Muktinath to Ghasa: Downhill in Mustang

Muktinath to Jomsom:

Muktinath was covered in a dusting of snow when we awoke at the Bob Marley hotel. As we looked out of the window onto the streets a stream of horses were being led with riders on their backs, some of them dressed quite finely, making their way up to the temple.

Dreadknot went down to the street to watch a woman weaving the scarves, hats and ponchos she was selling. He bought himself a beautiful green scarf.

Once we had departed from our tea house, I couldn’t help but admire a beautiful shawl spun on site, which I bought, before checking in at the trekkers police check point.

We were now in Mustang district, the dusty, dry and barren side of the Annapurna mountain range. Muktinath is situated at 3710m/12,170ft at the base of Thorong Peak. Named after the highly revered Muktinath Shrine, the valley is of significance to both Hindu and Buddhist religions. Due to the proximity and extensive influence of Tibet, people of Mustang traditionally follow Bon, a form of Shamanism originating in Tibet.

Muktinath is a complex of temples, prayer walls, springs, sacred trees and other natural and manmade features which reflect both religions.

We decided to take the “dreaded” road from Muktinath to Kagbeni, which turned out to be a fantastic paved road with alternate off-road trekking options which paralleled the road. We rapidly descended in altitude with incredible views of what we had left behind us and the lower Mustang valley ahead with its ancient clay citadel and cave dwelling openings into the mountain sides. The terrain is so varied with visible strata, this hike would be a geologists nirvana. 

Kagbeni is a lush and quaint farming community along the river. Posters along the way advertised “Yak Donald’s”, so we decided to investigate it. The restaurant is absolutely quaint, serving many local dishes and one item on the menu was a “ Yak Cheeseburger Happy Meal”, which Dreadknot ordered and I ate a delicious veggie burger. There was nothing “fast food” about any meals prepared here, as it was all made from scratch.

After leaving Kagbeni, we hiked through the mostly dry, wide Kali Gandaki river bed which used to be the bottom of the Tethys Sea 40 million years ago and is littered with fossils which you can buy as souvenirs. We hoped to find one ourselves but have not had any luck yet.

The wind whipped at us as we trudged towards Jomsom, our destination for the night. My shawl and Dreadknot’s scarf were put to excellent use during this section, protecting us from the biting wind. Jomsom is a bigger town with an airport and many people end their hike here, catching a flight to Pokhara.

We passed an Army installation with armed guards at the entrance gate, we had to check in with the tourist police and show our permits and there was a noticeable police presence in town.

Xanadu was our teahouse for the night and we met up with four British trekkers whom we had chatted with since Yak Kharka. One of them had lost her sunglasses prior to crossing the pass and now her eyes were damaged. She could not see, they were watery and her lids were swollen. This was a result of snow blindness. Fortunately she was able to be evaluated by a doctor in Jomsom and received the appropriate eye drops and dark glasses. We really hope that she recovers well because having sunburned retinas is serious business.

I was still feeling weak and ill and decided I would seek medical attention in the morning if I didn’t feel any better.

Both completely wiped out and exhausted Dreadknot and I collapsed and fell asleep immediately.

Jomsom to Larjung: 

We had read so much about why people left the trail at Jomsom. Some people had time constraints and other people stated that it isn’t worth hiking because of “the road” that’s been built. We prepared ourselves mentally to do a lot of road hiking but we were surprised and delighted at how little road walking we actually had to do as there are alternative off road routes all the way along.

A lot of the trek today consisted of walking through the almost dry Kali Gandaki but then, after crossing a suspension bridge we entered a delightful trail shaded at first with willow trees and apple trees in blossom until we reached a Tibetan Refugee Camp that was undergoing restoration amidst an evergreen tree forest. Following on from this we passed pleasant villages and a school and then the trail hit a fork, one leading towards a road walk and the other continuing in the forest. Just after we headed down the path continuing into the forest we arrived at an army post with armed guards. They asked us where we were from and allowed us through the boom gate. This was obviously a military training camp. Their tents were set up amidst the trees and there were AK47’s visible at guard points. I felt a bit uneasy and wanted to hurry through this section.

Once we left the training camp area, we discovered that the trail had been washed away by a massive landslide, removing all markers, which was a little disconcerting for a moment. Since we couldn’t see a bridge across the river where there was supposed to be one, according to the map, we wondered how we would make it to the other side without backtracking or climbing a steep trail in front of us. 

Fortunately at this point we saw two men crossing a tiny wooden bridge barely visible over the fast flowing deep channel portion and we made our way across the partially dry Kali Gandaki onto the side of the river we needed to be on.

At Tukuche, where we thought we might stop for the day we encountered a beautiful memorial stupa in honor of a Japanese man named Akio Ujihara who was the founder of the union of Tukuche (Nepal) and its sister village Toga (Japan).

The next village of Khobang was tiny with few options for tea houses. We did however see the trio of trekkers we had met before from Italy, Spain and Brazil who said they had hiked far enough and were waiting to catch a bus. After saying our goodbyes we continued on to Larjung were we are sleeping tonight. 

The Riverside Lodge is very rustic, situated along the river we walked along, surrounding by the awe inspiring Tukuche and Tukuche West snow capped mountains.

Exhausted but improving in health we go to sleep feeling satisfied with our progress.

Larjung to Ghasa:

Our morning consisted of crisscrossing Kali Gandaki and walking along the ACAP ( Annapurna Conservation Area Project) trails, which was extremely pleasant. The trail took us through small villages along the river with beautiful weeping willows lining the banks with their gorgeous waving branches of emerald green.

Kalopani was our lunch stop. It was a little early for lunch but when we saw the luxury Annapurna Coffee House & Bakery we had to stop. This place is exceptional and from what we could gather, Kalopani looked as though it had a fair amount of new development.

 Once back on the trail we meandered through a lovely pine forest and a very friendly dog was suddenly beside us. We tried to shoo her away so that she would return home, but she would have none of it. We hid behind a rock so that she couldn’t see us anymore but she attached herself to the next hiker. We had now walked very far from the place we first met her and we were concerned she wouldn’t be able to find her way home. After more stern shooing she finally turned around and we felt so worried for her and are hoping for the best.

We did do a fair amount of road walking today, but when we say “road” it is actually a rutted jeep track. The only vehicles on theses roads are motorcycles, jeeps, tractors and maniac bus drivers.

Many of the passengers in the jeeps would lean out of the window as they passed us a take a photograph.

Ghasa was our destination for the day and we arrived at around 3:00pm, which gave us time to wash our clothes by hand at a teahouse and hang it out to dry in the cold breeze.

Tonight we stay at “ The Royal Mustang”, which at least has WiFi that works and we don’t need to use an outhouse toilet in the middle of the night.

Thanks to everyone for well wishes. The antibiotics have kicked in and I’m feeling much better.

The downhill journey continues.....