We left Thurong Phedi at 6:30 am, giving ourselves plenty of time for "the pass".... other trekkers had left as early as 3 am! It was still snowing slightly when we left, though hardly any stuck. The first part was a steep climb to High Camp (4900 m) , during which we had our frozen fingers crossed that the clouds would lift and treat us to a eyefull of the concealed Himalayas. It was a tough climb but since we were more acclimatized than when we had ventured up to Tilicho Lake, it didn't seem so bad. After warming up for a bit, we left High Camp and continued on. Finally the clouds opened up and our winded and numb-nosed efforts were rewarded with some stunning views. We finally reached the highest point of our trek: Thurong La (the pass) at 5416 m above sea level. It was windy and bloody cold so we huddled in the small tea house at top drinking hot tea, thawing our hands and devouring celebratory oreo cookies.
Although technically speaking, it was "all down hill from here", it was another 4 hours of rocky steep down hill for a loss of 1700m of elevation before we could take our boots off. The landscape reminded us of mars... a windy rocky landscape with no life in site... aside from ourselves, a few other trekkers and of course the donkey trains. After a few hours of down down down we came to a plateau from which we could see a green oasis nestled in the valley below. It actually looked too good to be true.... like some hallucinatory side effect of the altitude. Actually it was the city Muktinath but bathed in the afternoon light with lush trees and brightly dressed inhabitants, it was more like utopia to us... espcially after 9 hours of hiking.
We spent the next day exploring the town and keeping our feet boot-free. The temple of Muktinath is an extremly holy place and so there is a constant stream of pilgrims from India flowing through the streets. They go there to bathe in the healing waters of a a sacred stream.
The next day we left Muktinath and headed for Kagbeni. Instead of taking the road, we opted for a route that took us through part of the Upper Mustang that until recently was restricted. The scenery has once again drastically changed and we found ourselves trekking through a vast desert. We descended past a Gompa and through a cavern to the city of Kagbeni. One can only describe Kagbeni as " a medieval town on Mars that is over run by baby cows. We refer to the environment as "Mars" alot. Thats because it really looks like Mars. They also have "Yak Donalds".
From Kagbeni we headed for Marpha. The trek itself was mostly on the road now which is slightly disappointing, especially as jeeps whizz by sending dust into your eyes, nose mouth ears.... everywhere. We stopped in Jomsom to see for ourselves the hotel where Jimi Hendrix allegedly stayed. We had some tea and took pictures of the door to room 6. but when they wanted $100 just to open the door we silently apologized to Jimi and made our exit. Rumor has it, inside he carved " If I don't see you in this life, ill see you in the next. Dont be late". From Jomsom we carried on to Marpha... the fruit capital of Nepal!! Our first night there we went to a place reccomended in the Lonely planet bible. LP states this place has excellent home made dried fruit, apple juice and good conversation. There we met Bhakti, the owner, who lived up to all three claims to fame. He invited us back the next night for a tour of his orchard and to try some apple brandy. Apple products we consumed within 48hrs in Marpha include: apple cider, apple brandy, apple juice, apple chips, apple crisp and apple pie and apple pancakes. Hell, we even ate some plain old apples too.... Dee lish! We loved his dried fruit so much we bought as much as we could carry.
We left Marpha the next day. We did so sadly; Marpha was our favorite town so far ... not to mention the place we stayed had the best Dal Bhat so for AND kittens. Next we walked (still on road, unfortunately) to Larjung with hopes of hiking the the base of the Dhaliguiri Ice fall. However, Christina's tempermental stomach thwarted that plan and forced her to take a bed day. That evening, after three hours of waiting roadside, we caught a bus to Ghasa. It should be noted the bus rides are adventures on their own. They're gaudy and loud it the best kind of way, with tassels hanging from the ceiling which is already painted and designed so that it looks likes something from antiques road show. The horns all sound an obnoxious melody and are used to communicate with other busses, let the entire town know they've arrived and to make cows get off the road. And in these decorated tin cans they cram people and occasionally livestock into every square inch and blare Indian music (as loud as possible.... sensing a theme here?). Oh and then the tin can goes 4x4ing. Its the most fun you can ever have on a bus. Unless your claustrophobic, germaphobic, agoraphobic, Alektorophobic or get motion sickness.
