Day 9 - Dobato to Yangle Kharka

It was a cold morning when we got up around 6.30am at Dobato. The ground was frozen and we were still in shade.

 

I hadn't slept at all the night we spent there. I don't think it was the altitude but rather because it was cold an uncomfortable.

For breakfast Strongman prepared fried rice with omelettes.

The bill for our night at Dobato was as follows:

3 Noodles @ 100ea                     300

2 flask tea @ 600 ea                   1200

3 accommodation @ 200 ea          600

3 cup tea @ 200 ea                       600   (not sure on this line - seems wrong..)

3 evening meal @ 300ea              900

3 breakfast @ 300 ea                    900

2 bottles beer @ 600ea                1200

                                           Total: 5700

 

 

 

From Dobato it was a steep downhill to the Arun river valley. We lost a couple of thousand feet on the decent.

I was not feeling well and did not enjoy the first part of the day.

The ground was wet and we had to scramble down over rocks and tree roots that were covered with wet leaves.

When you hit the valley floor it is a long walk along the river regaining all the altitude you lost since Dobato.

 

Mark and Elaine had gone ahead with Strongman and I just followed Longman as he progressed 'slowly slowly' along the trail.

State of the trail varied a lot along the valley.

In some places you had to scramble along landslides, others you had steep undulations and occasionally the trail was flat and well formed.

By this time I had recovered well and Longman's pace was too slow for me.

We got to the teahouse in Yangle Kharka at around 12.30 in the afternoon.

It was in a nice open pasture area - which makes sense as Kharka means a campsite used by Yak/Cattle herders.























There was a herd of Yak by the teahouse.

There were also a  number of smaller dwellings where the herders lived.












The teahouse itself was a nice building having only been completed in the last couple of years.

When we arrived at the teahouse we heard from the owner that an American lady had just summited Makalu.

The common room in the teahouse was a nice large area used for dining and overflow when the dorms fill up.










Upstairs in the teahouse there was a dorm area with six beds. It was clean and airy.

On each side of dorm room were two private rooms containing two beds each.

I took the room in the back left - this turned out to be a good choice as the rooms on the right got a little smokey as dinner was cooked.














The kitchen area had a steel stove but no flue.

There were bowls containing random bits of yak laying around the kitchen.

There were also bowls of wild mushrooms.


















A closer view of the random yak bits..















There were also haunches of both yak and goat hanging in the kitchen area.





















Goats running around in front of the Yangle Kharka teahouse - each seems complete with all haunches present..










For dinner we had stewed Yak served with rice and chewy green leaves.

This was by far the worst meal we had in Nepal.

A week later I think we were still chewing the Yak.

The stew contained all sorts of random bits including tripe and arteries.








Weather: Two hat day. The area was sunny and warm during the day but cooled down quite a bit in the evening.









Accommodation: This teahouse earns a 3 out of 3 rating. It was clean, spacious and the owner was friendly.