The original plan was for us to walk down the river valley to Kagbeni, where we would leave the restricted area and take a jeep back to Jomsom. But since we had already walked this path in the opposite direction, we accepted Kinna's suggestion to spare our feet by riding on a tractor cart. Apparently some members of our staff had developed blisters and they too were anxious to take the easy way back to town.

The tractor came well before 8am and we all piled in. Our guide Kinna, Marcia and I rode on the tractor itself, which offered at least some springs and padding. The crew and our baggage rode in the trailer, joined by a woman and a baby who also needed to make the trip to town. Rough and ready though the trip was, the baby fell asleep in his mother's arms.

The advantage of the tractor was that it could drive down the Kali Gandaki streambed in the many areas where the jeep road was not yet finished. In many cases it just drove down the braided stream itself, crossing the main channel 13 times. The water often reached the front axles and several times it almost covered the front wheels. Our driver was a professional, though, and he had obviously done this many times.

The tractor dropped us right at our hotel's front door, which even a jeep could not have done, since there is no road bridge across the river.

Jomsom, although still on the frontier, has hotels with hot showers and relatively good internet connections. We did some business, wrote some postcards and relaxed.

In the evening we had our last dinner prepared by our kitchen staff, who will leave by bus in the morning. From this point on, we will stay and eat in guesthouses, so only our guide Kinna and our porter Dawa Jangbu will continue walking with us. We presented the five departing members their katas (ceremonial scarves) and their obligatory tips.