Just Happy To Be Here (Day 23)

The day was supposed to commence at 4AM with a walk up to Poon Hill to watch the sunrise over the mountains. Lonely Planet describes this experience as a "defining moment." However, our defining moment happened shortly after the alarm went off. I looked outside and saw continuous, strobe-light flashes of lightning. I briefly saw some stars before they were buried behind clouds. Then it began to rain. So it was back to bed for us.

Krissy and I slept for another three hours before getting up to have breakfast, packing our stuff, paying our bill and heading on our way. Unfortunately our way turned out to be the wrong way and it took us fifteen minutes to figure it out.

Once we got on the right track it started to rain. We pulled on our rain gear and slowed our pace so we wouldn't be covered in sweat from our uphill climb. Visibility was zero because of a thick fog so we couldn't see any mountain views (or ten feet in front of us).

Despite these setbacks it was really a nice hike. The rhododendron forests were blooming with red, pink and orange flowers. The trail meandered below towering jungle cliffs alongside a swift moving creek. Krissy even went so far as to say it was her favorite section of trail we'd hiked so far.

Most of the day was spent descending rough, uneven staircases. I was pleased to discover my knees remained pain free even as we rolled into Tadapani, our stopping point for the day. Sure, the weather could have been more obliging, but it would be hard to say today was a bad day.