Nepal 26, Traveling into Baglung District

Now we start really winding up and around the hills. The temperature is dropping and becoming chilly.
We come to a complete stop for an hour at some road works.

No lights, no signs here, just vehicles waiting for the road to open and when it does, the ground is loose stone and rock and only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. What happens next is a ‘free for all’. The motorcycles rush ahead, then come to a halt as buses come in from the other direction far to wide to let anything pass and it ends up gridlocked. Chaos reigns and after various manoeuvres, spinning wheels, people pushing cars, mud and stones flying in every direction, we finally pass though.
We come off the actual road and onto quieter but, insanely rough tracks. Durga tells me before the tracks he and his mother had walked five days to reach the village of his father. Its hard to descibe how steep the hills are, at times the drop from the side of the road is just straight down. Landslides and mud slides leave scars in the vegetation hundreds of meters long. Often they destroy the roads perched on the hillsides making it hair raising to cross the hastily remade track.

Four hours of off road motoring is enough for anyone and as it gets dark our driver stops to pick up six school children toiling up the track. This is the first time I’ve seen the driver smile. The kids clamber onto the back and grab the rails, they’re ready for a rough ride. Two of them can only be about six years! This would definitely not happen in the UK.
The countryside is still quite populated. I wonder how people get to some of the houses I can see on the hillsides, Im guessing on foot!
After an age the kids hit the top of the jeep, jump off and wandered into the forest, goodness knows how long their day is!
We stop at Durgas Nephews house for a drink and we go into his Grand Nephews home.
The young couple live in a hut, one room with a bed, table, and kichen area and electric light. This is a very traditional home.
The tea is sweet and made with black pepper, Im tired and the feeling is somewhat surreal.
The whole scene is like something out of the National Geographic.

I ask about the bee hives I saw outside before I entered the house only to find they are all dead. Durgas Nephew tells me (with Durga translating) he is so sad because he found them so interesting, the honey was a side benefit to him, he liked to watch them and I know that feeling! I feel sad for him. In the next few days I discover the likey cause of their demise and have an idea!

Its late when we head up to the hotel, Im not sure what to say, it’s the only hotel in the whole district. We ate Dahl Bhat which was surprisingly good and Durga introduced me to cough medicine (Khukri rum). Swigging from the bottle, I immediately feel whoosy and a whole lot better!
This is another building hanging off a ridge and we go down stairs to the bedrooms. My room was a cement cell painted pink, the doors have massive bolts that would have done a police cell block proud. The bedding was so dubious, I used my sleeping bag.
I shan’t even describe the shared bathroom!
Durga you know how to treat a girl!