around the world in 180 days

Chame is one of the largest towns in Manang district and has been playing host to a series of festivals and competitions. Today was the last day of an archery festival, and this evening, as we were sitting around in the hotel’s restaurant, we heard a group of men coming down the street, singing. They filed into the room we were in and sat around drinking chhayng, a Nepali beer that is uncarbonated and made from rice, and rakshi, a Nepali hard liquor. It was great. They sang songs, beat on a drum, danced and partied it up. It was such a fun thing to see and be a part of. One guy, who was throwing the festival or who’d won the archery competition (it wasn’t clear; he was drunk and my Nepali is terrible), came up to us and took our pictures, shook our hands and bought us tea that we didn’t want. He tried to buy us beer as well, but we’ve got 10 miles to hike tomorrow. Beer is not our friend. What an amazing experience.

This hike has a social aspect that seems to be common on longer hikes like this; I’ve heard that on the AT you meet a lot of people and get to know some quite well, although that’s a much longer hike. We are meeting people from all over the world. I’ve mentioned Henri, who we’ve been hiking with for several days, but we’ve also met a woman named Ruth, who’s from Germany and spent 2 months working in an orphanage in Kathmandu. We’ve also met about 6 Brazilians and a well-traveled English couple who called us the nicest Americans they’d ever met. We’re also starting to see some familiar faces, people we haven’t yet met, but have seen before.

We’re starting to get those snow covered peaks today. Most of the morning and 1/2 of the afternoon, the tall peaks nearby were hidden behind clouds, but around 2:30 it poured for about 1/2 an hour and then cleared, revealing Manaslu to the East, the 8th highest mountain in the world. It seems strange, but we’ll probably not see Everest while we’re here. We will see at least 3 of the 10 tallest mountains in the world, though, and that’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Tomorrow our journey takes us to Pisang, a village about which I know very little, and tomorrow I will share what knowledge I gain.

Goodnight!