I expected the trek down from Khare (5000m) to Kothe (3600m) to be much easier, but i was proven wayyyy wrong. The monsoon had started to hit. We set off through the never ending snow and as we decended, the nice littly fluffy snow which could be easily swept off my windbreaker became pesky rain droplets.
As my climbing partner was weakened by the unforeseen circumstances during the summit push, I went on ahead of the pack down to the lunch place.
wet weather + extreme sun burn = terrible selfies
oh yah. that morning(after the epic summit and return journy), i felt the consequence of the severe sunburn. my lips had dried green pus, it was swollen like a sausage and the skin around my mouth hurt so much when i attempted to open it.
As much as i wished the route back down to kothe from tangnak or tangnang (gosh they have so many names for the same place) was as straight forward as the route from khare to tangnang, I went ahead towards Kothe while the other two went on a detour to find some temple. Was so sick of walking that walking extra uphill would be too painful that i couldn't be bothered.
I walked and walked, continued walking. The terrain changed from hilly and mountainous to become flat gradually. The rain continued falling with a severe sunburnt half face, a reminder why i should put sunblock next time, it became more and more apparent that I desperately wanted to get to Kothe as quickly possible. The girl at the teahouse lied that it would take about 2-3 hours to get to Kothe if you're fast, 4 hours at normal pace. anndddddd, confident naive me thought i was fast cos i got to tangnak rather fast. Butttttt their pace was another level from me haha.
one of the wooden bridges across the fast moving swelled up streams
So after walking for 4 hours ahead of the pack, I started panicking because the route started to looking increasing unfamiliar. The sun warned to dip behind the mountains and light was growing limited in the valley.
boulder path before it disappeared, covered by the boulders
The terrain grew harsher and harsher as the minutes passed. The track started to disappear slowly until there was no visible path left. What laid infront of me were giant boulders similar to the picture (less the path) with the visibility decreasing rapidly with the incoming mist. With the never ending rain and snow up in the range, the river was swelling up at a rapid pace. I started panicking. I waited for other two to show up behind me, after waiting for 10 mins, i finally saw shadowy figures in the distance behind a settlement i passed. Thought i was on the right track and proceeded onwards into the unknown where the tracks disappeared. Thinking that the tracks would appear after a while, i pushed on, climbing the boulders, skirting the water streams, jumping from place to place, but the path remained obscured from view. Thirty minutes in the scramble, I stopped, and waited to catch a glimpse of the 2 behind me. But after awhile, they did not appear and that was when i started panicking. Thoughts of a survival situation went through my mind. I thought i had gone through the wrong path and had gotten lost! I analyzed the situation, aware of the rising river on my left and falling rocks on my right, ensured i had enough supplies to survive the night with my headlamp, some food and clothes to keep warm. It was like one of those 'bear grylls' moments, where it was me against all the odds. With no way to make a fire in this rain, i weighed the consequences and decided to give one last push with whatever daylight i had left to see if i could find better terrain to deal with (in case i had to spend the night there) and get as far as possible.
I decided to continue heading down the general direction of the river as i knew it would eventually lead to a settlement over walking up to high ground because the landslides made it hard to scale up the steep edges. I quickened my pace to a slow jog. The rocks were slippery and some were unclimbable. It soon felt like a big obstacle course, climbing over boulders, stooping low to pass certain passages and 10mins into it, i started thinking if heading on low land was the better choice because the distance between the river and the side of the cliffs started decreasing and i was afraid that i would be eaten by the river at some point with no way out! I really felt like bear grylls! face in such dire situation. I didnt want to die. I wanted to fight on to live another day. haha. cliche i know. But in truth, it was what my inner voice was saying haha.
But atlas! some hope emerged! I saw 2 teenagers walking in the distance! I ran towards them, tried to communicate in horrible nepali, simple english and some hand signs. Not knowing what i was talking, they carried on their way with me trailing behind. what i relieve! even if they weren't going to Kothe, they were eventually going to reach civilization anyway. their pace was incredibly fast! they were jumping from rock to rock, crossing the waterways with such ease while i was struggling to keep up with their pace and not fall or twist an ankle at the same time.
Finally a path emerged and i was sooooooooooooo freaking relieved! Best of all, I saw my porter happy strolling along that path towards me with his multi colored umbrella and a tumbler of hot black tea!
so relieved to see my porter that I had to take a selfie with him
WOOOOO. "I was saved!" I said to myself. started fist bumping and high fiving him. sadly he couldnt really converse in english so he prolly couldnt understand why i was so happy. But yea this was pretty much the end of my epic bear gryll's moment. The other 2 eventually caught up with me and we reached Kothe a good 1+ hour later just before it went completely dark.
Finally linked up with the whole group. Best of all there is a visible path!
