A Mountain Trip

One of the many downsides to having white skin is inevitably being the "revered guest" for whom the animals are slain. The food often tastes great if you can look past all the parts, but after a few days of eating the same meat in an area with absolutely no refridgerators anywhere in sight, I start to get a bit leary. The people are so poor, but they nearly always insist on slaughtering and cooking for us no matter how much we protest.

This little boy was playing by the river, head messily shaven (undoubtedly due to lice) and snot running down his face. He was probably 10, but tiny and malnourished. (And probably freezing! It was about 34* and raining!

Another mountain pass. There are concrete barriers on the very steepest, curviest stretches. Here the road is very good, but still treacherous!

Hiking in a new area always draws a crowd :)

I am always amazed that we don't see more accidents than we do. We sometimes see big trucks that have rolled down the ravine and scarred or knocked down concrete barriers and trees. Often the road is a dirt/gravel/old pavement/ broken, fallen chunks of mountain combination. Huge trucks and buses barrel through, passing each other with a honking system that I haven't quite figured out. Even the best stretches of road are covered with debris, a dangerous element on a path carved into the side of a very steep, very curvy side of the mountain!

So every chance we get we go traveling & camp or visit areas around us. This provides some interesting adventures and some great chances to meet, learn about, and share with others.

Sometimes the "fancy" bathrooms are the scariest. And there are always other travelers or residents very interested in watching us squat!
We meet some beautiful and fascinating people, almost all of whom are in great need.

The drive is sketchy at times. Like any time the bus is moving, and much of the time it is parked!

It's gorgeous, too. I always say it's breathtaking in more ways than one :)

Another bathroom :)
It's a relative oddity in the villages, but this was an affluent peron's abode... split logs balanced on top of a shallow mud pit. The stick "walls" were only about a meter high!