My body woke up anticipating Tatopani, which means hot water in Nepali. It was aching and ready for the hot springs. Nearly everyone who walks the Annapurna area stops there and after two weeks of hiking, it was easy to guess why.
I wanted to arrive early to relax, which was not too hard, it was a short day. The walk was nothing special. The jungle and rice paddies had returned. To make up speed, I resisted every urge I could to not cross to the other side of the river. With every bus, I hated the dusty road a bit more, but hot springs were calling.
They did not disappoint. I felt all the stress sweat out of me into the water. It was just what I needed. Best of all, it only cost 50 rupees, about 60 cents to enter. The whole town was quite pleasant. The accommodation was all quite posh for rural standards. To the North, there was an improbable view of Nilgiri South, through perfectly placed valleys.
The dal bhat that night was fantastic as well. It was served with some fresh yogurt that blended perfectly with the flavors of the tarkari. The Israeli women were there as well as Stephan. I spent most of the night finishing Into the Air, an account of a disastrous climb of Mt. Everest. It further increased my desire to never climb the peak.
1 comment:
I am greatly enjoying your chronicles. Keep it up. Nancy and I went to Columbia yesterday in pusuit of dahl baht. You made us hungry for food from that part of the world. No Luck. So we settled for some naan, saag and curry.
"Into Thin Air" is a great book, and in what a great setting to read it! Stay healthy, mick
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