Mountain Cricket

India; October 2nd; Day 11; Pawali Kanta; 3284m

Today was a rest day.No hiking!

I got up at 5.30 to see an orange glow on the horizon. I grabbed my camera a climbed a small hill besides the campground to arrive breathlessly to see a superb panoramic view of snow clad mountains all around. I was still a little early so I ran back to the tent to get some batteries and also to persuade Keith to get up and come up. We took plenty of shots.



After breakfast Keith and I went down to a spring which we’d discovered yesterday and washed out some clothes. Keith was also brave enough to have a wash! After that I sat in the sun reading my book. However before long I got restless and made some cricket wickets from some bamboo that James had found. A bat was fashioned from a piece of wood with a flat side and we got a game of cricket going. Before long half the porters had joined in. Miraculously we didn’t lose the ball although it was often hit over the hill into the woods. Someone always managed to find it no matter how hard it was hit.



Maneesh brought down some tea mid-morning and we sat out a few overs whilst the Indians continued. Keith, James, Jim and Adriana sloped off for a walk but I re-joined the game until lunch at 1pm.





After lunch I played some more cricket and noticed that the muleteers and the porters wouldn’t play at the same time. I thought this was a bit weird and wondered if it was a caste thing. We played right through until afternoon tea. After that we collected firewood.





Unfortunately the clouds rolled in late afternoon and put paid to any sunset photography. After dinner we sat around the fire for a while but were then forced to retire when it started raining!