1st to 3rd of May, 2023.
I must hitchhike to the starting point. No problem, some lovely family pick me up and drops me off by it. But to make sure I am at the right place, I ask in a small food shop. A young lady shows me the way. She is very curious about me so I quickly tell her about my travels, to her astonishment. Before I leave, she gives me one of her bracelets, made out of beads, and with an evil eye on the centre. I try to refuse but she insists. It is a very cute bracelet and I am honoured that she wants to give it to me. How sweet!
Starting the trail already uphill. It is a bit tricky at first, to find the right path, but I manage. I cross a small village first and then start going up, with lovely views of the village and the hills around.
I pass some traditional houses which are gorgeous! But probably most people will not think so. At certain point, I enter the jungle and there are some lovely stone steps. I am wondering if I could encounter some wild life. That would be nice. A tiger, perhaps? Just kidding.
I get to the Dhampus View Tower and get to know that you must pay to go up. Which is not fair, really. I ask the lady responsible for giving the tickets, if I can go for free. Of course, I explain to her everything as well. She lives in the house right in front of entrance. She is very kind and say there’s no problem.
I leave my backpack by her house and then go up. It is not too hard but it is a lot of steps uphill. The views are great, really, but it depends a lot on the weather, of course. And also, on the time of the day you come, according to the time of the year. Laugh. It is an open tower so you have a 360°, which is nice. And yep, you can see Annapurna Ranges from here, quite clear, if you are lucky.
I stay as long as I can but it is getting dark soon, so I go back down.
Right by the lady’s house there are a few guest houses and some tourists are staying there. And right behind her house, there’s a great, flat and clean piece of grass, so I ask her if it’s OK for me to camp there. She says it’s fine. Yay! She also asks me if I need food or anything else (how sweet!), to what I answer that I have actually brought some food with me, so I am fine. She shows me the toilet and the washroom too.
2nd of May, 2023.
I feel something weird at night, on my feet, as it was itching or something, but I didn’t think much of it. When I wake up in the morning, and take my feet out of my sleeping bag, dear Loki! There’s blood everywhere! Like a lot of blood! My sleeping bag is covered on blood. What a hell? When I take a closer look, I see that I am not harmed. I feel no pain and there’s no wound or anything. And then I finally see it: a leech! Luckily it was only one! I cannot believe this! I feel like I am in Stand by Me. What a terrible feeling! Just to think that this thing was sucking my blood for Loki know how long… it is devastating! I feel violated! I don’t know if I killed by scratching it or if it exploded. Crap! Anyway, I find also the spot from where it was sucking my blood. It is very tiny, and luckily, the bleeding has stopped. The bad part is that I cannot wash my sleeping bag right now but I am planning on camping another night before going back to hostel. So tonight, my feet with be in dry blood again. Terrific!
After washing my feet and getting all packed, I go one more time to the view tower. This time, apart from the clouds, the air is very clear and I can see Mount Annapurna quite well.
I could hike all the way to my next destination, Sarangkot, but I am so tired and my feet hurt, so I decide to hitchhike only.
In Sarangkot, again you have to pay to go to the view point, and again, I manage to go for free. And luckily because the views here are not that great. I mean, they are nice but there’s lots of buildings on the way too, so it is less nature and more houses and stuff, with the background of nature.
I don’t do much more but the day passes fast. I decide to walk down from Sarangkot and try to camp by some family’s land. In the place I decide to ask for, the son of the lady can speak English so he does all the translation. They offer me to pinch the tent inside of what will be the chicken coop, still under construction. It has a nice view and it is the only big enough / flat place around where I could have my tent, so it’s fine by me!
They seem happy to have me around and invite me for dinner. When the father arrives later, he’s also surprised for seen me here. It’s all a good laugh. The food is delicious and we also have some tea.
Next morning I leave quite early because, once I am back to the hostel, I need to wash my sleeping bag and it needs to dry.
10 Years Around the World 