Day 6 - Trekking

I have been feeling weak for the last day and this morning I wake up with no appetite and slight nausea. We go over to a friends house for a big meal of “daal bhaat” for breakfast. I decide not to eat the meal and just have a granola bar instead. The problem is we are going to trek back to Gatlang today. That means about 4 hours of hard walking, mostly uphill. Just the last 45 minutes was going to be downhill. I know it is going to be hard for me, but we all agree to go slow. After about 20 minutes of our journey we stop by a small waterfall to fill up our water bottles and apply sunscreen. I lean against a rock to rest and make the mistake of leaning against a very spiny plant called “polo.” Tom had made this mistake on our first day in Gatlang when his hand brushed the plant and he was in pain for hours afterward. It is a green leafy plant that is covered in razer thin spikes that apparently goes through denim! It's quite painful and certainly takes my mind off my nausea for a while. After about 2 hours the pain subsides. An interesting thing about this plant that we found VERY hard to believe was that it is edible. Tom often asked how it was possible to pick a plant like that much less to actually eat it. We found out later that night when it was served to us with our meal.

We arrived in Gatlang in pretty decent time despite my weakness. Before we fully reached our destination we were called into another home for tea. It's the first home we've seen that actually has a bed with a bedframe and Tom noticed the lady had clean feet and painted toenails. We are invited to dinner the next evening.

I spent the rest of the afternoon resting in the tent. Yungchin (Shem's adopted daughter) came by at one point to bring me tea and to invite us to lunch the next day.

That evening we go to Prem's house for dinner and I still have nausea, so I don't eat again. I'm not sure what the hostess really thought of that, but what can I do. I am desperately hoping to have my appetite back soon.