Day 4 - Bhandar - "At home in Nepal"!

We rolled our aching bones out of bed and set about repacking our bags to facilitate our sensible  overnight decision to hire a porter to carry our big bag leaving me to carry Monika's and Monika to carry a manageable day pack.

We paid our "exorbitant" hotel bill of $20 for room meals and drinks and headed off uphill now as an expedition party of 4, with ourselves wisely carrying much lighter loads.

It was up up up on a beautiful morning as we climbed for 4 hours out of Shivalaya and the valley to the 2700 metre Deaurali Pass.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any steeper it did just before the pass itself having us pretty spent (again) by the time we'd sat down for a well earned lunch with some fellow trekkers including a nice French couple doing an amazing 12 month round the world journey.

After lunch and with conditions cooling, it was a steep 1 hour downhill .... well I thought it was until passed by a horse with rider coming up the other way !

Arrival Bhanda gave us a great opportunity to see Nepali family life first hand staying in the house of the sister of our guide - the family ( having had little interaction with foreigners) were incredibly hospitable.

The evening spent sitting in the kitchen watching dinner cooked with limited implements over an open clay gas oven was a real eye opener to say the least - what a great way to "see" Nepal !

Deepak's sisters family ! 

Michael -

Day 2 of our trek reminded me of why tourists love this country, stunning valley scenery and smiling locals although admittedly mostly children in search of a sweet or two.

Trekking here takes you right through the mainstream of Nepali life with trekking paths quite literally going through the front of houses, schools and farms !

Spending a night in a real Nepali family home was the days highlight understanding, if in only a small way, some of Nepali culture and life

Monika -

Loved the "speccy" scenery - today was again tiring but thankfully not as bad as day 1.

What a great opportunity to immerse ourselves in local culture by staying in a local house - our hosts even dug up some spoons so we could eat our dinner as Nepali's often use their hands ! I also suspect the chicken in our Dahl Baht may have come locally based on the feathers in the wash trough in the morning !

I'm still tired and worried about the reportedly tough days coming !