Leech Country

I have been trying to love all animals and have even grown a morbidly fond love for the cockroaches. Ok, maybe not fond, but a curiosity about them rather than horrific disgust. The next animal I am trying to grow to love is the leech. I had my first real encounter with the leech yesterday. At first I thought they were the most vile creatures, but after a long hike I began to enjoy them. (Ok, I admit, this is a little overstatement too.)

In Pokhara I made a friend from Russia and we decided that the next day we would trompse around the hills during the day and enjoy a nice jungle walk. From Lakeside, the touristy area of Pokhara, the World Peace Pagoda can be seen far off on top of a hill on the other side of the lake. I had been eyeing it from my balcony every day but had not yet got up the energy to take the trek because I was feeling a bit under the weather. My friend Janae and I awoke early and departed the city at about 8 AM. We walked through a few small villages, over a rickety suspension bridge, stopped at a few road side places for tea and were finally on our way up the hill into the jungle. The day was a bit humid, but a refreshing mist was falling from the sky. Over the past week the monsoon had really started full blast. This means that at about 4 pm every day there are torrential rains. It's actually quite nice. Anyway, we made our way through jungle "paths" higher and higher. We stopped to look at a colony of ants and saw a 3 inch long leech inching about on the leafs below. He said he was sure that they did not suck blood, and I told him I was sure that yes, they did. He said in Russia the only leeches they have live in the rivers and lakes. Anyway about 10 minutes of walking later I looked down at my boots and noticed a phalanx of leeches creeping up my boots and socks!! Vile creatures!! I quickly bent down and tried to brush them off but they are very strong little creatures. They suckers lock on to boots and skin like glue. I shuddered and felt my shoulders and scalp. We learned about leeches in biology this year: they come out in the humid weather, especially the monsoon. They hang out on low lying bushes and leaves and when they sense a person or animal walking by that exudes any body heat they latch on. Also, they hang out in trees and when they sense movement and heat below they drop in for the kill.
Along the trek we met up with a group of 4 Nepali guys who were also heading up to the Peace Pagoda so we joined forces. So our group of 6 continued upward on constant leech patrol. I was the only one in our trekking group with anysense not to wear flip flops so I did not have as much trouble as they did. (Thank you REI socks!) They were constantly prying the little suckers off their ankles, feet, and between their toes. The leeches have some sort of stuff in their venom that makes the blood flow more easily, so when you pull off a leech you get a river of blood that does not stop flowing for about an hour.
Leech patrol became more like a game and was actually kind of fun. When hiking in leech country you must simultaneously do these things: walk, watch the path, try to take in the sights, watch for poisionous red ants, check your boots or feet for leeches, brush off the leeches that are inching up your boots, check to see if there are any in your socks, pry the ones off your skin, constantly brush your shoulders and neck for leeches. It was actually kind of an absurd sight: a group of 6 people trekking up the jungle trails constantly brushing at their feet. I picked up a small sharp rock to pry them off my shoes when I found one. By the time we reached the World Peace Pagoda all the boys' feet were gushing blood. I am happy to say I did not suffer any leech bites but found a multitude of the creatures in my socks that I had to pry out.