Two hours later, they reached the Dudh Kosi River. Frank came to a halt before a long, sagging metal bridge crossing the sloshing rapids ten meters below and looked upon the lonely outpost of Thukla. A little way off behind it was a 300-meter climb up a steep, rocky escarpment. As he viewed the distant thread of trekkers scaling the zigzagging trail amidst the boulders, he thought of Aldan and Sarah. The next few hours would be a real test for them and he wondered how they’d do. At this altitude, it was easy to get dehydrated because the cool air fooled the body into thinking everything was fine while stealthily sucking the life out of it. He took a drink of water, stepped onto the sweeping metal span crossing the Dudh Kosi River, and strode over it to the hostel waiting on the other side.
