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For the next few days we should be off the grid, heading into more remote areas as we travel north and into higher elevations. Our departure from Nganglam was delayed until 5:30 this morning. A storm moved in during the night; terrific wind and rain rattling the windows causing a power outage. Thunder reverberates in the valley magnifying the sound. Our headlamps gave enough light to get ready in spite of the dark, packing up our bags, ready for Kaka's crew to pick up.
One of the amazing features of our support crew is their routine of collecting our luggage from our rooms after we've left (checking if we've left anything), transporting the bags in a separate vehicle leapfrogging past us, then depositing them in our rooms before we get to the next hotel. We are spoiled. Their precision and efficiency with luggage, picnic meals, pee tent, sleeping tents when needed, has made this the best run trip ever.
A sign as we leave town: "Accident Prone Area." Rural homes in this region are not traditional intricately painted. Small huts with metal roofs as in many other countries in the developing world. Climate is subtropical so won't see the snow of higher elevations. Steep mountainsides start to line the valley, no evidence of population except the occasional footbridge. Conditions of the roads change from year to year. What was dirt last year is paved except for gravel at washout spots. The road wraps around rock formations at 1300 ft. as we move along the Manas Chhu (river) diminishing in size below us. This year there are guardrails, most intact. Fortunately little traffic on the road so we have the curves to ourselves. We are both sitting on the right side of the bus where looking down is optional and perhaps ill-advised. It takes the whole morning to reach our lunch spot at Limithong. The worst of the road is over.
Still climbing in elevation, by 5:30 we're in our room at the Trogon Villa (5000'). Three nights in one place! And wifi after all.
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