The only visible souvenirs Makiko Iwafuchi has of her nearly two weeks of frantic effort to keep herself alive and be spotted or spot a human settlement are insect bites and minor injuries to her feet. [break]
“She told us she ate leaves and bamboo shoots, and drank water from rivers [during the time she was missing],” said Sub-Inspector Surendra Bikram Bartaula over the phone from Dhunche where Iwafuchi was brought on Wednesday.
The trekker´s ordeal ended when she was spotted in a rock cave by a group of 11 local women on Tuesday.
The women offered her water, and took her to her hotel, from where a police constable and some army personnel took her to Dhunche Hospital on Wednesday.
After a medical examination at the hospital, her vital signs were said to be alright.
Trail to nowhere
While trekking through Rasuwa, Iwafuchi arrived at Gosainkunda on May 25 and checked in to the Peaceful Hotel. She was trekking alone.
The next day, she locked her hotel room leaving her belongings there and went out sightseeing carrying along a camera, a freezer jacket and a poncho.
She told police at Dhunche Hospital Wednesday that she soon lost her way and was unable to return to the hotel by nighttime.
The hotel´s owner alerted a nearby army post that very evening and police initiated a search for her on May 27.
For the 13 days that followed, Iwafuchi wandered through the wilderness hoping to get back to the hotel, be spotted by someone, or find a human settlement.
She slept most of the nights on her poncho. At one point, she climbed what she said was a rock mountain. She spent three days on top of it hoping to be spotted.
Eventually, she climbed down leaving the camera, the poncho and the jacket atop the rock mountain. Only after climbing down did she realize that she did not have the energy to climb up again. She then had to abandon the belongings.
Iwafuchi slept several nights inside a rock cave where she was eventually spotted by village women.
Police have advised the Tokyo lady to rest at Dhunche hospital Wednesday to gain back some strength and travel to Kathmandu on Thursday.
A friend of hers has sent a vehicle for her to Dhunche.
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