Make a difficult climb out of the Hongu, then continue the first stage of the ascent to Salpa Bhanjyang. This more remote section of the route makes a brief return into Sherpa-country with plenty of beautiful waterfalls and woodlands.

Nothing for it but to get up and face the climb you've been dreading since yesterday afternoon. You might take a couple of attempts to find the correct route down to the bridge below without ending up in someone's veggie patch or pigpen. Bare left at a junction towards the base of Bung, then bend right through the bamboo thickets to cross the bridge (1280m) over the Hongu Khola. Enjoy the last downward steps of the day. Albeit travelling in the reverse and I suspect the easier direction, Tilman wrote of this "appallingly deep valley" in Nepal Himalaya:

For dreadfulness nought can excel

The prospect of Bung from Gudel;

And words die away on the tongue

When we look back on Gudel from Bung.

He continues:

Hope thirstily rested on Bung

So richly redolent of rum;

But when we got there

The cupboard was bare,

Sapristi. No raksi. No chang.

- If it doesn't rhyme then you're probably saying it wrong - but you'll certainly understand his despair. Tilman's party was followed a year later by the members of the 1951 Reconnaissance Expedition to Everest which included among others Eric Shipton and Edmund Hillary. It is however interesting to note that both of these parties had to negotiate both the Inukhu Khola and Hongu Khola without the aid of functional bridging. The climb out of the valley is fairly brutal in either direction.

This is arguably the hardest climb of the trek and it will take at least 2 or 3 hours to reach Gudel from Bung, barely a kilometre in distant. If you make it up the hill you'll find the good folk of Gudel (1950m) to be friendly and welcoming. Keep climbing through the village along a water chute and past several water mills to a junction at the schoolyard. Make a right turn passing several lodges. It may be possible to camp overnight in the schoolyard.

There is a nice viewpoint on a promontory a short climb above Gudel after which the trail turns into a new valley, gradually climbing eastwards into more remote country. From the viewpoint you can gain an impression of how intensely populated this area of the Hongu has become. When in bloom the white flowering magnolia on the opposite side of the Libung valley are quite impressive. Note the solid but open fronted stone shelters built for the porters on the Gudel-Arun route that won't quite make it home for the night. Watch out for a bad tempered dog at the Sherpa village of Share, but you will be welcome to visit the Nimstola Gompa if you can find the keeper of the key - Please make a small donation.

At Diure (2470m) is the lone Sherpa Hotel, which with attached shop can offer lodging or camping. If you do stay here, beware of late night drinking sessions so don't take the room next to the dining room.

Sanam (2850m) sitting above the Lidung Khola is also inhabited, if sparsely by Sherpa folk - I walked thru without meeting a soul here. There are however at least 3 hotels here which catch the morning sun. Sanam is the last available stop as the climb to the pass warms up. From Gudel it should take 3 hours to Sanam. Apparently the local speciality is a form of cottage cheese known as serkum. Cheese may also be available.