I struggled awake and climbed out of the tent. It was dark, but it didn't feel too late, probably an hour after sundown, about 6pm. I had slept a couple of hours, tired from a late night and a long drive.
On the stony shore of the river, a fire was burning merrily away. I could see a few people sat on chairs warming their hands in the light. I stumbled over to them, tripping over the larger rocks, my vision still not adjusted to the night.
'Hi Ben! Sit down please', Vishma pulled up a chair for me. 'This is Coen, he is staying here. And these are other members of the company, but they don't speak much English'. He introduced me to the other Nepalis.
'Coen. Pleased to meet you'. A tall, bearded man stood up and extended a hand. 'I'm volunteering at the schools here. I'm Dutch. Well sometimes. It depends whose staying here. If its other Dutch or Germans, then I am from Malta, and I don't speak. I don't like them much'. He grimaced. 'But no groups here here today, Just you, me and Vishma. He man!,' he turned ot Vishma, 'You got any more of that 'gift' left?'
'Sure man!'. Vishma unearthed a bottle of seven up. 'This is present from a man in Pokhara. I don't know what it is, not Roxy, but it is good, strong. Want some?'
'Sure!'.
We talked for a while and I found out a little bit about them. Vishma had been with the company, Himalayan Encounters, for about five years. They owned hotels in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bandipur, Bhaktipur, and this one, an eco rafting village on the shores of the Tishuli river. He did impressions of the owner, a charismatic but eccentric brit named Tony who had started the company 35 years ago, who only spoke at full volume. 'VISHMA! HAVE YOU GOT THE BLOODY T-SHIRTS!' or 'VISHMA, YOU HAVE TWELVE MINUTES TO MAKE UP A SPEECH ABOUT THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN NEPAL!'
Coen had been here for a month and before had been volunteering in schools in India and Thailand. His parents travelled a lot when he was growing up and he had lived in Spain, Malta, and been to a public school in York. He was a true hippy child.
Both of them were very talkative, intelligent, inquisitive. English was not the first language for either of them, but they both spoke fluently. I guessed from their educated conversation that they were both in their mid twenties.
Sitting under the stars round a campfire, a river quietly gurgling away nearby, the jungle covered mountains on either side, a tent all set up for me; it felt perfect.
'Hey, you like riddles?' Vishma looked at me hopefully. 'See if you can work out'.
'Sure, go ahead'. It would make a change from stories I thought.
'Ok. Sixty cups on a table. One Tea Cup falls off. How many are left on the table'.
'Fifty nine?' I replied after pausing to think through the possible answers. This seemed to be the only one possible.
'No man!' Vishma said smugly.
'How come? Sixty cups minus one, Ah hang on, you said one tea cup falls off, So would it still be sixty cups? The tea cup doesn't count?'
'Nope, but good try. Its five.'
'Five? How come?'
'Sixty cups. Six Tea Cups. One tea cup falls off. Five tea cups left!' He laughed to himself hysterically.
'Ok Vishma!' Coen interrupted him. 'I've got one for you tonight. You have to guess what it is. The man who makes it doesn't use it. The man who buys it doesn't need it. The man who it is for doesn't see it. What is is?'
'Oh God, Oh God!' Visshma put his head in his hands in mock despair. 'Give us a clue'.
'its made of wood'
'Is it a walking stick for a blind peson?' I had a guess.
'No, but good try. Do you give up?' We nodded. 'Ok its a coffin! The person who makes it doesn't need it, the person who buys it doesn't use it, and the person who does use cannot see it because it he is dead!'. We groaned.
'Ok, Ok, I have another one', Vishma said. 'In the morning, it walks on four legs, in the afternoon two legs, and in the evening three. What animal is this?'.
'I know this one,; I said smugly. 'It comes from the Greek myths. The Sphinx would ask this question and kill anyone who didn't answer right. Theseus got it. The answer is man. In the morning of his life he is a baby and crawls on all fours, in the afternoon of his life, he walks on two legs and in the evening, he has a walking stick, so walks on three'.
'Very good', Coen said. 'Ok, your turn!'
Did I know any riddles? I couldn't think. I looked out into the dark. Riddles... Riddles in the Dark... hang on, didn't Bilbo Baggins have to solve riddles in the dark in the hobbit to defeat Gollum? It all came flooding back to me.
'Ok, I have one! 'A box without hinges, key or lid, but inside Golden treasure is hid'.'
Both Vishma and Coen looked helpless. 'Its a food,' I added when I feared they would give up to soon.
'Give up!' Vishma said eventually.
'Its an egg! The golden treasure is the yolk'.
'Dinner!' The cook called, and we left the campfire to eat Nepal food Nepali style.
It was a really magical evening, full of beauty and surprises. I had not looked for anything special, yet here I was next to a river, under the stars about to sleep under canvas in the jungle heart of Nepal.
Next morning I had breakfast with Vishma and Coen. 'Its been great getting to know you man', Vishma said. 'you're a real inspiration. I want to get a bike now', Coen added.
'Hey, how old are you two?' I asked. In the light they looked suspiciously youthful.
'20' Vishma said, '18' Coen. I groaned, so young, so bright. This time it felt like I was the wise old man with two young supplicants.
'Ok guys, we will meet again. Vishma, if you are not running your own hotel or Tourist company then I will be very disappointed. Coen, your gonna wing that IBA and end up running a big multinational, I just know it
I gunned Ambliss and headed off west.
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