa as we ate ''dal bhat''. The big climb to Lokpa last week became a knee crushing from Lokpa to the new bridge that officially ends Tsum Valley. On crossing this bridge we just needed to climb along the new trail for about half an hour before reaching Nyak Phedi.
Precious gilmpse of a miniature rainbow
We had another in-kitchen dinner treat there. Aside from standard staple, with some really tasty thakari (curry, usually with potatoes), we were offered fresh pumpkin soup and freshly brewed rice wine, Raksi, to help digest the dinner's generous helpings!
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