Another beautifully fine day and I am reluctant to move from the New Mountain Refuge. My legs are stiff from the exertion of the two previous days (as our everyone’s) and Angelo, a Dutch traveller, is keen to score some hash and spend the day stoned looking at the mountains. But the others want to move on so we pack up and at 10:00 AM walk down the hill to Ganesh. The walk down is quite beautiful: a narrow path leading down through neat terraces with water cascading down through networks of channels. The terraces support numerous species of fruit trees, nut trees and tall graceful poplars. Many of the trees are wearing their autumn colours. It is very serene and Arcadian.
At Ganesh, we board a van which whisks up to Passu in less than two hours. Between Ganesh and Gulmet, the road winds through steep and rocky country with the river ever-present below, and the tall peaks, like the spires of cathedrals, towering above. Beyond Gulmet, the valley widens and the road traverses a huge shingle fan and river flats. The toe of the Ghulkin Glacier comes down to within a few metres of the road and workmen are busy repairing a washout beside the bridge over the stream which rushes out from beneath the blackened ice.
At Pasu, after a search, we find the Passu Village Inn. Run by the local school teacher, it is comfortable, if expensive, rooms and a dorm-cum dining room. Blue, Kerry, Linda and I opt for the ₹50 each dorms. Some German friends we have just made, Monica and Foike, take a room. There are two Brits, Roy and Jenny, and later on, two more Brits and two Irishmen. It is a good crowd and a good place to stay. After a delicious evening meal of soup and vegetables, we sit talking and sharing a bottle of Chinese whiskey, which Blue found at the New Mountain Refuge.
CurseOfTheTraveller 