back in Kathmandu

It's almost time to go home. I've got a flight Sunday night. Shopping still needs to be done, gotta take souvenirs. We went to see the monkey temple this morning, the monkeys were fighting and the temple is under construction.

So what did I learn about myself? I'm tougher than I thought. The only thing I missed on the trek was coffee. I really count on my coffee in the morning to get going. They bring tea, which is lovely, but it's not enough caffeine. I'm still angry about a couple of things, but I think just being able to say what they are will help, in the long run. I'm pretty self-contained, I didn't mind being alone.

Namche again

The choice today was to walk directly to Namche or detour through Khunde and Khumjung, where there is a school founded by Sir Edmund Hillary, and a hospital. There wasn't much enthusiasm for another climb, and the end result was that Paul, Arthur, Dilli, Hosta and I went up the valley and the rest went straight for Namche.

I was happy with the choice - they were non-tourist villages, and very quiet. Little kids were playing ball in the street, and Dilli struck up a conversation with a couple of them, who then followed us for a while. He said "Namaste" to them, which is the usual greeting, and later told us that the little boy said, "You don't have to say that, you're not a tourist."

The walk was hard, the uphill part. Actually the down was hard too, because it was so steep, and it was stiflingly hot, so hot that tonight there is a huge thunderstorm circling Namche, it seems to be stuck in the bowl of the mountains. We're camping in the garden at the Sherpa Lodge, and all our sherpas are giggling in their tent, I think they're playing cards.

The hidden valley

We only walked half the day today. And not very fast, at that. Although some of the trail was a along the side of a steep muddy bank high above the river, and I fell over coming around a corner and had to be caught by Basu and Helena so I didn't fall in the water. We are camped in a beautiful valley, with a stream trickling past, and we've got the afternoon off. I'm planning a nap. I washed clothes in the stream - I picked the wrong rock to rub them on, it had green slime on it and I had to start again - but they're drying now on the fence. I washed my hair, too, first time since Namche. It's been in braids, though, most of the time, so it wasn't too dirty.

Tomorrow we'll be back in Tengboche and Namche, and staying in the Sherpa hotel again.