Nov 25-A Pony Called Bruce

Today we were the talk of the village. I guess not too many tourists go on horseback (or ponies) rides here. Our ponies arrived at 9:00. We had three ponies and one horse (the horse was the guide’s). 

Singlee, Tingar, and Dohnun (or something like that). 

As we started out, my pony was trailing behind (just like me hiking). First, I named him Bruce the Caboose. Apparently, he didn’t like the idea of being the caboose because at the first opportunity, he passed Makaela. This was hilarious because Makaela hates going slow! Singlee, was not in the mood to go fast. 

We got to the rock section. Our guide said it would be better if one of the other guides joined us, to bring up the rear, and keep the ponies moving. 

Bruce had also passed Jenny. 

We continued slowly, waiting for the other guy to reach us. 

He caught us pretty quickly (he was on foot). At one point, Bruce decided to take off. He thought he should be in the lead. I hung on for dear life. As he was going by Makaela’s horse, he gave a little kick. Ah…he is not Bruce the Caboose, he is Bruce Lee! We got everything sorted out, and Bruce was relegated to the rear. 

Bruce in the back. 


We reached the rock that we had to walk around last time. We dismounted so the horses could make their way around the rock. It was especially fun for me because I didn’t have my poles. The guide said, “Go slowly, Madam”. Fortunately, it wasn’t very long. Also, my legs were a little trembly. 

We got back on the horses on the other side, and continued on. Now, we were in new territory!

See the trail going up? We climbed way above the river. So much easier on horses!

Saw several yaks. 



Such huge rocks!


We reached a point 4.6 miles in. We had lunch. The guides brought their own lunch of Chowmein, buckwheat chapati, and Millet Nak milk tea. They shared their food (the chowmein was too spicy for me), we shared ours. The main guide is a cook at the Tip Top guesthouse in Mundu.Tingar the horse, and Jenny’s horse belonged to him. 

Feeding Makaela. 

Singlee

White horse…white mountains 

Horses grazing. 

Ready for the ride back. 




We also saw some mountain goats up on the hillside. 

Mountain goats. 

When we got back to the rock detour, we did the same walk around. The guide helped me down the steeper stuff. When we got to the other side, the guide put me on his horse (he’d been walking his horse the whole time) because Bruce kept wanting to kick me when I would try to get on him. The other guide then rode Bruce to keep him in line. 

Me on the white horse. 

Closer to the village,  the guide on Bruce got off, and let Bruce go on his own. 

Go on Bruce…go on!

Back in the village, Lhakpa gave us all high fives. We tipped the guides, and I took a few more photos of the horses/ponies. 

Bruce Lee the karate kicking pony!

We celebrated at the bakery. Today I had the pineapple upside down cake. I’ve now worked my way through all the bakery items. 

Jeff and Bhola went up to the high peak today. They returned not too long after we did. 

Tonight is our last dinner here. I’m hoping they have the Snicker Momo (dessert). 

Tomorrow, we take the helicopters to Kathmandu. We have definitely made the best of our week here in Kyangen, doing something different everyday.