Day 17 Tarkygang to Sermathang
Billed as a flat and final day to the road head we had low expectations of the walk thinking that much of it might be on the road. We were wrong!
The walk was vaguely flat although we did end the day with 460m on the ascent log. It was a high crossing of a couple of ridges with lots forests and steep hillsides along the way. Everywhere there were views to distant hills. Not the glittering Himalayan giants of last week but instead the subtly shaded receding foothills leading south towards the Kathmandu Valley. The terraces were broad and fertile with lots of lovely vegetables growing in the rich soil.
It was, however, a poignant walk as this whole region had shaken to the ground by the 2015 earthquake. We stopped for lunch at the lovely Dorma Restaurant and enjoyed fine food gazing back at the route that we had followed for three days. The lodge was gleaming white in the midday sun and sported solar showers and a solar kettle. What we did not discover until we had left was the tragedy that had occurred there in 2015. The lodge owner had lost his wife, daughter in law and granddaughter in the earthquake. He and his son had been trapped in a collapsed building but were both miraculously freed by an aftershock. Both he and his son were to escape with broken legs but the son has never returned to the village.
The terraces around Sermathang were even more prosperous but this little community is deeply scarred by the events of 2015. The large monastery building at the crest of the village still presides over the village even though derelict with it’s collapsed roof and deep structural cracks.
Although folk are still fervently building here many are still living in basic shelters under tarpaulins 3 years on. Trying to rebuild their homes, their lives and their livelihoods.
The Dorje Lodge is an austere concrete affair that seems to have survived the quake more or less unscathed but, in doing so, it seems to have none of the charm and cosy, fireside comforts to which we have become accustomed.
Tonight we will celebrate the end of our trip with our porters and staff. Bumper tips have been donated by our members so there should be many smiling faces. Our little team has been so successful in bringing a little bubble of prosperity to those that have helped us along the way. Those folk deserve everything they get for their indomitable spirit as they recover and rebuild their lives.