A Merry Descent

Krissy and I left Kyanjin Gompa with mixed feelings. It was hard to leave this pretty place but we were both looking forward to returning to Kathmandu. When we return to the big city we'll have a little under a week to lounge around sipping (real) coffee and fruit lassis. I'll miss the pine and rhododendron forests, the towering white mountain peaks, the frothy, swiftly moving rivers and the colorful, darting songbirds. I'll miss the day's simple goal of reaching the next village with a sweaty back and tired legs. It'll take some time but it's doubtless that I'll also miss the weird, rustic guest houses, the farm animals on the trail, the bizarre concoctions called pizza, yak cheese, milk tea, all the people I've met, Coca-Cola, ketchup, the steep stone staircases, the scary suspension bridges with an alarming amount of bolts missing, the nice little kids who say namaste and don't want a chocolate or a pen, the multiple names for the same village, the prayer flags, the gompas, the reliable afternoon rain and the merciless mid-day sun. In essence, I'm going to miss trekking in Nepal.

Yet, we still had a couple long days of trekking in front of us. The Lonely Planet guide book told us it would take six to seven hours to reach the village of Lama Hotel on the way up. However, going back down would prove to be much easier. The descent was gentle and we made quick time. Both of our stomach issues had been resolved and a day's rest let us move at our usual quick pace.

As a personal side-note, I'm thankful to report that the knee issues that have been an ongoing problem for five years seem to have been completely resolved. Just last year if I had tried to descend as quickly as I did today I would have acquired sharp pains in the my knees that would last for at least two weeks. I certainly took notice of the change and merrily bounded down steep sets of stairs without a hint of discomfort. I attribute this wonderful change to all the bike riding I did this winter that helped build the support muscles that I was lacking.

We reached Lama Hotel with no incident in just around five hours. We had also descended an impressive 2000 meters: yet another big trekking day in the bag.