November 22

I woke up at sunrise to more crying next door. The younger girl was sick and throwing up. It was sunny and warm outside, and the mountain view was perfectly clear. For breakfast, I had a tomato-cheese omelet with cornbread. The cornbread turned out to be wonderful. I had never seen anything like it, except possibly a Mexican sopapilla. It was a fat pillow full of air, with the outer crust fried crispy. I broke it in half and spread jam inside. It was delicious. The Australians didn't trust the food here, because their daughter was sick and the kitchen was, in their opinion, filthy. I suppose there was some truth to that, but this lodge was a lot cleaner than many I had stayed at, especially in the Khumbu region. They ate only vegemite and crackers, which they had brought from Australia.

Machhapuchhare (Fish Tail) seen from near Tadapani

We followed a recently-constructed trail down a steep hill through the jungle below Tadapani. This trail made getting from Poon Hill to the Annapurna Base Camp much easier than it had once been. It is used mostly by tourists. Lal said that in the summer, the trail is lined with leeches waiting for people to come by. He told me he once got 120 leeches on one leg and 90 on the other, and lost a lot of blood.

The trail emerged onto terraced fields on the side of a deep valley, which we would have to cross. Machhapuchhare was visible in the distance. We followed the terraces steeply down to the river at the bottom, stopping along the way for tea and coconut biscuits. A large black dog with a deep red scar on its back waited hopefully under my legs as I ate the cookies. It was becoming very warm, and I unzipped my pants legs. We crossed an unusually sturdy bridge and climbed steeply up the opposite side of the valley, then followed the valley to where it joins the larger Modi Khola valley which leads up to the Annapurna Sanctuary.

On the way, we stopped for lunch, and I had noodle soup with a Mars bar and Coke. This tea house had a dog, two cats, and numerous chickens, which all gathered around the table when we sat down to eat. Lal held a kitten, which purred loudly. After lunch, we passed the white house we had seen from Tadapani. It has a kind of Ferris wheel in front, partially unassembled, which is operated by hand and holds four people. Lal said it is used during festivals. Looking back, I could see the hill where Tadapani is, but the town was hard to see because the sun was behind it.

A short distance up the Modi Khola valley, we reached Chhomrong. It was a large town, and we stopped at the first inn near the top of the hill where we entered town. The rest of town was far below, stretching down into the valley of a small tributary to the Modi Khola. Cows and chickens roamed around in front of the inn. The lodge was surrounded by marigolds and several marijuana plants. Some vendors had souvenirs spread out in the courtyard, where most guests sat at picnic tables overlooking the valley. Lal saw another guide from the Himalayan Waves Trekking Agency, and became nervous. He told me not to tell him anything about our trek. We got a private room on the second floor, which was actually out on the porch, with a window into the dormitory and a glassless, shuttered window with a view of Chhomrong. It was the only private room with a view, but was rather drafty because the boards making up the outer walls did not fit tightly.

The lodge was unheated, but warmer than outside, so I went into the dining room as the sun set. Lal ordered a bottle of rum, which we drank with tea. He told me he would like to travel outside Nepal, but it is hard to get a visa that would allow him to work. He asked me how much it cost to live in the United States, and what kind of jobs he might do if he ever got a visa, although he didn't expect to get one because it was very hard. He thought he might be able to get a visa for Qatar, which is much easier, and he could find a driving job there. He said he has a driving license, which is not easy to get in Nepal, and tries to find driving jobs when he cannot guide treks.

I discussed holidays with Lal, and told him Thanksgiving was coming Thursday. I told him that we used the poinsettias which grow in this area to decorate at Christmas time. He said that Christmas is celebrated in Nepal, but it is not a major holiday since there are few Christians. He asked what my religion was, and I told him I was a Christian. He was not surprised.

Some Australians and New Zealanders joined us at our table, and played 500 with some unusual rules. I was hungry tonight, and ordered dal bhatt for dinner, which is always the largest meal. The menu also had `apple filters' and `banana filters', which turned out to be a fairly common spelling of `fritter' in this area. A lady from New Zealand ordered some banana fritters and shared them. They were tasty, but a bit greasy. Lal stayed busy helping out in the kitchen and delivering the orders. He knew the people at this lodge well. Some of the people staying there mistook him for a waiter. At night, Lal slept inside in the dormitory. Some of the porters slept outside my room on the upstairs porch.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1994. All rights reserved.