20 October continued
We left at 7:30 but the deep sheer Khali Kandarki gorge was in deep shadow and sadly could not be photographed. Nevertheless the first part of the route showed little change winding along the cliffs, but seemed slow progress perhaps because the bridge crossing named Lete was far in advance of the town of that name.
Suddenly the river changed character, no longer fast flowing at the centre of a deep ravine it was slow moving in a huge silver coloured flood plain.
The silver effect came from the stones and boulders lying over a light grey clay. For the rest of the day we mostly deserted the hillside paths, though still in evidence but took the flat shortcuts between headlands following tracks on the flood plain itself crossing river as needs be on stepping stones.
On one deep crossing Zantabir carried first me then Joan over the river. Other hikers merely took off their boots and wading - but we were not allowed!
Joan suffered with the effect of a sore throat, a lack of energy and a poor appetite, but she struggled on through a long day's walking passed yesterday's target of Kalopani and an additional 15km to Morfa. I too found it hard with a swollen knee which wouldn't bend properly, the longest lasting of all Rugby injuries.
We bought two of the loveliest apples ever for just 2r each on the last part of the flood plain. Long before we reached Morpha the scenery had changed again as the river narrowed and speeded up, but this time the hillsides were largely barren. As we entered Morpha we noticed a very British type of cultivation protected behind tall walls. Apple and Cherry trees and a salad vegetable like lettuce. There was a US AID agricultural development agency with one of Nepali origin. Joan read that Morpha operated as a cooperative where everyone helped a little with finance someone do something major, eg send someone to college.
The town itself looked well developed with a continuous street of housing acting as an effective barrier to the cold winds blowing down the valley, which must be bitter in really cold weather. In daylight today it was a refreshingly cooling breeze. But once the sun went down we dived for our sweaters. I had dahl-baht for lunch to avoid cooking but Joan could eat nothing and slept with her head on the table. That night we checked into a hotel with electric light, it's good to think that some of these remote villages are benefiting from small hydro-electric developments, though much bigger schemes should be possible.
The porters have beds in the room next to ours, a comfortable alternative to sleeping on the floor. Again I have dahl-baht but Joan has a nice vegetable soup. I am feeling cold so it's a trip to the loo and then bed. Joan is much warmer having laid under the blanket since arrival in the room almost two hours ago but now she needs to be extra brave to face the cold loo outside these rooms. Nice though they look there is a downside to forming a ring around a courtyard open to the sky and the cold wind. Still we are glad it's not a tent tonight.
Joan thinks she has a temperature so we will have to see what tomorrow brings.
Sat 21 October
For all the bluster yesterday on the cold spell, simply by being in a small hotel rather than a tent we got a really warm night's sleep under sleeping bag and blanket. I didn't sleep after waking at 3am for the toilet with a slight headache and feeling I could not breathe properly. We were both showing worrying signs of being affected by the altitude (about a third that of Everest!) and I became concerned that I might not make our next stage Kagbeni let alone Muktinath. I was even concerned less the scar tissue on my head would make me susceptible to brain swelling as 20 years earlier before my brain surgery cured the problem. In view of later travel in South America where we experienced almost double the altitude with relative ease we were getting overly concerned.
After getting up next morning both I and Joan were feeling much better though she still had the head cold she has throughout this holiday. But my head aches returned as we started climbing. Luckily it was a very easy walk along the river bed and reached Jomsom by 9:30 where we found luxuries like hot bread freshly baked in tins and apple tarts. We sat on a wall and enjoyed our tea and delicious bakery food and later another of those lovely apples. We passed the airfield where a tourist plane had crashed a few days earlier, relieved to have walked, glad of the experiences.
A feature of the day was regular passage by French, predominately female, groups who had recently crossed the 5,400m pass of Thorung La, the high point of the Annapurna circuit, and were still wearing snow goggles and their thickest sweaters walking into the wind which was on our backs.
The scenery beyond Jomsom changed again becoming almost a lunar landscape for lack of vegetation. The colours of the rock varied from black, to yellows to the reds of iron ores, emphasising the strata and folds in the nearby mountains. We watched a family serving cereal by the handful from a single basket in their walled courtyard, with Annapurna to our left.
We arrived at Kagbeni by 2pm and were able to spent time walking around this unique village which will forever be top of my favourite spots. It should have been named Zagbeni for it's almost as if it was built as a maze with numerous small inner courtyards with archways and tunnels though gradually one realised the whole place was designed as a ingenious wind break. No streets for wind to blow down, all narrow alleys, zigzags, right angles and deviations. Made even more fascinating by several simple Buddhist monuments, by a mountain God statue in clay mounted and painted on a corner of a small courtyard.
