Tonglu

This is the bustling Manebhanjang village on the Nepalese border (2130 metres). From here, we walked four hours up, to Tonglu (3100 metes).

Starting sometime in the afternoon left us little time for sightseeing as we struggle to acclimatise and find some sense of fitness after a longish absence from physical activity.

We were told to walk to this monastery to get on the right track out of the village. Claire was wondering what she had let herself in for as half an hour in, the two days she had just spent in bed, had caught up with her.

Two monks joined us for a walk and were very kind. 

Lakphu, the chattiest monk, took Jason inside to see the monastery while Claire recovered outside.

Lakphus English was great so we could confirm that these amazing sculptures are made from butter.

Jason was also told the name of the gompa instruments. But "Sieve head" has since forgotten what they are called.

Interestingly enough, the picture of the monastery head placed next to the Dalai Lama, was very European looking. It transpires that the monastery head is a Frenchman.

After a quick scolding for Jason about how long he was in the Gompa, we started our ascent again racing against daylight.

The path through the meadows was a little barren, though it would look beautiful when the rhododendrons, magnolias, primulas and orchids are in bloom.

Some boys on the side of the road play with fire.

Thankfully they seem to be burning the rubbish left by the "rich whites". The plastic burning seems to be adversely affecting the boy on the left.

Jason's attempts to educate on not breathing plastic were L.I.T. (Lost In Translation).

We passed through several villages, we met a very nice army man who let us walk into Nepal for a few minutes. We were not allowed to take his photo as they are a bit funny about that sort of thing... border sensitivity and all that... so it's lucky they stopped looking.

This is Claire's second Nepal visit, but for Jason this was his first 5 minutes in this fascinating country.

The sunset is coming in, and Claire is a little bit worried that we are still not in a shelter. Jason is convinced everything is fine and she should relax.

As the night settles in, so does the cold. We find a place to sleep and a warm bowl of rice and lentils that turn Claire's stomach. Everything seems to be yellow and flavourless.

We go to bed looking out at the beautiful sky. We felt on top of the world so high up away from noisy Indian cities.

The full moon shines though the clearing cloud. The lights of Darjeeling are visible in the bottom of the shot.

Morning comes around and we peek out of our window to see the beautiful Kangchenjunga Mountain.

It is so cold (minus 5) that only Jason makes it out of the sleeping bag to get a photo. Little did we know how cold the next night was going to be.

Jason settles for Geese company as Claire decides that a bedroom view is enough.