Tilche to Chamje – The Continuing Descent of Bladesmith and Bhim Adhikari (2nd blog today)

Well I reckon this is the 13th day of the trek and we’ll be down below the high altitude level of 8,000 feet by the end of the day. And for the third day running the sky is clear! In the monsoon season too.

Porridge with honey and apple slices is great in the morning. A solid base to work from. We set off on the penultimate leg, although we were on our last legs. Boom boom. Even downhill is a struggle.

After the bridge our track rose slightly to give us a fabulous view of Tilche and the valley above it.

The sun was determined to hang around today, although we were glad to be in the shade.

The Blade and Adhikari boy made very good time, descending into Dharapani/ Thonche in just over an hour, joining the last section of the Manaslu Circuit, which is also the first section of the Annapurna Circuit which me and Jet did last year. You can check out any time you want but you can never leave. Thanks Don.

There are different ways up the Annapurna Circuit. One of them involves crossing this bridge. No thanks!

A nice cup of spicy Masala tea was waiting for us just outside Dharapani, in the blue roofed building in the middle of the photo and the most distant (as we looked back).

We were well aware of a huge landslide further down the valley, which had torn the road out of existence. Soldiers were passing us on the way down, Bhim said that was a clear indication that they would be dynamiting the landslide area today. We were sticking to the road/trail, which was now navigable by jeep, to make good time and we hoped that the blasting wouldn’t force us off road. But for now the views took any concern away.

We had begun to rise quite high to the right of the valley and we were approaching within a mile of the landslide, with a number of jeeps down the side of the road, and workmen in a makeshift canteen. One confirmed that we could get past the landslide for the next 20 minutes but then the police may stop us. We put a bit of pace on. Yes that little track halfway up the ravine on the right is the so called road.

Yomping round the corner of the mountainside we came upon the police and workmen, who waved us through. It’s really difficult to climb down landslip when you’ve got a rucksack on your back. It really interferes with balance and stability. At my age. This landslide didn’t take any prisoners. These guys were drilling holes for explosives.

Happy to be past we set our sights on Chamje and made good time. A spectacular waterfall came down on to the road and we cooled down in the spray as we passed.

Then we came to Chamje, the first village since the landslide, and stopped for lunch in this bijou little place.

I had mash and chicken, enjoying eating meat again since the butcher caught and killed the clucker for us in Namrung, a week ago. We talked about the best place to stay, with a view to getting to Pokhara by tomorrow night; meaning that we would have to get a jeep out of the mountains and a bus down in the valley. As we ate, the jeeps that had carried people up to the landslide, for them to climb across it and reach the upper valley on foot, were returning. Some slowed down and asked us if we wanted a lift down to the valley.

We decided to stay here, the night would be pleasantly cooler at this height, get up early and easy to get a jeep to Besisahar, where we could get a bus to Pokhara. So we relaxed, had a couple of beers together, had chicken and chips for dinner and an early night in this teahouse. My room is the first blue door on the right. Lovely innit?

Night night.