In no time I had taken ten photographs, double my daily ration thanks to ability to buy a new 35mm colour film in Jomsom. There were fields, especially on the east side of the village, growing cereals apples and even apricots in walled gardens. This was an oasis in a mountainous desert.
Our tent is pitched in the courtyard of a Tea- House and hence it too is protected from the wind. As we sat in our tent drinking tea we had become a tourist attraction to the local kids peering over the wall.
We are now waiting for dinner and the final stage tomorrow a 1050m climb to Muktinath, our sore heads telling us to be glad we would not have to face the further 1600m climb to Thorung La. Twenty four hours later I was regretting the opportunity to do just that - It would have been so much better to complete the whole Annapurna Round which we could have done in this months holiday if only we had got organised from the outset. We had learned a lesson on getting started immediately which served us well in the final six years of world travel in three week max holidays from work before retiring.
Sunday 22 Oct MUKTINATH
As so often in life anticipation is worse than the event. I also feel it was three days well spent to acclimatise above 2500m. Last night's aspirin and the two this morning seems to have at last cleared my head ache.
The walk to Muktinath took just 3.5 hours all up hill some gentle, some steep, some ridge walking but all on the best surface of the trek. The local stone so obviously breaks down into the dusty soil of the paths. Wherever the soil in sheltered from the wind and watered it is very fertile, as witness the amazing green cultivated valley to the east of Kagbeni contrasted with the stark 'Alum Bay' colours of the rocks.
I remember being invited to see a teenagers bedroom in a small village on route from Kabbeni to Muktinatht
Passed through the now deserted Tibetan village though the border was now further north than it had been, one could just make out the outline of the deserted houses with their terraced fields. Then barren mountains again until approaching the next village of Jharkot with a pool of amazing colours of pastel stone and vegetation created by mosses and trees, reflected sky and mountains
I walked some way with a Dane also on his way to Muktinath who had flown to Jomsom for a few days of acclimatisation before walking down hill to Pokhara - a good idea if short of time and energy.
We are now the only tents on the large Muthinath site over looking the high mountains to the west including Daulagiri and Tukche noting we were not able to see Annapurna on the way up as it was shield by Nilgiri. To the east high mountains and the obvious dip of the pass called Thorung La.
This afternoon we plan to visit the monastery but for now we are happy waiting in bright sunlight for lunch. In fact Joan, I and Zantabir followed a Sherpa and a Buddhist to the monastery. On arrival we were invited into the Buddhist temple and saw the beautiful decoration of the front piece and the complete murals on the other three walls. I was about to photograph the walls when I was stopped by the priest.
A major attraction was the wall outside with numerous spouts of presumably holy water. It was clear from the reaction of the guides that this was a pilgrimage of great religious importance.
We three walked further towards Thorung La, then I was alone walking hurriedly up to the snow line and beyond hoping to reach the cafe marking the end of the east west crossing. But reluctantly as the light failed I had sensibly to turn back but increasingly frightened concerned I had left it too late, but it was little but apprehension after I found my pulse rate was only 80. They were waiting of course.
The remains of my headache had cleared by bedtime but ironically Joan's had not until midnight when it was finally dispelled by aspirin and sleep.
We left at 7:30 but the deep sheer Khali Kandarki gorge was in deep shadow and sadly could not be photographed. Nevertheless the first part of the route showed little change winding along the cliffs, but seemed slow progress perhaps because the bridge crossing named Lete was far in advance of the town of that name.
Suddenly the river changed character, no longer fast flowing at the centre of a deep ravine it was slow moving in a huge silver coloured flood plain.
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| FLOCK OF SHEEP ON MOVE |
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| JOAN GETS LIFT from ZANTABIR |
On one deep crossing Zantabir carried first me then Joan over the river. Other hikers merely took off their boots and wading - but we were not allowed!
Joan suffered with the effect of a sore throat, a lack of energy and a poor appetite, but she struggled on through a long day's walking passed yesterday's target of Kalopani and an additional 15km to Morfa. I too found it hard with a swollen knee which wouldn't bend properly, the longest lasting of all Rugby injuries.
We bought two of the loveliest apples ever for just 2r each on the last part of the flood plain. Long before we reached Morpha the scenery had changed again as the river narrowed and speeded up, but this time the hillsides were largely barren. As we entered Morpha we noticed a very British type of cultivation protected behind tall walls. Apple and Cherry trees and a salad vegetable like lettuce. There was a US AID agricultural development agency with one of Nepali origin. Joan read that Morpha operated as a cooperative where everyone helped a little with finance someone do something major, eg send someone to college.
The town itself looked well developed with a continuous street of housing acting as an effective barrier to the cold winds blowing down the valley, which must be bitter in really cold weather. In daylight today it was a refreshingly cooling breeze. But once the sun went down we dived for our sweaters. I had dahl-baht for lunch to avoid cooking but Joan could eat nothing and slept with her head on the table. That night we checked into a hotel with electric light, it's good to think that some of these remote villages are benefiting from small hydro-electric developments, though much bigger schemes should be possible.
