Still a tropical day, but on the last evening pass we notice the first harbingers of the approaching Height. Cold evening in a warm company, linguistic attempts No. 1. Benefits of an early start. Signs of infection observed.Route: Syanzh – Zhagat – TalTraveled 17 km in 9 hoursTotal ascent – 980 m, total descent – 520 mAltitude above sea level: 1700 mTerrain: broadleaf forest5:10. I woke up. Naturally with the help of an alarm clock.We no longer traditionally order breakfast, but drink tea from a thermos and eat cheap coconut cookies.6:00. It’s dawn.6:30. Let’s go. Immediately descend to the river, cross the bridge to the left bank. There is a continuation of our village, but all the lodges are inferior – it’s good that we stayed on the right bank.Rocks overgrown with bushes hang over the houses. This is used by monkeys – they go down to the roofs along the branches and try to steal something edible. This is not easy to do, because below the whole army of Nepalese children with slingshots is just waiting for an opportunity to practice shooting.
bamboo bridge crossing
Temporary bridge across Marsyangdi River
7:30. The road is over and roadworks have begun. Further along the left bank, only mule caravans pass, and all pedestrians should go along the temporary bridge to the right-bank path. This building looks like a set for Indiana Jones. Just in case, we let Taras go ahead. Suddenly the bridge is indeed fake.On the other side of the construction camp. Like a tent made of oilcloth and branches, plus a canopy over a fire. That’s all the amenities. The workers themselves are nowhere to be seen in the camp. Working this early?
road builders' tent
boy with flag - Don't throw stones
We rise a little higher – we hear a roar, we see rockfalls on the left bank. Imploding works? Using the photo zoom, I find the source of the rock fall. These same workers with crowbars and pickaxes bite into the rock, and the broken boulders are thrown down.
Builders break with crowbars
and famously thresh with hammers
8:06. We are already on the left bank, almost under the rockfall. A signal boy notices us and raises a red flag. From the fact that the rockfall stopped, I conclude that it was a signal to the workers, not to us. In order not to delay them, we try to rise quickly. Further we go along the already cut section of the road.
Need to freshen up a bit
and run further along the freshly cut road
8:25. The sun is penetrating the valley. I listen to “Sidhartha” by Hesse. I have long wanted to re-read this book, and here is such an occasion – a trip to Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha.
Nepali children from Jagat village
they play with what God sent (slippers)
9:00. Jagat village. We buy and immediately eat a few tangerines (here they are called orange) and bananas.
waterfall spray rainbow
There are plenty of 100-meter waterfalls here
а there are few caves - the breed is not the same
12:15. Sat down for lunch at a solitary eatery believed to be in the village of Sattale . The institution is not at all glamorous, but there is simply no strength to go further. The owner does not speak English and cannot read his own menu (an extremely rare case), we had to ask a Nepalese guide (guide) who was resting right there to translate our order to him.
halt for lunch in Sattale
porter adjusts his forehead strap
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Taras tries to lift the bale
While we are waiting for food, a young porter approaches us (a companion of the already mentioned guide). He shows with signs that he needs something “for the throat.” We share with him a couple of pastilles of “Doctor Mom”, and in return we ask for a small favor. Taras wants to try dressing the porter’s pack. Throws on a forehead belt, rises. And without words it is clear that he is not very comfortable and extremely unusual. Something was skewed in the structure, and the load had to be lowered back onto the parapet.13:40. End of lunch, we move out.
On the other side of the river of incredible proportions there is a fang-shaped rock, behind it is a deep gorge cutting through the left bank. From left and right, road builders are approaching the gorge. Will there be an automobile suspension bridge?
mule caravan
a man with a log
Goes easy. Sometimes we even outrun mule caravans. Sorry, I just got sick. So far, it’s just a sore throat, but I feel that this is not the end of the matter. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea to wear paper bands like all Japanese tourists? At least the first week until you acclimatize.
compare boulder sizes with houses
on chicken legs
14:20. According to the GPS, we are starting our last climb of the day. If we believe our own eyes, we will die before we climb to the top. But we believe in exceptionally faithful feet, and they do not fail – they bring them to the pass in some 20 minutes. It’s a sin not to let them rest, we arrange a photo session.
Who's there?
We're here!
The view from the pass is the coolest, but that’s not all. If you look closely, listen… There is a little less greenery ahead, a little colder air. It seems to be all, but it is clear to the heart that the bustling evergreen tropics are over, and on the other side of the pass another, harsh world begins. Even the river slowed down and for a while entered the image of a cold and unhurried Styx forever separating “here” and “there”.
