Day 3 of trekking
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2006
1
154
155
Trip End
May 27, 2008
Deurali,
Nepal
Sunday, May 4, 2008
After around 30 minutes I came across some nice looking guesthouses with signs saying 'the real Sinuwa hill' so obviously I wasn't quite in Sinuwa last night which was annoying since it was crappy and the staff were unfriendly but I'd have gort soaked had I carried on for 30 minutes. Again I met mostly people coming down including an old guy from Lancashire who told me that basecamp had been great weather and a stunning view so that kept me going. The locals seemed shocked that I was on my own with no porter, guide (or friends!) and when I said hi to 3 Aussies they thought I was one of them which is amusing as I've only been accused of being Australian by English people recently.
At 1.30 I made it to the village of Deurali (meaning mountain pass I think) and decided to stay there at Shangri La GH. He wouldn't go down to 50 but offered me 75 and gave me 25r and told me to pay 100 when given the bill as that's what he is supposed to charge me. I'd tried others but they wouldn't budge so I accepted the offer. Up here there's no hot water so I had a strip down wash with a freezing cold bucket just to wash the sweat off and change into some clean dry clothes. I was tempted into ordering apple roll and custard which up here is around 2 pounds (that would get you at least 4 meals in a town!) but it was good to eat custard and it wasn't bad.
There was no-one else in the guesthouse so I chetted to the guy there and was invited to sit behind the reception desk with him and his girlfriend while he played guitar. Funny enough and like everywhere in Asia he went on about all the old school rock he likes (Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams) and played a few tunes then he played me some local music and sang which was great! They also had a sign behind the desk saying 'don't cheat people' which I liked and I told then that everyone in Nepal seems to try and cheat me one way or the other as I'm a tourist! I asked him if he knew the name of the band I'd seen in Thamel since I'd seen the singer again in Pokhara and thought they may be famous. He thought they were called Axe band and are pretty big. Everyone was interested to see my pictures of the snake and lizards and they told me they had a group of Koreans booked to arrive later and they were bringing their own food and chef along. When the Koreans arrived I was amaaed to see the banquet that was
spread before them and was drooling! I made do with my pasta and
cheese sauce.....
While I was eating, another trekker (Simon) walked in looking for chocolate. We got chatting and he was from Switzerland (Zurich). He told me he was heading up to an alternative basecamp as he was planning on climbing Annapurna and gave me some good ideas for trekking if I can make it over to the Everest region. He offerred to give me some spare sunglasses he had since mine were cheap and nasty but they are up at basecamp and I'll have to hike with him tomorrow to get them. Very kind! He wasn't staying at my place so with no company again I had an early night.
