Good weather again today but the valley between Ghasa and Tatopani is a deep one and the views of the big Annapurna peaks were limited. It was a tougher walk than any of us were expecting -Jangbu's hand wave description of the route did have up as well as as down strokes - but was an excellent one none-the-less.
Started the day by speaking to a couple of German sociologists, I think from a charity, who complained to me that since their last trip 20 years ago tourists had destroyed the valley. I guess that annoyed me, and I spent the whole day in an imaginary debate with them about the role of tourists in the valley's very obvious transformation.
Our mid-morning tea stop fuelled the internal debate still further. The woman who prepared our tea ran an immaculate little farm, tiny patches of terrace no bigger than a large garden. The location, at the side of the old trail and not the new road which was on the other side of the valley, was perfect. Everything was pristine and clean. She lived in a 25 by 8 foot dwelling made of woven panels of dried grass and a pitched roof made of similar material but with a plastic lining. The dwelling was in two parts, a living area at the front and a sleeping area at the back. She prepared hot water for our tea on a fire which was in a hole in the ground in the living area. There was no chimney and smoke from the fire hung in the low space of the hut. The woman looked after her granddaughter, a four year old. The woman's husband had left her, a son was working in Kuwait, and another son was down the valley at school. Her little farm, particularly with the sun shining, looked wonderful but given the choice the Nepalese, like everyone else born into such a tough life, seem to want something easier.
