After we returned to the inn, dekitted, washed off 9 days worth of dust and grime, grabbed a snack at the marketplace, had trek food for dinner (which we had hoped would be surprisingly good with meat and egg , foods that we had sorely missed after 9 days of an almost elclusively vegetarian diet, but turned out to be, for old times' sake, one last meal of trek food) , our trek staff joined us for a post-trek celebration sorts. Admittedly, it was quite a surprise to have cake, and chilled fruit cocktail (where all our fruit cocktails on the trek had been warm - worth a try for the adventurous, the syrupy taste is accentuated) , so in that sense the promised surprise was delivered (though I think we would greedily have preferred a surprise of the meat and eggs variety. But if we had actually gotten what we had hoped for, would it still be a surprise for in some way we would have known in some way what we would be getting?)

The cook actually baked a cake. In quaint Nepali engrish, the writing on it read "Happy Track 209". It was pretty tasty too(perhaps it contained egg essence?).
The friendly, playful innkeeper, who's related to 48.4237% of the Nepali we've met in Yuksum, joined in the celebration. She's especially playful in a child-like way with Bikash, our guide. They pinch each other and c hase each other around the inn compound. She also flirts with guests and offered on numerous occasions to matchmake herself and her 2 sisters with the three of us.


However much the cake and dessert and get-together were meant to invoke a celebratory atmosphere, the actual mood was anything but. It seemed more obligatory than heartfelt. Appreciative though we were of the staff's services and happy that our trials had concluded successfully, we could not express our thoughts and feelings. Maybe it's a guy thing. The staff didn't look very cheerful either. (except when posing for photos) Yet, at the back of our minds, we were all aware that it was supposed to be a happy time. Perhaps the language barrier prohibited effusiveness. The real solemnity of the event was punctuated with the brief laughs that private jokes produced.

We tipped the staff during the celebration. They looked disappointed with the tip, which helped the mood not at all. After the cake was finished, the staff (less Bikash) mumbled a few words and slipped quietly out, presumably to have their dinner. Not knowing what the going rate was, we tipped all the staff equally with an amount (100 rupees) equivalent to roughly 10% of the porter's total trek wages - 150 x 9 rupees. There were 6 staff so it worked out to 200 rupees from each of us. We were still smiling gamely, clueless about how the tipping went.

When Bikash returned later to check out the photos we had taken, we asked how our tips had been received. The reply was horrifying. Apparently we had grossly undertipped, for tips of 2000 rupees each were not unheard of (albeit for bigger trek groups but still.) . As trek staff aren't paid much by the agencies, much of a trek's worth of wages should have come from tips, especially for the lowest-paid porters. Guilt consumed us and it only made us feel worse to hear that the old friendly porter (who had a family to support) still spoke up to the others in defense of us. Bikash told us that he had explained to the others that we were just students and hence c ould not afford to tip much. Upon hindsight, our lousy tipping had consigned to the porters to a return on 9 days of hard work away from their families. that was just above minimum wage. We still feel bad, and cannot find a way to expunge our guilt or say that we are sorry.