April 15, 2001 Tatopani "Naya barsako subha kamana!" - thats happy new year in Nepali. Yesterday was Nepali new year and I walked loads. After a cheapo breakfast of chao cho (Ramen noodles soup) and two freid eggs (after I finished exploring Tukuche and was not able to see its locked distillery) I set out accross the mighty Kali Gandaki riverbed southward. By all estimates I walked 14.5 hours worth of trail in only 9 hours. At Kalopani the riverbed contracted (glaciation ended) and I drank four cups of tasty milk tea ate my corn meal in spoonfulls and like a rocket I went on. Stopped on trail after Sokuna's hanging bridge ( I skipped Kokothanti and Dhampu) and wrote out a fresh copy of the Nepali alphabet then napped to regain my light floating energy. At Kalopani's checkpoint I saw the international dream team (the English Darren, Swede Sophie, Dutch Bianca, Aussie Lucia, Seattle Joanna, and Irish Michelle) on the books for yesterday (I knew they were a day ahead). The town of Ghasa was long, streched wht seemed like 3 kilometers. Ate momo (steamed dumplings) in Kophepani just after Phairotapla after muddy ups and downs owing to bad trail and incessant rain. The momos were consumed with staggering Nepalis chatting me up and other even more drunk ones shooting arrows at my side. The next town of Rukse Chhahara had a spectacular jet fall you could see from far off, in the town itself it was hidden. Saw my first fruit trees there. FIrst town that really tempted me was Dana when all became excessively tropical, bananna trees, bouganvelias everywhere - warm sweet and steamy. The buildings also had loads of character, there was another fall on the horizon and the Kabin GUest House at the south end of town was smart. Below there a charming lady at Suke Bazar explained that the people of Dana call us "suke bazar" because there is lots of suke here. What is suke? Charmed but only one more hour till Tatopani I pressed on - singing in a mix of Spanish and Nepali to the tune of "Talking Timbuktu" by Toure and Cooter - "Tatopani, Tatoputi - lo siento te hago correr lento, no espantarias si me violento..." Southern Ecuador steamy when I strode into town first nice restaurant I see the INternational Dream Team toasting and playing spoons. Another group's guide teaches me "Resham Firiri, Resham Firiri" and "Shimshimepanima" in style - two of the most popular (with tourists) folk songs. The Dream Team is summoning me in the morning - we are waking up Sophie by singing Happy Birthday (which I guess is the custom in Sweden). We plan to bathe in the hot springs then walk up to Sikha town (porters say it is 4.5 hours straight up) and spend the night. Despite the map's estimates of 5.5 hours to Ghrorepani everyone says it takes at least 8.