The porters have beds in the room next to ours, a comfortable alternative to sleeping on the floor. Again I have dahl-baht but Joan has a nice vegetable soup. I am feeling cold so it's a trip to the loo and then bed. Joan is much warmer having laid under the blanket since arrival in the room almost two hours ago but now she needs to be extra brave to face the cold loo outside these rooms. Nice though they look there is a downside to forming a ring around a courtyard open to the sky and the cold wind. Still we are glad it's not a tent tonight.
Joan thinks she has a temperature so we will have to see what tomorrow brings.
Sat 21 October
For all the bluster yesterday on the cold spell, simply by being in a small hotel rather than a tent we got a really warm night's sleep under sleeping bag and blanket. I didn't sleep after waking at 3am for the toilet with a slight headache and feeling I could not breathe properly. We were both showing worrying signs of being affected by the altitude (about a third that of Everest!) and I became concerned that I might not make our next stage Kagbeni let alone Muktinath. I was even concerned less the scar tissue on my head would make me susceptible to brain swelling as 20 years earlier before my brain surgery cured the problem. In view of later travel in South America where we experienced almost double the altitude with relative ease we were getting overly concerned.
 |
| MORPHA ? |
A feature of the day was regular passage by French, predominately female, groups who had recently crossed the 5,400m pass of Thorung La, the high point of the Annapurna circuit, and were still wearing snow goggles and their thickest sweaters walking into the wind which was on our backs.
The scenery beyond Jomsom changed again becoming almost a lunar landscape for lack of vegetation. The colours of the rock varied from black, to yellows to the reds of iron ores, emphasising the strata and folds in the nearby mountains. We watched a family serving cereal by the handful from a single basket in their walled courtyard, with Annapurna to our left.
We arrived at Kagbeni by 2pm and were able to spent time walking around this unique village which will forever be top of my favourite spots. It should have been named Zagbeni for it's almost as if it was built as a maze with numerous small inner courtyards with archways and tunnels though gradually one realised the whole place was designed as a ingenious wind break. No streets for wind to blow down, all narrow alleys, zigzags, right angles and deviations. Made even more fascinating by several simple Buddhist monuments, by a mountain God statue in clay mounted and painted on a corner of a small courtyard.
In no time I had taken ten photographs, double my daily ration thanks to ability to buy a new 35mm colour film in Jomsom. There were fields, especially on the east side of the village, growing cereals apples and even apricots in walled gardens. This was an oasis in a mountainous desert.
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| KAGBENI |
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| KAGBENI, JOAN leaves route to NW to MUSTANG |
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| KAGBENI |
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| OUR TENT PITCHED IN FRONT OF HOTEL at KAGBENI |
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| TAKEN EARLY MORNING FROM MY TOILET a few yards from our Hotel in KAGBENI |
Sunday 22 Oct MUKTINATH
As so often in life anticipation is worse than the event. I also feel it was three days well spent to acclimatise above 2500m. Last night's aspirin and the two this morning seems to have at last cleared my head ache.
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| LEAVING KAGBENI |
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| DUNG LAID OUT TO DRY for FUEL |
Passed through the now deserted Tibetan village though the border was now further north than it had been, one could just make out the outline of the deserted houses with their terraced fields. Then barren mountains again until approaching the next village of Jharkot with a pool of amazing colours of pastel stone and vegetation created by mosses and trees, reflected sky and mountains
We are now the only tents on the large Muthinath site over looking the high mountains to the west including Daulagiri and Tukche noting we were not able to see Annapurna on the way up as it was shield by Nilgiri. To the east high mountains and the obvious dip of the pass called Thorung La.
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| ARRIVING AT MUKTINATH |
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| DELIGHTED, ZANTARA'S FIRST TREK TO MUKTINATH |
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| MY FIRST TOO - MUKTINATH |
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| MUKTINATH |
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| I DID IT - MUKTINATH |
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| SO DID I - MUKTINATH |
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| GREETED NEXT MORNING by LOCALS |
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| COLD FROSTY MORNING WELCOME |
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| Add caption |
A major attraction was the wall outside with numerous spouts of presumably holy water. It was clear from the reaction of the guides that this was a pilgrimage of great religious importance.
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| MONASTARY AT MUKTINATH |
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| BEFORE PHOTOS FORBIDDEN |
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| BEFORE PHOTOS FORBIDDEN |
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| MONASTARY at MUKTINATH TENS OF DRINKING SPOUTS |
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| RETURN LATE |
The remains of my headache had cleared by bedtime but ironically Joan's had not until midnight when it was finally dispelled by aspirin and sleep.
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