We passed Siang, then Marpha and we walked a little bit souther. In Marpha we played for sometime with too little boys. We gave them some chocolats we had bought in Muktinath. One of them was working carrying something from the fields below, outside the villages to the house nearby. He was about 7 and very polite. We were touched to see how happy and thankful he was. He bowed two or threes times while he joined his hands salutating us. Some minutes after that we were surrounded by more 4 or 5 children asking for sweets with their eyes and hands. The amazing thing was that we had been alone for almost an hour in what seemed a deserted part of the village. It must have been the working boy that spread the news that someone was giving sweets, but he had gone down and the others appeared from up, well before he came back.

South of Marpha we were in a tibetan refugees camp, where we talked with a man that had already been in another refugee camp in India. It's so easy to simpathise with those people! One gets really sad and angry with what is going on in their country.

During the day we did several buyings. Maria Jose had started the previous day in Muktinath. The vendors of small handicraft are quite abundant on that trail between Siang and Marpha and it's very easy to let oneself go on their games trying to sell you their merchandise. They aren't too agressive when compared to other parts of world, namely Morocco, certain parts of India or even Kathmandu, but it's very difficult to get rid of them after you show some interest in anything. Then, if you have thoughts like "c'mon, this could be a nice souvenir... and buying it on this particular place gives it a certain charm...", "this could be a nice present to...", "that is really beautiful... and cheap too...", "perhaps if I could lower his price...", etc., you're done! And the vendors know it very weel! We end up enjoying the bargaining and buying something. We bought several colour stone necklaces and several silverware, like rings, earrings and bracelets. Maria Jose was kind of angry when she discovered that she had paid a lot for the necklace she had bought in Muktinath after tough bargaining. That should be predictable, considering the difficulties of transportation on the area. I didn't bother checking the prices oin Kathmandu or Pokhara, so I don't know if I paid any exagerated amount of money for the things I bought, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover that I had been a jerk. Who cares? They were cheap, anyway and the place where they were bought increases their sentimental value. I wasn't buying to make any business, I was just trying to bring a little part of that wonderful trip with me, so I could remember it later and give it to my friends also.

We lunched in Marpha, in the company of a couple we had seen in Muktinath. He was a middle canadian and she was american-mexican (her mother was mexican and his father american). She looked a lot younger than him, she might be under 30 and he could be over 40. She was exceptionally beautiful, not that kind of plastic beauty that one sees on any TV series, at contrary, she had a lot of small things that could be considered ugly, but don't expect me to mention them. We understood that they went along for quite some years, but they had been separated until recently, as she was in US and he was in North India in any international aid agency, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Now they were living in Kathmandu for some monthes, maybe recently married, I'm not sure. She did accunpuncture, so she was kind of excited for being about to be able to know something of the tibetan accunpuncture. He was in any handicraft exportation business. He had been in the area 15 or 20 years ago and he was astonished with the development of the tourism since then. On his first trip there was only a guesthouse in Muktinath, now there is one in every corner. He talked also about his faith in the development of India, he was quite confident about it.

We talked also about her Mexico. She loved it, but also feared it, for the little value that human life has there. She painted an ugly scenary on the situation, which she said it's not new. She thinks that death is a real obsession on the culture of the country, some persons can kill for robbing a walet. She was tired of so much violence and Asia and asian people, Nepal in particular, was a pleasant surprise to her, being so peaceful. Her talk impressed me a lot, specially because she seemed to know about what she was talking about. I confess I had some fixation on Latin America before I knew Asia. After that, it cooled a little bit. Crime and violence aren't the only things that I don't dislike in those countries, although that wasn't the first time neither the last that I heard about it. The social injustice generally seems more crying there than in certains (not all) parts of Asia. Then, apart from any risks, it appears to be easier to travel independently in Asia than in Latin America. Well, let's stop this comparation, it's little objective and almost nonsense. Let's just say that I'm more in tunned to Asia now...

We talked also about Portugal. They knew something about the country and they were thinking of visiting it one of these days. I don't remember it very well, but I think she talked a little bit of portuguese too. In fact, I have the idea that we talked in a mixture of spanish and portuguese for some time (both languages are quite similar, although spaniards tend to have more difficulty understanding portuguese than the opposite, due to our strange slavic-like accent). They were close friends of a couple that had been here in their holidays and they became complete fans of the places and the people. They were fascinated with those friend's stories. I remember thinking that I could talk about Nepal with the same passion that their friends talked about my country.

After a nice chat and lunch, it was time to go back to Jomsom. I was in desperate need to find something for my chapped lips, something I had got in the crazy crossing of the windy and dusty valley the day before, so I entered in a medicaments depot in the village. The place appeared to be a room which had once been a shop but it wasnt anymore, as it had very few merchandises to sell. I had no luck, apparently they had nothing for my lips. I had some difficulty in explaining what I wanted - her english was quite limited and mine didn't great either. I finally obtained a negative head shake when I pointed my lips and simulated greasing them. The place had a strange and strong smell, a little bit hard to stand, to say the least. It was completely unknown to me and it make Maria Jose go out in a few seconds, as it was puting her sick.

The weather was getting a little ugly up on the peaks, although "down" where we were (at "only" 2800 meters) it was only cloudy. We guessed that there a nasty storm was happening uphill and we feared we could get some rain before we reached Jomsom. We had luck, we arrived completely dry and we had the oppurtunity of seeing the beauty of the clouds being teared apart by the snowed peaks, one could almost "see" the heavy winds up there. It was impressive! It was like the nature was showing us little insignificant creatures how mighty it is.