The day started out well, we decided that as we would get a jeep from Chamje orJagat, we did not need to start at the crack of dawn. Once you leave Tal, it's pretty well all down hill. The long climb to Tal on the way up, becomes a steep decent. This is not as easy as it sounds, and is hard work on the knees and feet, all three of us suffering a bit. We some Aussies who were on their way up, turned out they were from Melbourne. It's funny, but all the Aussies we met on the trek (not that many really) were from Victoria, maybe we are the most adventurous.
By lunch time we'd reached Chamje, it's a cute village that looks a little like a wild west town, two - three story buildings with verandas and balconies. We hung for lunch, and then started looking for a jeep. It's funny. Because all day, we'd seen jeeps going down the circuit, but now there was nothing!
Eventually a fully loaded jeep came along, it turned out to be the same guy that had taken us up the mountain. There was no room in the jeep, but he offered us a ride in the back with two local guys and a stack of cargo. Desperate, we took the ride, Jules and I squeezed together and Lille hanging off the tailgate ( a better spot than ours!). It's only 35 km to Besishar, but the track is soooooo bad that it takes about 3 hours. It was a hell of a ride, dust poured into the back, and we felt every bump, constantly banging our heads on the frame, our bodies permanently tense as we tried to brace ourselves. After an hour, we'd only reached Syange, maybe 10km closer to our destination.
The three of us decided we'd had enough and opted to wait for another jeep, it was only 1pm, so I was sure another jeep would come soon..... Nothing, absolutely nothing came by, jeeps were going up, but not going down. Then two jeeps pulled up, it was the mountaineering team we'd met in Chyako, they turned out to be Dutch, not Germans. Unfortunately, they were overloaded and could not help. And so we continued to wait. Just as dark was closing in and the thought of a night in Syange wasd becoming a reality, two empty jeeps rolled in, on their way home to Besishar. They agreed to give us a lift for 1500 npr each (about AU$20). We had the jeep to ourselves, so it was as comfortable as you could get. We still had to hold on for dear life as we rocked and bumped our way along the track, fording countless streams. With only 25 km to go it should have been a breeze, but it took about three hours, the longest three hours you could imagine.
We staggered into Besishar about 8:30, the place shut up tight, except for the drunken guys wandering around enjoying the start of festival, it seemed every day was now the start of festival!we fell into our room at the same hotel as before, exhausted and pretty much done. I'll never forget that strange, surreal jeep journey through the darkness of the mountains.
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