A good nights sleep and an early start to the day. It rained overnight, the first rain since arriving in Nepal, so we woke up to low cloud and the possibility of trekking in the rain....no fun. We had a good chat to a young American couple and swapped stories before heading off into the mist. Half hour up the track is the village of Danakyu (2300 m), not dissimilar to Bagarchhap and no real reason to stop. Once through the village, the countryside starts to change, the trail starts to climb and the vegetation turns from open forest to dense pine and for, almost like some madly rugged European fairytale landscape.
Danskyu
Fairytale bridge
It's a long climb!
Timang teahouse
We diverted of the jeep track, down to a stream and over an ancient wooden bridge, then it was up, up and still more up. The trail just kept climbing through the moss filled forest, each time I looked up from the trees, the massive escarpments filled the view on both sides. Lille said that if there was no cloud, we would be able to see snow covered peaks in all directions, peaks that edge 7000m and beyond. Instead we were treated to a day of fantastical visions of mist filled gorges, mountains disappearing into cloud and primeval forests haunted by shadow and fog.
The look and feel of the villages has changed, the buildings are lower, more often built of stone, there are a lot more stone fences and the pathways are stone paved. The people also look more Tibetan, a little shorter and more heavy featured. People are very friendly and little children are fascinated with us. Once we had reached the top of the long accent, there was a tiny teahouse at Timing, perfect for a cup of local tea and a chance to catch our breath. Here we met a nice English couple, shared some jokes, good to breakup the day. It was then on and up again, eventually reaching the stunning village of Thanchok. Here we wound down narrow cobbled lanes and passed ancient stone huts, everywhere there are marigolds and other flowers that we don't think of being wild. At the far end of the village. We stopped at an teahouse for lunch, a lovely little spot with a stonewalled courtyard. The only other guests bring their English couple again.
It was then an easy walk through open forest, small pocket size pastures and stone pathways. At one spot along a path that looked straight out of Wizard of Oz (but not yellow) was a little stall selling apples straight from a tiny orchard, very nice.
Swing bridge near Thanchok
Thanchok
Woodpile
Leaving Thanchok
Follow the grey brick road....
Apple stall near Chhitipu
Nar Phu is through there!
Entrance to Nar Phu
Dog in Koto
We then descended to Koto, our turning off point for the Naar Phu valley. We spoke to the police at the checkpoint and they advised us to wait a day or so for the weather to clear, so it was on to Chame, a much larger village. An ideal spot to rest up, get supplies and ask around for advice. We are going to see if any villages are going up into the valley and see if we can join with them, much safer if it's possible.
Chame (2670m) is the district headquarters and has a lot more facilities than any of the other villages. After a bit of a hunt, we found a place to stay that was OK, and we settled in. This is the first place with a fire in the lounge and a perfect meeting point for locals, trekkers and guides. The only other guests, we a couple of Belgium guys and two girls from Melbourne, one worked in Castlemaine and knows Daylesford well...it's a small world. The night was literally freezing, our first really cold night so far.
Entrance to Chame
We are staying on the roof here
Chame swing bridge
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