travel journal: annapurna circuit - part 4

Day 11 – Muktinath to Kagbeni

Apply a liberal amount of sunblock. Reapply every after two hours, more so if you will be under a cloudless sky with all the snow reflecting the intense light of the sun. Be sure to protect your lips. Cover them as much as possible. – I knew those things beforehand but didn’t really follow them. So I had a hard time getting some sleep the night before. My face felt so hot and my lips were throbbing. I had very bad sunburn.

The village and the ruins of Jhong.

Most of us decided to take a rest day in Muktinath after that very long day of crossing the pass. Besides, there are several temples around the village which are good for short hikes. But I decided to continue trekking that day. Although it was a little sad to say goodbye, I was also very excited. After conquering the pass, I was up for more challenge. And that is going solo.

From Muktinath, one can go either to Kagbeni or straight to Jomsom. I chose the northern route to Kagbeni for amazing views of the mountains. And besides, it’s the closest I could get to the Upper Mustang Region. This region is one of the least visited because of the very steep fees. The special permit costs 500USD for a 10-day trek. I couldn’t afford that.

The trail mostly follows a road and goes through the villages of Chongur, Jhong and Putak.  There is a suspension bridge before Chongur but I missed it because the path was covered with snow. I just followed the road which the bridge connected to so it really didn’t matter. (I wondered then what the bridge is for.) The trail/road is mostly going down or flat with a little gentle ascent. What’s more challenging was spotting the red/white marks to go through the villages.

Jhong is interesting because of the ruins of a fortress that gave the name to the village. The very word ‘ruins’ easily catches my attention. For me, it describes a structure which has suffered from natural or man-made adversities. And since it’s (supposed to be) old, it gives me a glimpse of how the place is decades or centuries ago.

From Putak, it is all road on the way to Kagbeni though it doesn’t seem to be regularly used. The walk was pretty solitary and the only person I met was a lonely old man herding goats. From afar it seemed like there was nothing to eat for the goats in that desert-like place. There was also a group of three other trekkers who were very nice to ask me if I want them to wait for me. I had to decline though because I thought they were too fast for me and I really wanted to walk sluggishly. I was also looking at the outcrop and floats. It was the only place in the entire trek where the rocks aren’t just schist and gneiss. I even saw a (possible) chert and thought that it was probably what Rachel described to me that she saw during her trek to the Everest Base Camp. (Yay, I really want to do that trek, too. Soon.)

Kagbeni from the stupa view point.

Later on, I saw a small village along the Kali Gandaki. At first I thought it was Kagbeni but the signs on the road said it’s Tiri. I took the detour to a stupa which offers one of the best view points of the valley. It was indeed amazing. I wanted to stay longer but the wind was very strong and there wasn’t much space around the stupa in case I fall. I also had to sit the whole time I was there so as not to lose my balance.

At the entrance of Kagbeni by the ACAP office, there is a notice saying that beyond that point is the restricted area of Upper Mustang and only persons holding special trekking permit are allowed. They have to take down that signboard.

Kagbeni is attractive with the old part of the village and its old houses, tunnels and fortress-like structures. It looks like a set for some TV show set in the medieval times. But what probably catches the attention of every visitor to the village is a statue standing in one corner. It’s supposed to be a protector of the village. Well, if the enemies are afraid of a man’s penis, he’ll be good at defending Kagbeni.

Welcome to Kagbeni.

Day 12 – Kagbeni to Jomsom to Marpha

The way from Kagbeni to Jomsom is pretty straightforward. Follow the road. Descend on a trail down to the small village of Eklebhatti. Walk on the road again. Walk on the riverbed, sometimes crossing the shallow water. Back to the road again and it’s already Jomsom, the capital of the Mustang District.

To amuse myself, I stopped at every electric posts wrapped with USAID posters to look at their different versions. The prints are in Nepali but the message is very clear to everyone. In a poor country like Nepal, proper sanitation is still an issue. And it’s a continuous battle to educate people about the health risks posed by ‘doing your thing’ in just about anywhere. In one of the villages along the trail, they proudly inform the visitors that every house in that village has its own toilet.

Some people end their trek in Jomsom, either flying out or taking the two-day journey to Pokhara by bus. The owner of the teahouse where I had a short rest commended me for deciding to walk while everyone else was going in the bus. Well, I had a goal.

