We
stopped at the same place in Larabina for a cup of tea and then
carried on down. At the place where we’d had morning tea on the way up, Mithu
deviated from the main track and we climbed up and over a hill, and then
continued along the side of a hill through lovely azaleas and rhododendrons,
lots of little flowers everywhere including a late-flowering orchid. I loved
the scent of the chrysanthemums which seem to grow everywhere, and the myriads
of little butterflies flitting around.
We rejoined the main track, good views
of the mountains again, and after a short stop for snacks we
arrived back down at Sing Gompa for lunch. We ate far too much food again at
the Red Panda Hotel.
Then came more descent which seemed to go on forever and
ever, we could hear the river far below us but it never seemed to get any
closer. We spotted some gorgeous sunbirds, a couple of monkeys and a deer on
the track. We had a short stop to rest our knees then
down and down we went, Aite taking my hand whenever it was slippery. Near the
bottom we had to climb up around a cliff to reach a bridge – then we had tea
and biccies at a little tea shop, sitting under a huge wood and straw umbrella.
By now it was spitting on and off and there were great claps of thunder. A bit
of up and down then some very welcome flat stretches brought us into Dhunche in rain.
Mithu got
us all bus tickets for th following day and a room in a hotel. It was a
big room with our own bathroom, a flushing squat toilet and supposedly hot
water. We stripped off our wet gear, had a shor rest and then joined Mithu and Aite
for a celebratory dinner. We even managed to get them to eat something other
than dal baht, although Aite had something close to it.
We were in bed by 8.00 pm and ready to sleep. A great trekking
adventure had come to a close, I would miss our lovely companions – we had such
a lot of fun together and we couldn’t have asked for more. We planned to give them large tips as well as socks, overtrousers and headtorch.
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