April 9th – The rest of the way to Ghorapani

We checked out of “Hotel Mona Lisa” in the morning. Despite my bad evening of rest, the family was so nice and the stay (sans digestive problems) so delightful, that I gave the family a couple hundred rupees extra as a tip. I felt it was well worth it and would be put to good use for the family.

We set out hiking towards Ghorapani with me still feeling the effects of the diarrhea. I was not a happy camper. At least for me, diarrhea is very dispiriting and it certainly saps the will to hike. I did my best to soldier on, telling myself that if I could make it over the Thorong La pass, then making it to Ghorapani shouldn’t be a problem.

Along the way to Ghorapani, we passed through a small village. It was still early morning and the lighting was magical. This little cutie came running to the door when we passed and I snapped her photo. This is my favorite photo that I took on the trip. Sometimes you just happen to get lucky with being in the right place in the right time for photos. Then you just need to make sure that you have your camera settings dialed in properly to get the shot off quickly before the moment passes. Having Blaine and Bethany along for the trip, who had given me an education in photography also helped.

The rest of the way up to Ghorapani was a hot slog up steps and hills as we climbed back further out of the valleys below. I was starting to run low on water and was eagerly looking forward to reaching Ghorapani so that I could get some additional hydration. It’s amazing how quickly you can go through three liters of water when out hiking. This effect gets compounded when you are suffering from diarrhea as well.

As we hiked further on, we started to find ourselves among the rhododendron trees that the area is famous for. They were beautiful and would become more present in the upcoming days.

After around four hours of hiking, we found ourselves in Ghorapani. A hot shower followed by a quick internet session helped to raise the spirits. Even though I was out in the middle of the mountains, I liked to check in with the rest of the world from time to time to see what was going on. This was often to Andrea’s dismay as she preferred to remain disconnected. I also spent some time exploring the village to see what they had to offer. I also managed to find a couple of interesting scenes to photograph such as this girl who was drying rice.

Afterwards, I made the executive decision to kill my lingering diarrhea with as much food as possible. I polished off the better part of a Pringles tube with Michael’s help. I also then put down some noodles and soup along with some eggs, potatoes and juice.

Late in the evening, the light was unique so I headed out with Blaine to try and take some photos. Unfortunately due to it being the evening, things keep getting darker, so my photos didn’t turn out they way that I had hoped they would. The clouds which continued to cover the mountains didn’t help much either. Afterwards we returned to the guest house for some dinner and relaxing. Dinner was average at best and we all headed to bed early to get up for the early morning hike up to Poon Hill.