Raar strikebreakers!
We will not be kept down! Mardi Himal was selected as a substitute trek. Even though it is but a bump on the side of Machhapuchhare, our walk will be somewhat analogous to climbing Pikes Peak from Colorado Springs. We shared a jeep to the trailhead with some Frenchmen, paying a somewhat extortionate price to offset the risk of burning jeep. But it did not burn, and now we are on to the mountains!