From Jomsom, I had the option of going straight to Marpha using the road. But since it was still very early, I chose the longer route passing through some villages. The trail is also passing by a lake, which was also the main reason why I chose that route. Since the trail is on the other side of the valley, from where I stood I could see how big Jomsom is.

It was a gentle climb to Thini. But I had to stop before the village because my feet were already feeling weird having been inside my damp shoes and socks for quite a few hours. While drying my footwear under the sun, an old woman stopped in front of me. I was not sure what she must be thinking, but she was looking at me intently. So I just told her that I was going to see Dhumba Lake on the the way to Marpha. She smiled, pointed to the direction of the village and went on her way.

Dhumba Lake.

I reached the lake after about 45 minutes. Upon seeing it, I somehow felt that I was duped. I was expecting a grand icy blue lake or something close to that. But Dhumba Lake is green, a little small, more like a pond and more likely man-made. It was also fenced-off but the gate was open (and there was no sign saying it’s off limits) so it was probably open to public. I didn’t go in though. Haha. The trail climbs relatively steeply to a ridge of alluvial deposits. And then descends to the village of Dhumba. When I passed by a school building, the kids kept shouting ‘tourist.’ (Though some older people keep on saying that I look like a Nepali.)

After crossing the channel of a tributary of Kali Gandaki, I had to climb again a hill.  The trail, which narrows to just about a meter, then goes along the slope, probably a few tens to a hundred meters above the Kali Gandaki. The view of the valley and the villages was impressive. But with the weather getting bad and with very strong winds, I felt a little frightened. (The wind, apparently, is my enemy.) I could already see Marpha across the river. But the trail goes first to Chhairo, a former Tibetan refugee camp. I was tempted to stay there but thought that I might get too lazy to visit Marpha later in the afternoon.

Marpha is the center of the apple industry in the region. The place would have been really stunning if all the apple trees were in bloom that time. I stayed at the first guesthouse I found at the old part of the village. At 300 Rupees per room, it was the most expensive place I had stayed during the trek. It probably was the attached Western-style toilet. Old stone houses painted in all white line the narrow street in that part of Marpha. I looked around the village, went into a bookstore and bumped into the Czech guy who organized the crossing of the pass. Upon his recommendation, I tried the apple crumble in a bakeshop near my guesthouse. I’ve never had an apple crumble before but it was so good. (Perhaps another reason to go back?)

Day 13 – Marpha to Kokethanti

I woke up that morning at a loss. I knew it was the month of March but I wasn’t sure about the date. 4? 5? 6? Nor did I have any idea what day it was. Being in the mountains, I didn’t feel the need to track the time. It was my body that tells when it was time to start the day (which was always fairly early). And I end the day when I get to the village I was supposed to stay the night. Trekking has made me forget about the world out there. It is a wonderful experience being able to not worry about that, the real world, for a while. But I knew those blissful days were numbered.

A stupa in Lower Chhairo.

I traced my steps back to the direction of Chhairo and walked past the village and a series of walls which is supposed to be an abandoned camp of Tibetan refugees. After the village, one can choose between a shorter and a longer route. Of course I chose the longer route going to the village of Chimang, which my guidebook said was a far more rewarding trail. The way up the village is through stone steps carved on a gorge, offering a beautiful view of the valley. Entering the village, I saw a building from a distance which seems to display a cross. So there are Christians in that part of Nepal then? I’m pretty naive thinking there aren’t.

After the village, the trail follows a road going down to the valley. From below, I could see that many of the houses are built very close to the edge of a slope, while some with parts of the house already hanging. Ah, those people give a literal interpretation of something that I believe in; living life on the edge. On the way down, I saw two carcasses of dog-sized animals. I couldn’t be sure because their heads were pulled off. It seemed like they were brutally killed by some beast and most of the flesh was eaten away.  I walked faster than usual.

I crossed the bridge going to Tukuche to have lunch. I wasn’t still sure if I would take the trail instead of the road. While drinking the best apple juice I have ever had in my entire life, the American guy I met at the High Camp suddenly appeared. I was just so glad to see someone who’s familiar. I was enjoying being alone but the surprise of seeing again someone I knew was a different kind of delight. We ended up hiking together in the afternoon, just following the road to Kokenthanti. I think it was a good decision because my guide made it sound like the trail was a little strenuous and my legs weren’t really looking forward anymore to something like that that day.

I noticed there weren’t prayer wheel walls in the villages after Tukuche. While the villages we've encountered in the previous days were Buddhist, the people in the lower Mustang region are Hindus. (Ah, how do I make wishes now?)