Rumble in the Jungle

My lack of energy has to be from six straight weeks of getting after it with really no breaks. Same with Kevin. It's a mutual tiredness. I woke up wanting more sleep. My stomach also felt a tad bit irregular. This could really be from anything, but in my optimistically delusional Krissy mind, I decided it was nothing to worry about. I hoped to open the curtain to find dreary skies. We had previously discussed hiking up the valley to camp but honestly I wasn't too keen on going with that plan. If Kevin were still gung-ho on it I could be convinced. Luckily enough for me, he wasn't. Unfortunately his change in motivation was due to stomach irritability as well. Best to stay near working toilets for the day.

We quickly switched our plan to staying in and around Kyangjin Gumba. We'd eat breakfast then make our way to Tsona Lakes. The Czech guide insisted we check them out and a picnic and swim sounded much more our speed for the day. We headed back down the trail to find the side trail that would lead us to the lakes. After crossing a bridge the trail petered out. If we had read further in the directions we would have known we should have gone eastward. We went westward. I wouldn't call this lost, per se, but we were in the wrong general area.

We crossed beautiful streams and vibrant green bogs, each time aiming towards a depression that could contain a lake. Over and over again we found more green pastures or bogs. Eventually, we located the first of many lakes. This one was small and full of algae, so we continued on.

En route to a larger lake, we came across a large climbable chunk of rock. Being the first piece of good rock we've seen in Nepal, we had to climb around on it. We worked out a long traversing problem. It had a few trichy moves in the middle that took some working out. Once we both got it, we continued onto the lake. Of course, by now it was almost noon and the wind was whipping up the valley. Ruling out swimming and death by hypothermia, we cut straight to a lunch of curry tuna and crackers. Right, probably not the best choice of people with stomach issues. The lakes were gorgeous and a great place to spend a lazy afternoon. When we reached vitamin D overload, we headed back to town via the more direct route.

Our stomach conditions worsening, we played chess and hung around the hotel grounds. We've decided we probably got sick from food we had at lunch on the way to Kyangjin Gumba. Yet again, we tapped into our stash of Cipro and ate a bland dinner to try and tame the rumble in the jungle.

We were sharing the lodge with another large group. A man and woman, Greg and Tanya, are halfway through the Great Himalaya trail. It spans from the east to west borders of Nepal and is a five month epic hike through remote mountains. Others join them for short stints, but overall it's them and the Sherpa. At this point they still have a good ways to go, but having just camped for two nights they were ready to party. Despite stories, music and dancing we made an escape to our room shortly after dinner. Nothing sounded better than resting, especially since we were about to make a fast and furious descent back down the valley.