Day 12.. the tortoise and the hare...

 

Goddam I struggled to get up this morning. I had fallen asleep really early and then woken up coughing shortly before 4am... I decided that I might as well stay up and write the blog that I had neglected to do the day before so sat there typing for about 2 hours... but then I was soooo warm and cosy under my 2 duvets and the room was pretty chilly... so I prevaricated. Fortunately it doesn't take me long to pack up my stuff and at 7am I was in the dining room waiting for breakfast. Omlet and chapatti again and a cup of black tea to warm the soul.... only it didn't quite do it so I had another....

By the time I got my arse in gear it was well gone 8am, closer to 0830 and I trudged out of Chame, which was in shadow and pretty chilly. Of course uphill was the order of the beginning of the day and my legs were just not into today. So I trudged up. an incline that I could have probably ridden woth the knowledge that today was probably a slightly easier day than those which had gone before and was a grand total of 10 ish miles and I had all day.

The trouble with leaving a bit late is that you generally have the company of a lot of other trekkers. I have bumped into a few on and off over the days and exchanged pleasantries but I have avoided being in extended company with anyone, mainly because I am very slow up the hills and very fast down them, so it is always a question of overtaking or overtook. Many of the trekkers were very nice but even though it shouldn't have done, when they overtook me on hills, it was difficult to avoid the heart sinking a little.

Today there were some climbs initially and the path went up through some beautiful connifer woodland, my favourite place to be. Some stretches of it were smooth enough to allow for cycling, other were a trudge, few paces, catch the breath and start over again. I thought I had taken the hikers path by mistake as my gps route was telling me that the road was below me to the left but I couldn't see one and anyway the paths converged on my gps map at some point anyway. Hikers that I knew came strolling past me on the uphill, saying hello and laughing about me whizzing past them when we got to a descent. One hiker after I had overtaken him on a descent and then he caught up whilst Inwas aking a breather on the uphill remarked about how he felt like I was the hare and he was the tortoise. Personally I would have put it the other way round! At times, particularly on steep uphills it felt more like I was the fox and they were the hounds! It might well have pushed me on a bit, unwelcome though my headspace was. 

Then a beautiful reward for all the up... a long flowy downhill section... I whizzed past many hikers, knowing they would catch me on the next up, but given the length of this downhill it may take some time. 

At the bottom, I asked one of the porters to take a photo because it was beautiful with the river running below and the mountains up above. It's rare that I get a photo of me and my bike usually it's just my bike😂

After that it was another push... but not too terrible and I was actually making reasonable time. As I was nearly at the top of the climb and at the little place of Brahtang, I saw below me some cyclists having come down the hill, now starting to ride up it... way to make me feel inadequate 😂 I carried on pushing expecting to be caught and overtaken sooner... 

They did catch up but as they rode slowly past, all saying a friendly high, I noticed that they were unloaded. Their guide at the back of the line started chatting... they had their kit in a jeep following. When he heard that I had cycled from Kathmandu, he gave me a fist bump, which made me very happy! 

Not long after that, I arrived at Brahtang, which somewhat incongruously was essentially an apple farm. They had a small cafe where I duly bought one of their very delicious apple donuts and then sat munching in the sun with the throng of other trekkers. Amongst the trekkers there were quite a few who waved at me and I went and chatted to as we caught up with how the day had been, and plans for where to stop. 

When I set off again, it was with a load of other people and once again I felt a bit like a fox being chased by hounds😂🦊

This was the hard part of the day as the road, after an initial downhill bit,  first went up with the most stunning half tunnel of rock to one side, overhanging the trail... it was really lovely rock. It then wound up the mountain in a series of switchbacks. Here myself and the trekkers parted ways for a bit, as they followed a hiking trail, which left the road to me. It wasn't that steep but not great condition... half the road had been concreted on a raised road but not completed which meant both myself and any other traffic had the other half of the trail. That said, there weren't many jeeps or motorbikes and it was quiet enough to hear the birds twittering and the wind through the pines. Above the trees stood a mountain, and it seemed like the perfect place to stop for some more food. I sat on the side of the trail, smelling the pine, eating peanut butter and just chilling out with the view set out in front of me.

After that peaceful interlude it was back to the uphill grind, but it wasnt unpleasant as it was through the forest and I was well ahead of schedule in terms of time and miles. With a bit of rideable flat and downhill I soon found myself with only 2 miles or so to go.  Conveniently a restaurant appeared and as I was debating whether to stop, 4 hikers that I had seen on and off over the last few days, waved to me from the rooftop. So I climbed the stairs and sat down for a well deserved cup of chai.

It was a pleasant interlude sitting in the sun but I didn't want to linger too long because even though it was only 2 miles until my destination for the day I was still waiting for the sting in the tail which this country hasn't failed to provide so far!

But as I set off, I was not faced with steep gradients, rather flat ish and rideable with the odd mini descent. Despite now being above 10,000ft, my legs found some power and away I went, eating up the miles, if not at speed, then at least considerably faster than any other day. In no time at all, I reached the turning off the main road for lower pisang village and bumped down the small path... did i mention that I even had a tailwind.. the cycling gods must have taken a day off!

I pulled up alongside a hotel where the cyclists that I had seen before had gathered. They had eaten there but were pushing on to Manang.. I was very happy with Lower Pisang and asked the hotel if they had a room. They did, and a room to lock my bike in. The room was clean and looked comfy with an attached drop toilet (will never get used to them) and I went and sat outside in the sunshine until in dropped behind the hills and deserted Lower Pisang. Upper Pisang, where most of the hikers would end up, was still bathed in gloruous sunshine and I was slightly jealous. But that didn't last long. As soon as it started to get cold, I was invited in to the dining room and a fire was lit and soon I was roasting, almost literally. The owner spoke excellent english and was telling me about this fungus called yarshagumba, which was used as a medicine. It seemed to infect caterpillars which burrowed through the dirt in the winter and then the Nepali people in this region went and hunted for it. It is worth a fortune as medicine and is exported to china and other places. It's a bit like a gold rush in the season to dig it up and he showed me a video of everyone running in the hills to stake a spot to dig for it.

We sat round the fire and chatted and played with their puppy, who was super cute. 

Then the electic went out  This  seemed to be a planned thing, it goes out for a few hours here one day, then the next day a few hours in Manang. So even though my blog has been written in a timely fashion today, I may not be able to post until tomorrow as the internet went with the electric.

Onwards to Manang and a well deserved rest day... I need it! 

LHS all.