Trek: Day 4
Day 4 was one of my favorite days, not only was it only a half day of hiking, but we ended up in a great little village with endless photographic opportunities. I will again include Trish's write up of the day because she does such a good job capturing in words what we were experiencing.
Trek Day 4: Tadapani to Ghandruk
SIDE BAR: I am well aware how fortunate I am to be able to travel like this. I don't take it for granted, and I'm determined to see these countries, not just for their beauty & fun, but for their culture & people - for better or worse. That said, Nepal really touched me with it's juxtaposition of breathtaking scenery and heartbreaking poverty; utter charm and total destruction; modern city problems & completely archaic village life & customs.
Short, steep, scenic, downhill trek today. Only three hours seems short, but downhill was hard work! Uphill is hard cardio, downhill is a quad & calf workout.
The first part of the trek was through forest but soon we were going down immense canyons criss-crossed by streams. It was steep and muddy and you had to stay mentally aware or you'd slip in a heartbeat.
The buildings are made of stacked stone or cinder block, wood beams and either corrugated zinc or slate roofs. Colorful flowers decorate the balconies and courtyards. As with the other villages we've seen, there are no roads, just steep and narrow stone staircases that serve as street & alley. Ponies and porters carry everything from water to propane to the elderly.
After dinner, some local villagers came down from the mountain to treat us
to some Nepali music & dancing.
to some Nepali music & dancing.
The best surprise in Ghandruk was our guesthouse. Clean, spacious rooms! En suite bathrooms! With western toilets! And sinks!
reviews that you post is very interesting,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kangalip.com/
Such a different, but yet beautiful world.
ReplyDeleteYou were really far from "our" world, and what a wonderful "other" world you found. Your pictures are great, as usual.
ReplyDeletePeople in the West are not used to the poverty that prevails in Asia. Despite that, the people are resilient and seem happier than we do, right? Great shots.
ReplyDeleteWow, it seems to be a very interresting journey. A culture very different to ours. Im sure you have collekted a lot of very deep impressions. Thank you for your wonderful photographs. Greetings Marion
ReplyDeleteAlways so fascinated by your posts Brooke, and this one is wonderful and so amazing to see this culture and do this exploration with you! So interesting, and glad your guest house was updated. Pretty amazing
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