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Chapter Thirteen: Deja Vu All Over Again; Afterward

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     The next morning we finished packing.  As I looked at the piles of stuff still in my large suitcase that we had left behind, I realized that I really didn’t need any of it.  I could live quite comfortably with what fit into part of Rob’s pack and my daypack.    This was my luggage for 24 days The rigors of the trail had cut away the dross of my life; I could live on rice, lentils, and tea, if I had to.  There were days when I did.    I wanted to purchase some of the beaded jewelry that was for sale at the Eco Village. One of the Adhikari brothers’ wives came out to show me all of it, and to explain that the proceeds would go to her Mother’s Group.  The women here have organized to raise money for a program for rural women that helps provide education and teach marketable craft skills to raise their quality of life. What a great combination – I could buy hand-crafted Nepali jewelry and help support a most worthy cause.  Malati helped me pick out some very
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Chapter Twelve: The Road Goes Ever On and On

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The day grew long as we descended stone steps upon stone steps to the valley below.  Finally the road to Tatopani stretched out before us.  Before we reached the town, though, Hari led us over two swinging bridges.   I had told him I’d like to see some of the swinging bridges.  We had to cross the river eventually anyway, so when we came upon the first one that day, we took it.  It was very sturdy – metal slats and chicken wire sides gave a sense of security as we passed over the roaring river far below.  Sajan bravely did the first traverse, carrying his heavy load on his back. He didn’t die, so I followed behind. I didn’t die.   Rob and Hari completed our traverse.  They didn’t die.  We walked a few hundred yards up the riverbank, and then we had to cross another swinging bridge to get back on the right side of the river!  I realized then that Hari had us crossing the bridges just to please me! OH, dear guide, you could have passed on that one…I dutifu
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Chapter Eleven: There and Back Again

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   We had begun seeing evidence of landslides a few days earlier, but I hadn’t thought much about it.  Now we walked past many piles of stones that sometimes were being hammered into bricks for building houses for the locals.   We saw a bulldozer or front loader here and there down below on the walls of the gorge, trying to cut free a section of road that had collapsed.  The road we were on became very steep and rocky, eventually causing us to have to climb up on the mountainside to pass.  At one point we had to navigate over a very steep mica landslide.  Mica is a shiny mineral (sheet silicate) that flakes off and is reflective like glass. It’s very slippery.  The landslide we had to traverse was at about a 40 degree angle, and just below it was a cliff that fell maybe ten feet to the broken road below.  I summoned all of my courage and what I could remember about my climbing days:  Keep your body weight over your feet, and don’t lean over!  Hari walked ahead of me,
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Chapter Ten: The Long Journey Down

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Fortunately for me, the weather the next morning was abysmal. It was cold, windy, and raining hard at the appointed hour for going to Poon Hill.  We all decided that we would pass on that experience.  We had passed some English hikers the day before who said they got up before dawn and made the climb up there for nothing – the clouds rolled in and obscured the view.   Once more we packed up our things, enjoyed breakfast with spectacular views, then shouldered the packs and headed out for day three of the trek.    The trail was to be mostly downhill this time.  What I hadn’t planned on was the fact that descending thousands of steps is just as hard on the body as ascending, and sometimes even more difficult.   At times we were on a very rough road that was nearly at treacherous as the steps. The thighs and knees are constantly braced for impact, and the steps were even more uneven.  Several times Hari had to show me rock by rock how to place my feet so I wouldn’t fall. 
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Chapter Nine: Stairway to Heaven

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   The next day dawned gloriously.  We were on the edge of a tropical rain forest, reachable only by the endless chain of uneven stone steps that have been trod for centuries.     As we loaded up our packs and got on the road again, we could hear waterfalls down in the gorge below.  Colored prayer flags fluttered in the trees, and many birds sang in the trees around us.  Many groups of hikers passed us, both going and coming.  Regardless of their native language, all of the trekkers greeted one another with “Namaste!” as we passed by on the stone steps.    The second day of trekking was to be five times as difficult as the first day, according to our cheerful guide.  I groaned inwardly, trying to imagine where on Earth I would find the strength to ascend five times as many stone steps, in the ever-increasing altitude.  I was blowing my nose constantly, and still coughing up a storm.  At no time did I think about quitting, although Rob had said all along that th
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