Trekking, Day 4, Ghorapani to Tatopani –
Up at 5:30 a.m. and it was absolutely numbingly cold, great and I was about to climb 300 meters straight up the hill behind the hotel named Pun Hill to watch the sunrise over the Himalayas. It was even colder outside and the hike was really taxing. Something I was not mentally prepared to do that early in the morning.
We reached the top, both Ram and I winded only to be met by the chai men who were waiting up there with their thermoses of tea to sell. There were a lot of trekkers on top, everyone jumping around because it was so cold. The sun did come up, but it was cloudy, so we did not get a totally awesome sunrise, needless to say we had a great view of the Himalayas, even though it was overcast. Took a whole bunch of photos until my hands were numb and Ram was almost overcome by frostbite.
Met Som, Maurita, and Helen up top and the minute I was done taking photos, Ram, Som, and I went sprinting down the 1000 or so steps in an attempt to get warm. Ran back to the lodge to huddle around the fire and drink tea. Met the Nepalese girl and she asked where we you last night. I asked her where she was and she just shrugged and went into the kitchen. Ram explained that when he went to go find her late last night, she was not in the bed she said she would be sleeping in, that is why there was not a knock at my door late last night.
We gathered our belongings and left the lodge at 8:30 a.m. on route to Tatopani, translated hot water. There are some natural hot springs at our next destination and if it is not too cold, I might take a dip. We walked downhill all day with a couple of Brits we had met at the hotel and Maurita and after crossing a few huge suspension bridges over this massive chasm between the mountains, we arrived at Tatopani in the late afternoon. Tatopani at 1189 meters is a cutesy little village that totally reminded me of the English Cotswolds Villages. We got a room in this hotel absolutely crawling with tourists and ended up sitting in the hotel courtyard drinking tea for the remainder of the day.
I did take a walk through the village for 10 minutes and managed to find the hot springs, but it was way too cold to take off any clothing and get in. The Nepalese women more like grandmothers had no problem stripping down to the waist and getting in, but they were used to this sub-zero weather. Maurita and I sat and talked to Ram that evening and learned a bit more about his life in Nepal. He is 23, married, and has two sons. He got married when he was 19 and had a baby about two weeks’ later. It was one of those kind of weddings. He said he has no money and not even a steady job, so trekking is the only way he makes any money.
Now the first thing that happens to the reader’s mind would be that he was giving me a sob story, but after spending a few days with him, I learned that he was totally honest and really did just have a hard life. The only clothes he has are the ones he was wearing and after seeing him in Pokhara for the 4 days before we left and seeing how many clothes he brought on the trek, none, and noticing how cold he was at times what he said was true. I will probably buy him a $10 coat when we get back to Pokhara for him to use on other treks.