[ Mane Bhanjyang ]
Bhojpur Solo Trek, Days 5-6: Mane Bhanjyang – Dalgaun
Climbing through an unknown forest by moonlight alone? A bit intimidating. The most worrisome aspect, though, was not knowing where I was going to stay. I had my sleeping bag and a tarp, but the weather situation was worsening, and I had encountered a host of rambunctious monkeys along the way.
When I found the road, I encountered a woman carrying a large basket full of grass cuttings (in the evening these cuttings are to feed the livestock). When I asked her how far to the village, she said “Thirty minutes. But don’t bother. You can stay with me and my family for the night.”
Imagine this back home: a stranger–an obvious foreigner, male–approaches a solitary woman after dark in a place where neither strangers nor foreigners ever appear, and without the slightest concern she invites him into her home, prepares him dinner, and gives him a warm, dry place to sleep–in the same room as her children.
God how I love this country and these people!
Original Facebook micro-blog post is here, with per-image commentary.
Finalized Gallery for this Solo Trek is here:
Namaste,
—jim
