We had some tea in Phidim and lunch along the way. Dhirendra was daring with a habanero achar/picke with his daalbhaat (more on that later). As we went further into the mountains (or hills as they're called in Nepal - the mountains have snow year round), we were seeing more and more flags and political rhetoric for the Limbuwan ethnic movement, demanding an autonomous state in the eastern part of Nepal.
As we drew closer to our destination (Handrung), we started seeing familiar landscape. Though Meg has been to Taplejung twice in the past, this time was particularly special as Dhirendra showed her important family landmarks - ancestral villages of aunts, brothers-in-laws, friends, and even the village where Dhirendra studied. It is a one-day walk away from Lingtep village (Dhirendra's home) and is where he studied classes 7-10 and met one of his closest friends. He recalled with his brother stories, as we drove along, about carrying the sacks of dried rice and lentils to the village in sacks tied to their backs. They'd depart on Sunday for the one-day trek, sleep for the week in a make-shift hostel where they'd study by kerosene-lamp and make their food they brought with them. On Friday afternoon, they walk back home after class to their village to spend a day and a half with family. All at the age of 12. They recounted funny stories about fairs in one of the towns at the confluence of two rivers along the way, and short-cuts along the path. In many ways, this was the root of Dhirendra (and Dipendra, his brother)'s motivation to provide schooling to Taplejung District children closer to their homes.
We arrived at the banks of the Tamur River to plop ourselves down for the night, when Dhirendra's tummy started aching more than just a spicy burn (return of the darn habanero achar). Before we new it, he was struck head-on with food poisoning.
Needless to say, Day Two ran into Day Three as we drove the 2.5 hour off-road 4WD drive (made into 1.5 by our skillful driver and friend Uttam) to the top of the "hill" and the Taplejung District Hospital emergency room. They got a intravenous saline drip into Dhirendra immediately. Almost 20 hours (and 5 saline bottles later), Dhirendra was discharged from the hospital. The rest of us were simply grateful that he was on the mend. The evening of day three, we all relocated to one of our relatives/uncle's homes in the bazaar area. After a frightening many sleepless hours/days, things were looking up.
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