Dowa

This is Dowa, one of our two porters. We were due to have porters from Lukla but obviously when the plans changed they had to find us two new ones in the Pokhara region. Imagine our surprise when we met them, only to find Dowa who had been our sole porter at Christmas! He is an absolute gem, a man with a big heart and a great sense of happiness and laughter...despite speaking little English he shows us how much he cares in all that he does to help and support us. Anyway, here he is aplying with a little cat we found when we stopped for a tea break in the morning. We walked to New Bridge and then to Jiri where the heavens opened, so we sat tight for an hour and then, seeing that the rain wasn't going to cease, donned the waterproofs and got very wet on our walk to Chomrong.

And today was the day Paul tried to knock me off. Seriously, instead of water purifying liquid he gave me insect repellent which I put in my water to cleanse it. Needless to say, it didn't. It tasted foul and it smelt odd but I drank two litres. Great! And how did my tummy react...that's a tale for tomorrow!