| Date ... | Monday, 31 August 2009 |
| Start ... | Phadking village (altitude - 2650 metres) |
| Finish ... | Monjo village (altitude - 2835 metres) |
| Time taken ... | 2 hours 20 mins (including stops) |
Our second day on the trek was a relatively short one, only going as far as Monjo village. Normally on the second day of the trip you would climb up to Namche Bazaar. However, the one of the aims of our trip was to take some supplies and equipment to the school in Monjo. Snowball Expeditions is helping to support the school, which compared to others that we saw has inadequate facilities, part of the money we paid to join the expedition goes towards the projects that Mark Wood (Snowballs Operations Manager) agrees with the school. There's still loads of work that needs to be done, so if you would like to help out, get in touch with Mark who I'm sure would be more than happy to hear from you. The school was an amazing place, totally different to any of the schools I've been to over here. The children were so innocent and really happy and pleased to welcome us. They loved the sweets and toys that we took for them, don't worry that wasn't the only thing that we gave them. We did take loads of other useful stuff like laptops and camera's etc. We had hoped to play a movie for the children and teachers on the evening, but the electric supply in the village was that reliable, which was a disappointment. However, the children decided to come down to our lodge and put on a show of singing and dancing for us which was really great fun.
Children heading off to the village school in Phadking
Looking along the valley as we headed out of the village
We passed through several small villages, this one was called Zamphute
We also passed some amazing waterfalls along the way
The walls of the valley were really squeezed together by the time we reached Toktok (what a great name for a village?)
Looking along the Dodh Koshi river towards the village of Benkar
Some of the houses and fields in Benkar village
Heading through the village, past the fields of beans and maize
Our first glimpse of Monjo village
Looking back at the suspension bridge across the river at Benkar
Some of the villagers harvesting their potato crop
Making the steep descent to cross the Kyashar Khola river
The raging waters of the Kyashar Khola, with the water driven prayer wheels on the left
Heading into Monjo
One of the ever present Mani stones
Our lodge in Monjo
Looking back down the valley from the lodge
After lunch we made the short walk through the village to the school
We were made to feel really welcome by the children
Volleyball seemed popular
Well to some it didn't ......
The game started to get very competitive, and it soon ended up with us taking on the porters!
The children seemed more interested in what we brought with us
What's going on in there then?
We were soon mobbed!
Bubbles were a great hit
This is one of my favourite photo's from the whole trip!
I thought we brought the games for the children????
Oh that's more like it!
The boys were very competitive about some of the toys
Some of our porters watching the fun and games
A team photo with all the children and guides with some of the toys and games we took for them
Not sure what was going on here?
The children were really keen to see the photo's we took
One of the teachers watching what was going on from the door of his classroom
A view of Monjo village from the school, it's in a great spot
One of the older houses in the village, the small structure in the front is the outside toilet!
More Mani stones in Monjo
Heading back down through the village to the lodge