Namaste' from Chame!

hiya gang! still alive and kickin here in tha himalaya, on the fourth day of a 21 day trek around annapurna, a big ol mountain that has foothills the size of the rockies. feeling real good today, strongest hiking day so far, and a hot!! shower at the end of it. the first since leaving kathmandu. its damned cold here, typing with wool gloves on, and i can see my breath, but the scenery is amazing, and the people so very embracing and kind. kids run up in the villages, shouting namaste' (hello, roughly), and hope for some "chocolat, a pen, candy?". handing out gum seems to make their day, and they light up if you take a picture and show 'em the digital image.
made it thru my first (dare i hope only?) bout of stomach sickness, and as they say in the sandy stretches " praise allah and azithromycin" (tis a loose translation) ;-) gotta tell you tho, ain't nothin like being in the middle of nowhere, wondering if you'll ever be able to keep anything down, and knowing that what you just lost is basically the only sort of food you'll see for the next 5 mons. character building, lemme tell ya.
chame is the only town on this side of thorung la pass (5300 meters?) that has internet connectivity, but its way too slow for photos, so those'll have to wait. two days from now we'll stay in manang, the acclimation point for the pass, then attempt a crossing two days after that. losta snow up there right now, but there are several bigger groups going over around the same time we are, so more folks to break trail. my guide, krishna, is a clever guy and knows how to work these things. i',m in good hands. speakin of hands they're frozen. gotta go- talk to ya when.