5 Days on the Siklis Trek: Part 3

On day four we again head down valley through terraced fields and villages. 

At one place we saw the possibility for an infinity pool. 

Everywhere the bounty of harvest is evident. Corn husks and wood piled high,

corn kernels being cleaned and stored,

wheat and other grains being ground into flour at the water powered mill,

vegetables and papayas galore in the terraces close to the houses,

and the straw piled high in preparation for monsoon.



A village girl models her woven sun screen as she heads out into the terraces. 

A farmer plows his terrace while his wife plants the seeds behind him. 

Oh no!  Dean tries his hand at plowing.  No one is hurt……but I’m sure the crooked rows had to be redone.

Butterflies on thistles,

caterpillars,

tadpoles,

and long suspension bridges were seen and crossed. 

At one village a group of kids led us over the bridge and one of the girls posed for us to see her interesting braids. 

The rooster under a woman’s arm was soon to be dinner that evening.

The path signs showed walking time not distance to the next village.

Along one part of the path we saw the results of a very large landslide from the prior monsoon season. 

The outflow had blocked the river for several weeks.  When the dam broke, there was a lot of erosion downstream from the high water. 

The trekking path was lost and

cultivated terraces chewed away by the raging water.

We saw a stone cutter

and his piles of cut tiles along the path. 

A short distance down the path was the donkey train that carried the tiles to the nearby road to go to market.

In the early afternoon we arrived at the end of the trail at Sabi

and enjoyed a swim in the river.

The final morning the porters packed up our site early

and after our last breakfast on the trek, we were off down the trail. 

At a very unusual round house we were invited inside to see the layout of the first floor beds and kitchen.

We finish the trek going down a beautiful stone staircase,

look back at the mountains we were traveling in the past five days,

load up the bus,

and head back to Pokhara.

We end the trek with our last candle light ‘camp’ meal prepared by the trek staff. 

Afterward we all dance

and celebrate by eating our decorated ‘trek’ cake.

If you want to see a map with some of the places we visited in India and Nepal, click on this:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211022908515709635916.0004a5dd0f41d4d35cca8&msa=0

5 Days on the Siklis Trek: Part 2

Day 2 on the trek we are greeted with clear skies and no wind at the campsite.  In the high mountains it is very windy with great plumes of snow billowing off the slopes. 

We trek into the ‘Natural Zone’ so I guess we were un-natural to this point.

We join the porters for a short rest and can once again buy our beverage or snack of choice.  I wonder if there are motion sensors at our rest stops to alert the nearby village of our stop and the sales opportunity. 

We enter the forest.  If it weren’t for the views, I would guess I am in the rain forest along the BC coast or on a walk in Louisiana. 

The flowering magnolia trees mix with the flowering rhododendron forest. 

Patches of orchids,

blue gentian (?),

pitcher plants and

some butterflies add to the green of the ferns and mosses.

We reach the high point of our trek, 3095 meters, and camp at Tara Hill Top. 

The camp bar is open,

a card game is already going in the back,

and the lights are plugged into the solar cells for power.  (Sometimes the modern and traditional mixes are striking!)

In the morning we awake to a nice sunrise and view of the mountains. 

The remains of the prior night’s rain and hail storm are next to my tent.  But today is cloudless and we enjoy our breakfast with a view.

It seems funny to see water buffalo at 3000 meters in a forest field.  One of our porters passes us as we amble downward through the forest today to our campsite, again with a view. 

Our camp is very close to the village of Parche

so many things are for sale. 

After dinner the whole village comes to the stone porter’s hut and we are treated to music and dance.

Marcel and I are invited (PULLED) to join the dance

and have a good time.

While we are gathered it has been raining HARD so the villagers walk home with their heavy wool shawls pulled up over their heads and repel rain as well as a modern rain coat (bump on back of woman’s shawl is pulled up to cover her head). 

We all sleep very well and the tents are dry inside.

The next morning Marcel and I receive a bottle of the village’s raski as a thank you for our dancing the night before!