I woke up sore, but ready to go. To push my budget, I devised a great breakfast. Order toast with eggs, eat one piece with the egg, then cake the other with jelly from the jar sitting on the table. It is a good amount of calories for a dollar.
The day began with a long set of stairs going down, which of course were followed by an even longer set of stairs going up, all the way seemingly to Sinuwa. From Sinuwa onto Bamboo, the trail passed through some of the most gorgeous jungle of the whole hike. Higher up, the jungle continued with a succession of spectacular waterfalls shooting off the steep walls of the gorge. Machhapuchhre would pop out between the trees. The last stretch from Himalaya camp was a tough slog up a few tall steep hills.
It was crazy to think I climbed 1000m throughout the day. The trail was not very steep, just a pleasant uphill hike.
For some odd reason, everyone filled up all the lodges in town but the Panorama Hotel. There were only four of us the whole place. The guy running it was cool; he spent the afternoon sitting out front in shadow of the mountains, strumming away on his guitar while smoking cigarettes. They served what way have been the best dal bhat of the trip. When I saw the hotol empty, I asked the man with the guitar. "Why is it so empty here?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders. "It's normally full."
"You'd better have good dal bhat!"
"We have very good dal bhat here."
"Best in Nepal?"
"Of course!"
I was glad he didn't lie to me. The tarkari was thick and full of medly of veggies, potatoes, green beans, soy beans, another unidentified bean, and these delicious mushrooms that I at first thought was chicken.
"Hey man!" I yelled to the innkeeper. "This meat-like stuff in the tarkari, is it a mushroom?"
"Yep!"
Great day bhat that night. I had three beds all to myself.
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