March 26th – Getting into trouble on the way to Tal
I’ve always had trouble drinking water, and today it would come back to get me in a big time. After waking up and packing, I headed down to use the bathroom to get ready for the day. I had my first experience with a squatter in the morning. Basically, it’s a hole in the floor that you squat over to do your business. You then flush your business down the hole using a bucket of water provided next to the hole. It’s a real trick of balance as you have to squat getting your behind down almost next to your ankles while trying not to miss and hit your shoes or pants, not to mention the constant danger of falling over backwards while you try to go. Fortunately I’m a tall guy, so I have the advantage of long arms. For most of the trip I was able to turn my upper body and reach the wall behind the squatter hall to brace myself from falling backwards.
I joined everyone for some breakfast and we got our water pumped for the day thanks to Mike and Andrea’s water pump. After breakfast we set out along the river up dusty trails. Marijuana dotted the trails all along the way as we hiked. Less than an hour into the hike I was dying. The temperature had to be somewhere in the high 70’s and the sun beat down on the trail with no shade to hide in. In my infinite brilliance, I had not drunk enough water the night before and my pee was actually brown. I actually got so dehydrated that I ran out of sweat. Despite my objections, Mike succeeded in forcing me to take my backpack off and focus on drinking water he assumed the burden of my stupidity by carrying my backpack for me while I hiked behind him with some water and hydration salts. It was a miserable morning until we stopped for lunch around noon. I was able to be feeling well enough from my drinking water to take my bag back from Mike.
After lunch we resumed hiking and came up behind some cows on the path. Passing cows and donkeys was something that we would have to do often along our hikes on this trip. I always tried to stay between the cow and the rock face so in case the cows get spooked they don’t knock you over the edge. We happened to be going the same direction as the cows, which puts one in a dilemma: Do you walk slower and stay behind the cows, or do you try and pass them? I wanted to pass, so I did my best to hurriedly pick my way through them along the path. I always hate hiking up next to cows and donkeys from behind because while they were always very even mannered, I was always worried about the threat about spooking one of them and getting kicked.
After passing the cows, I focused on a small shop up in the distance. I increased my pace with the promise to myself that I could buy whatever junk food there I could find and destroy it. Once there, I bartered on 4 packs of chocolate cookies and managed to have two of them eaten by the time that everyone else showed up about ten minutes later. After that, it was a short steep hike up into the Tal Valley. The view was amazing. Blue glacier water snaked its way next to the town flanked by huge cliffs above.
We hiked all the way through town to the Paradise Hotel at the end where we spent the night. This gave us the chance to shower and do laundry. While we waited on dinner, I had the chance to photograph the hotel owner’s adorable children. We fought off exhaustion long enough to eat dinner before heading up to bed for the night.