Day 128 - 2140 Metres Elevation. Chamje to Bagarchhap

We did not outsmart the Maoists. We passed by their checkpoint at 7:00 AM. They were already out, and did not look happy to be awake (the gun hidden in their outpost did not give us further encouragement). We paid our 500 rupee tax each, got our receipt (good for one year should we meet any other Maoists), and continued on our way.

We spent the morning continuing through green waterfall country, though by the afternoon, the ground became stony, and the landscape more arid. Bagarchhap lies on the border between the fertile 'lowland' (since when is up to 6000 feet low?!) and the drier northern Himalayas. Today's trek also offered up our first views of the Annapurna's snowy peaks (OK, we saw them from the bus depot, but this is the first time we saw them from the trek).

Built almost exclusively with the local stone, the villages seem to grow directly from the mountain. The trekking route is a popular tourist destination, but it is also the main causeway linking the villages, and traffic includes mule trains, goats, and local women carrying baskets of vegetables, fruit, firewood, chickens, bed linens (bed linens often topped by a baby or two peering curiosly over the rim of the basket) - anything you could imagine for daily life appears in the head baskets (the baskets are carried by a cloth strip across the forehead, while the basket itself rests on the bearers back) of women and porters.

The up and down of the route is mitigated somewhat by suspension bridges linking the midpoint of one hill to the midpoint of the next. Often these bridges cross roaring rivers, deep valleys, and chasms full of large rocks. They are mostly very sturdy and new-looking, but all have a significant level of bounce and sway, and all are made of open metal plates through which the air and rocks below are clearly visible. These are not bridges for the faint of heart.

The final bridge into Bagarchhap was guarded by a tiny girl, arms folded, demanding sweets. Many children along the trail beg for sweets or pens from the trekkers. We are encouraged not to give in, as this only exaccerbates the problem, but this little girl seemed so determined, and so like a little toll-collector, that we caved and offered her a coconut cookie to allow us through. Our bribe worked, and we crossed into Bagarchhap unmolested and ready for a good night's rest.