Before the pass (look back)
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after the pass (look ahead)
14:57. On the north side of the pass, there was some kind of military facility lurking. There is a sign “No Photo” on the barbed wire, behind the barbed wire – a man with a machine gun. Therefore, before taking pictures :) I move away. Zoom allows.
military base
top view of the Tal Valley
The warriors chose the right place for the post. Here you can’t go around the gardens (to the left and right are the steep walls of the gorge), and you can’t break through impudently (protracted serpentines in front and behind).We begin our descent into an unusually flat and even valley. The name of the local village is consonant with the area – Tal is the “valley” (in German). And if translated from Nepalese, then Tal is a “lake”. Well, it is also logical – if the river overflows, then the low-lying village, along with the entire valley, will become a wonderful lake.
an abandoned lodge in Tal village
Potala guest house, Tal
15:20. Village Tal. We pass through it, in search of the recommended Paradise Lodge. He is at the very end of the village, even a little out of the way.15:40. Settling into Paradise (the same Paradise). Of all the rooms, a cramped triple (3-bed) was chosen. It was in it that there was a socket, the most dense windows and there were almost no cracks in the walls. We took the warning (the cold breeze on the pass) seriously. Immediately I ask the hostess to bring blankets.
Rainbow guest house, Tal
Corner Double
Accommodation costs 100 rupees per person, toilet on the floor, shower in the yard. Urgently run to wash, but do not have time for hot water. Let’s do a light rinse.While we washed, dried ourselves and urgently packed warm jackets, the hotel was thoroughly filled with guests. Someone even had to go back to the village – the places ran out corny.Anticipating the excitement at dinner, before going for an evening walk, we make an order in the kitchen.17:02. Evening walk.Only the second day in the Himalayas, and we have already lost the habit of moving on flat terrain. There is so much “flat” space that there was even room for a football field.
calm River Styx
Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according to his deeds
It seems that here, in Tala, there is a transport hub – by evening, several hundred mules are standing on the outskirts of the village. By the way, now I am writing “mules”, and in the campaign everyone called them donkeys. But just in Tala, among the crowd of mules, I noticed a real donkey (extremely preoccupied with the issue of procreation), compared the animals and realized that the donkey and the mule are “two big differences.”
at the evening waterfall
unknown waterfall temple
lonely waterfall
On the way to the waterfall, I witnessed a cute scene. Imagine, in the middle of a flat and open pasture, a low wall is built of old bricks. More precisely 3 walls. Put a sheet of slate on top and there will be an excellent shed for two donkeys. But instead of donkeys, two middle-aged Nepalese hid in this shelter, who just sit and smoke. Is this how they look like a country club, or are they just hiding from the wind?18:00. We returned to the hotel and hurried to take seats in the dining room. And rightly so – within some 15 minutes, all the places are occupied. The tables are arranged along the perimeter, “facing” into the hall, which contributes to the beginning of the conversation.The people have already drunk a bottle of beer and are not averse to chatting at all. A complete American, it turns out, goes the route in the reverse order – from Jomsom, i.e. already finished the track. He talks very emotionally about his adventures, and we look at him as a “sea wolf” and “snow leopard” combined, and at the same time we think something like “If this one could, then I can even more so.”
dining room at Rainbow Lodge
water bag repels flies
Transparent water bags hang from the ceiling. Another Nepalese shamanism? Only today, after digging around on the Internet, I found out that this is flies repellent – the distorted image scares the flyers.A 28-year-old English woman (seemingly an ordinary Russian aunt) proudly tells the story of an obscene proposal that came to her from one of the locals. Apparently the story is humorous, as everyone laughs.We have to strain our linguistic muscles with all our might in order to decipher fluent English without losing the thread of the story. Therefore, our faces are serious, our eyes are piercing, and our lips are silent. I wonder what it looked like from the outside.In the midst of the conversation, they bring us food. Everyone else has nothing on the tables except for drinks. They involuntarily follow with their eyes 4 huge dishes of appetizing, tasty, fragrant food. We try to keep up appearances, but nature takes over. Unbridled feasting, rapid satiety, naked satisfaction of hunger. You should have seen the faces of our neighbors…The conversation revived again, only after the food had been on all the tables. The American admired the book (it’s amazing!), which he is now reading – the diary of a bourgeois who independently traveled around Uzbekistan. Walk around Nepal and read about Uzbekistan? However, I am not much better – “Sidhartha” was coming to an end and the unobtrusive detective was next in line.20:00. Hang up. Before falling asleep, we spent half an hour writing poems dedicated to the little-known exploits of Taras:Taras mattressrescued a cowmosquito tried,but broke off.I understand that the literary and artistic merits of this work are highly doubtful. But poetry is so rare in my life (and this blog) that it is simply impossible not to publish a poem.This was a report on the 5th day of the trip to Nepal. Choose what to read next:
- Next day, 06 – Lazy day.
- Previous day, 04 – Finally on foot
- Table of contents with links to all travel days.
Kirill Yasko. February 17, 2010.