Into Hot Water

We woke in the clouds. Another thick wall of cloud progressed up the valley. The settled conditions made it clear that it was going to be a dry day. After a scrumptious Tibetan bread egg sandwich and a photo op with the ever so friendly and youthful hotel staff, we set off. There were glimpse of a solar orb after a couple of minutes. The morning mule traffic was in full swing, complete with cargo, bells, docile faces and the minder's whistles and whooping. I then gawped at the suspension bridge that spanned a massive gap in the path: a valley intersection bringing a raging waterfall and the fast Buddhi Gandaki river together. The cloud and fog beneath us as we crossed the bridge was absolutely surreal. This sight and the ominous rocking of the bridge (just bars, cables and bolts) left me gobsmacked.

The suspension bridge to the heavens

The same seemingly floating suspension bridge (not a paved road!)

The valley upriver widened into more of a flood plain, the river even browner but leaving pebbles, sand and boulders in their wake. There were less settlements and farms and more wild foliage dipping right into the water. The low clouds slowly cleared revealing the ripples and waves of the violent river. From the gullies along the banks it was clear that the river levels were high yesterday. The sand islands that were currently visible must have been completely submerged in yesterday's torrential storm. There were plenty of teahouses near the river bed, surprisingly fitted with satellite dishes. Some double as people's homes so it was not surprising. As usual lots of domestic animals wandering around, the usual chickens, goats ( up on a ledge to get at some juicy grass), ducks and the odd pair of pigs foraging including one sucking on an empty grain sack to my amusement.

The journey today took us from Soti Khola to Machhakhola and then.....

...from Machhakhola to Dobhan

The solar shack

Intrepid goats doing their thing

The half moon was up in the West. Right ahead, a snowy mountain peak was visible, jutting out from between one dark rocky hill and a contrasting green tree lined slope. The path now led us along the pebbly right river bank. Above the left bank a tall gorge emptied a series of majestic and shimmering waterfalls down below. Lines of dead trees getting smothered by the falls indicated that these are either new falls or a stream above changed its path. We climbed up the hill on our side still following the river but aware that a lack of concentration means falling into the brown soup below like errant house flies. At the next teahouse we learnt that at this very area a tragic incident occurred yesterday. A member of a Italian ( later revealed to be French!) trek team of 14 going uphill slipped and fell into the river, getting carried downriver. 24 hours later he had not been seen and may be presumed dead.

Surer footing now that the fog is clearing (Courtesy: J. Chow)

The pebbly river bank stalked by the clearing low clouds

The dead remains of a tree that succumbed to the rage of a waterfall

We had lunch at Tatopani (literally means ''hot water''), famous locally and to trekkers for its hot springs. Its skin softening properties, it is claimed, are the attraction. It was also an opportunity to do a bit of cheeky laundry. After my hot shower, a group of local youths ambushed our table at the local eatery since they had ordered ahead of us. I had to interrupt their concentration on dal bhat assault to reach for my bag. The girl in the corner graciously gave way and then quickly filled the space with her plate to resume her mission. Within 5 minutes they were done and went on their way. It was a late lunch but we were only 45 ''bistare bistare'' (slowly slowly, in Nepali) minutes away from Dobhan. It was quite a busy arrival at Dobhan. We arrived before the other groups but a Danish cohort took over a small patch of grass with their tents. We had 3 possibly South Korean neighbours and also we were adjacent to another establishment, looking like a seamless part of ours but apparently owned by the brother of the owner of our teahouse, also full. Everyone was going up the trail. We were now in the ''no hot shower'' zone so need to fight with the neighbours for it. In Amir's timeless words: ''dal bhat power. 24 hour. Outside toilet. No shower''.

However.....