We spent all of yesterday on buses matching the description above. When we finally made it back to Pokhara we had one mission: Beer and Pizza. And gellato.
We're hanging out in Pokhara the next few days before starting our river kayaking course.... until then some much needed R&R.
Later!
Although technically speaking, it was "all down hill from here", it was another 4 hours of rocky steep down hill for a loss of 1700m of elevation before we could take our boots off. The landscape reminded us of mars... a windy rocky landscape with no life in site... aside from ourselves, a few other trekkers and of course the donkey trains. After a few hours of down down down we came to a plateau from which we could see a green oasis nestled in the valley below. It actually looked too good to be true.... like some hallucinatory side effect of the altitude. Actually it was the city Muktinath but bathed in the afternoon light with lush trees and brightly dressed inhabitants, it was more like utopia to us... espcially after 9 hours of hiking.
We spent the next day exploring the town and keeping our feet boot-free. The temple of Muktinath is an extremly holy place and so there is a constant stream of pilgrims from India flowing through the streets. They go there to bathe in the healing waters of a a sacred stream.
The next day we left Muktinath and headed for Kagbeni. Instead of taking the road, we opted for a route that took us through part of the Upper Mustang that until recently was restricted. The scenery has once again drastically changed and we found ourselves trekking through a vast desert. We descended past a Gompa and through a cavern to the city of Kagbeni. One can only describe Kagbeni as " a medieval town on Mars that is over run by baby cows. We refer to the environment as "Mars" alot. Thats because it really looks like Mars. They also have "Yak Donalds".
From Kagbeni we headed for Marpha. The trek itself was mostly on the road now which is slightly disappointing, especially as jeeps whizz by sending dust into your eyes, nose mouth ears.... everywhere. We stopped in Jomsom to see for ourselves the hotel where Jimi Hendrix allegedly stayed. We had some tea and took pictures of the door to room 6. but when they wanted $100 just to open the door we silently apologized to Jimi and made our exit. Rumor has it, inside he carved " If I don't see you in this life, ill see you in the next. Dont be late". From Jomsom we carried on to Marpha... the fruit capital of Nepal!! Our first night there we went to a place reccomended in the Lonely planet bible. LP states this place has excellent home made dried fruit, apple juice and good conversation. There we met Bhakti, the owner, who lived up to all three claims to fame. He invited us back the next night for a tour of his orchard and to try some apple brandy. Apple products we consumed within 48hrs in Marpha include: apple cider, apple brandy, apple juice, apple chips, apple crisp and apple pie and apple pancakes. Hell, we even ate some plain old apples too.... Dee lish! We loved his dried fruit so much we bought as much as we could carry.
We left Marpha the next day. We did so sadly; Marpha was our favorite town so far ... not to mention the place we stayed had the best Dal Bhat so for AND kittens. Next we walked (still on road, unfortunately) to Larjung with hopes of hiking the the base of the Dhaliguiri Ice fall. However, Christina's tempermental stomach thwarted that plan and forced her to take a bed day. That evening, after three hours of waiting roadside, we caught a bus to Ghasa. It should be noted the bus rides are adventures on their own. They're gaudy and loud it the best kind of way, with tassels hanging from the ceiling which is already painted and designed so that it looks likes something from antiques road show. The horns all sound an obnoxious melody and are used to communicate with other busses, let the entire town know they've arrived and to make cows get off the road. And in these decorated tin cans they cram people and occasionally livestock into every square inch and blare Indian music (as loud as possible.... sensing a theme here?). Oh and then the tin can goes 4x4ing. Its the most fun you can ever have on a bus. Unless your claustrophobic, germaphobic, agoraphobic, Alektorophobic or get motion sickness.
We spent all of yesterday on buses matching the description above. When we finally made it back to Pokhara we had one mission: Beer and Pizza. And gellato.
We're hanging out in Pokhara the next few days before starting our river kayaking course.... until then some much needed R&R.
Later!
Awwww lovely updates you guys! I'm well stoked on your adventures - the photos are glorious and make me pine for proper mountains. Enjoy the kayaking and keep up the posting! :D
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