Manbu, with pictures

MANBU Tuesday January 27th
Arrived at Manbu absolutely shattered after the 3.5 hour walk vertically from the river, until we reached the secondary school at the top of the hill. Much of the way was quite literally climbing walls

as the hillside is terraced for veg growing,

or climbing directly up a stream. On the few flat sections when I could actually lift my eyes from the ground, I discovered wonderful scenery very rapidly unfolding as we gained height continuously.Namrata, a nurse from PHASE seemed to find it so easy, and our porter just trudged steadily up. Thankfully a couple of times we had to wait for the porter

so could rest. I am sure it was the thinning atmosphere and lack of oxygen that made it so hard..........Sad that there was litter all the way in great quantities, and this is not a trekking area so a westerner is a rarity, which of course meant I had a fascinated audience the whole time I was struggling. Thankfully no problem with the hip,  just the fitness.
So Manbu turns out to be a village a of about 2000 scattered for miles across and up the hill, a spread probably of about 10 miles end to end. Subsistence farming (women) and alcoholism (men)  are overwhelmingly the only occupatons. The PHASE staff (2 health workers and 2 livelihood workers all early 20s) all share a tiny hut adjoining a tiny clinic area

with a cubicle for deliveries. They were making bread a bit like dough pancakes for our arrival with honey, and some of the wonderful sweet black fragrant tea, and then I watched them cook Dahl bhat tarkari on a 2 ring gas burner, chopping veg on a board on the floor,

g rinding spices on a stone on the mud floor, using water from a bucket, and washing up in a bucket afterwards. The floor is pristine, the food very carefully handled and served on metal platters and bowls on the floor. I did have to ask for a stool as i could not manage at all crouched on the floor and standing to eat is rude.
And so to bed, shamefully having not even tried to speak Nepali at all:I am sure the girls need to practice their English! It is a while since I have slept on the floor with 6 other women up a steep and narrow wooden stepladder with no light. Interesting. Thankfully I am allowed to keep my luggage downstairs with the risk of mice attack, but it does afford some privacy for changing.