Whiteout

The clouds eventually rolled in, and were so low that they left everything obscured in a white-out. The trail was wide, so we were still able to follow it around the contours and next to the sheer drops that could occasionally be glimpsed off to the side. Hewn stone steps ascended the hill, and the whiteout made it feel as if we were climbing into the clouds. Bamboo shoots (Tribe : Bambuseae) were ubiquitous here, and the droopy ones that hung over the trail created a sheltered tunnel overhead. The misty silhouettes of the shoots in the far distance however gave everything an eerie feel, at least when glimpsed. At one point the mist parted enough for us to see what looked like two waterfalls; but one turned out to be the Marsyangdi river, that was falling so steeply in that section that it looked like a waterfall.

Tunnel-like rocky outcrops

Each and every time we stopped, we found ourselves pulling leeches off our ankles (I cleared 15 just in one stop!), so were quite relieved when the trail ascended to a rise before it descended down the other side to an arch and a few buildings that were labelled 'Tal', which is the hamlet that was named after the lake that used to fill this part of the valley. What was left of this 'lake' lay in front of us and the bridge that led to the road was to our left, but the main settlement of Tal (elevation : 1700 m) lay much further on to the right, way past the 'graffitied' cliff face.

We settled on a guesthouse called 'Riverview', that had rooms that cost NPR100 per night, that had attached bathrooms with hot water showers (this was the first and only time I had ever encountered such a luxury on a hike in Nepal!). After charging all our devices in the multiple outlets in the room, and cleaning up the bloody mess that the leeches had left, we made our way down to the common room for a delicious meal of dhal bhat (NPR450).

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Day 2 Expenditure

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