End of the Trek

After an absolutely freezing night on a rooftop (it's an amazing difference between the midday temperature and the savage drop to midnight, although it's probably just a warm night in the UK!), we awoke to the same amazing scenery from the previous day; phenomenal views across the plain and towering red fingers of rock reaching for the sun.

Then we were brought down to earth, only a little, by seeing what the middle-aged, package tourists got for breakfast - jam, orange juice, Nutella, Nesquik, whereas we only had Jolly Sun and some bread. No worries at all, we are used to eating on the cheap, but it kind of accentuated the difference between us, with Baba as a makeshift guide, and the all-in-khaki tourists! Seriously, some of the groups had matching safari gear...

The walk round the village in the morning was a little bit strange; we were introduced to a couple of 'hunters' that seemed to have been made up for show, and also there was a tied up monkey next to one of the huts. It was still cool to see the village going through the morning rituals, such as pounding millet, but I think that the village used to be more authentic before more and more tourists came along.

We took a long walk that morning along the plateau at the top of the falaise, and it was very different to the walks in previous day. There was a breeze, which definitely helped, as we walked across vast pieces of rock and over deep fissures, right at the edge of the falaise, with more of that fantastic view. We passed a couple of small rivers, and also past a couple of onion fields - one of the main exports of the region, but only grown on the coolness of the plateau.

We set off at the same time as a young group of Americans, but their guide seemed a lot better and explained things as they passed, let them stop for photos and general breaks from walking. Baba, on the other hand, seemed to want to finish the trek and headed off into the distance. We decided the view was too good to miss and so took a few breaks, guide or no guide!

We got to the final village, where the sept-place was waiting for us to go back to Bandigara. After a meal of rice and arichade sauce (peanuts), we were shown round - walked through - the busy market before being taken back to Sevare, and the Catholic Mission for a well deserved shower!