Torch
Also, the family we were visiting wasn’t expecting us. Though they’ve got no electricity or phone lines, they have a mobile phone. Only the battery was dead. That means surprise.
Having guests surprise you in Nepal is pretty common. Anytime during the day is ok, but to show up at 9 pm is quite a surprising surprise.
We got to the end of the navigable path at 9 pm. We weren’t there yet. Everyone at the first cluster of houses we came to was awake. Motorcycles don’t come here often, so they all stepped out of their elevated mud huts and climbed down the ladders to see who the visitors were. It was at this point I wish I had a film crew with me.
We hadn’t yet met the people we came to see, but these families were all friends. They instructed us to park our motorbikes underneath one of the houses for the night. I’m not sure how many times they’ve seen Caucasians, but it’s doubtful that any have come to their houses, much less this late at night. The kids walked right up to me. The adults squinted in the low light and held up their torches to get a better look. (in international English, a torch is a flashlight…but I mean real torches)
We didn’t know the way to our destination, so one of the elderly ladies offered to have her teenage granddaughter lead us there. We complied. She picked up her torch, lit it and started down the footpath. I followed and behind me were 5 kids from the first cluster of houses. They wanted to spend more time with the foreigner.
We were lead through brush – I thought a machete would’ve been nice, jumping over streams and through the jungle. It was not a well worn path. Perhaps the normal path was flooded or washed out.
It was well after 9 pm when we arrived. The family we came to visit was still up. They were quite surprised when my entourage showed up. Though they were preparing for bed, they eagerly welcomed us with lengthy conversation (all in Nepali) before giving us their only beds. They’ll sleep on the porch.
I think there’s a business opportunity in here somewhere: StormTrekkers Adventures.










