Day 129 - 2670 Metres Elevation. Bagarchhap to Chame

Dawn hits the peaks before the rest of the world even gets a hint of light. We woke up early enough this morning to see the snow on the Annapurnas glowing white against the still indigo and starry sky.

The walk from Bagarchhap to Chame was uneventful but for the landslides across the river. We heard the rumble and roar before seeing anything. It's pretty impressive to watch bus-size and larger chunks of mountain go hurtling hundreds of feet towards the valley below. Impressive to watch from a distance -we were happy to be on the opposite side of the valley!

The festival of Desain was in full swing when we arrived in Chame, with games and gambling lining the streets. At the edge of town a group of locals and policemen had set up a game of volleyball. One American trekker managed to finegal his way into the game. Nepalis who live in this region are generally very small (the average man is about as tall as I am, frequently a little less), with nut-brown skin. Our American friend was in his fifties and well over six feet tall with fair skin, and snow white hair. If you ever need a definition of "Sticks out like a sore thumb", this guy in this game would be it.

Nepal is officially a Hindu country, but the practiced religion is often a blend of Hindu, Bhuddist, and Animist belief. Prayer wheels and chortens are among the most visible elements of the Bhuddist aspect of Nepali religion. Each prayer wheel is filled with prayers and mantras. Turning the wheel clockwise 'activates' the prayers. The wheels range in size from tiny, up to several metres tall. Near the volleyball game, a group of children turned a giant prayer wheel into a game of their own. Working together, they got the wheel turning, then hung on the bottom ledge and let it drag them 'round and 'round.

About 5PM a woman came along with a key to lock up the wheel for the night. Once their ride was taken away, the children invented new games for themselves. Some games we were able to follow - Vampires, Ninjas, and Zombies are apparently international phenomena and are in frequent conflict. Other games involved much running, jumping, and screaming, but the motivation behind the mayhem remained a mystery. There did seem to be some form of "cooties" being passed but we couldn't be sure.

If we had the energy of those kids, we would be done with this trek in a matter of hours!