Muktinath has natural springs of both water and gas and this fire-water-earth combination makes it one of the holiest sites on the Indian subcontinent, attracting hoards of both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims to its temple complex. We started our day with a visit here but I couldn't connect to the place, except for the eternal flame. There are also (more) spectacular views, this time over the Dhauligiri range. The peak on the left is over 8000m:
Our end point for the day was Jomsom but we took the long way round via a beautiful medieval town called Kagbeni which I was particularly keen to see. I very much enjoyed the walk there, despite the strong winds and very sore legs following the previous day's endeavour. The landsacpe was different to anything we'd seen on the other side. It's dry, stony and sandy, surrounded by incredible rock formations. We could also see back over Thorung La, which looked pretty damn high. Then suddenly, in the valley, the incongrously fertile Kagbeni came into sight:
We spent some time exploring the town and its monastry and caught the first reference to a global chain that I'd seen in Nepal:
I very much enjoyed the afternoon walk from Kagbeni to the outskirts of Jomsom. We were in an area known as the Tibetan Desert Plateau (despite not being in Tibet):
Over the previous few days because of worries about AMS, I'd stuck close to Maria or Dil but now, for the first time in a while, I walked mostly by myself and I think the head-space did me good. Although it looks rather arid from the photos, I found the landscape to be beautiful, the desert with massive mountains in the background. I also particularly liked the way the beginnings of the Kali Gandaki river meanders across the plain, and even more so as it reflected the setting sun:
Although it was flat, the rocky bumpy, stony surface plus strong winds blowing in our faces, made it a hard walk. I was loving it until we reached the outskirts of Jomsom but the last hlf hour through this modern and ugly town pushed me over the edge and I was really pissy by the time we found the hotel. We were the only people staying there and I missed our trail buddies from the previous couple of days. On the other hand, we got some of our own group bond back and even enjoyed the company of Henry and Vivek. Just to be clear, it was never an issue of not liking them. They're both great guys. It was just that we hadn't seen much of them the past few days. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
Our end point for the day was Jomsom but we took the long way round via a beautiful medieval town called Kagbeni which I was particularly keen to see. I very much enjoyed the walk there, despite the strong winds and very sore legs following the previous day's endeavour. The landsacpe was different to anything we'd seen on the other side. It's dry, stony and sandy, surrounded by incredible rock formations. We could also see back over Thorung La, which looked pretty damn high. Then suddenly, in the valley, the incongrously fertile Kagbeni came into sight:
We spent some time exploring the town and its monastry and caught the first reference to a global chain that I'd seen in Nepal:
I very much enjoyed the afternoon walk from Kagbeni to the outskirts of Jomsom. We were in an area known as the Tibetan Desert Plateau (despite not being in Tibet):
Over the previous few days because of worries about AMS, I'd stuck close to Maria or Dil but now, for the first time in a while, I walked mostly by myself and I think the head-space did me good. Although it looks rather arid from the photos, I found the landscape to be beautiful, the desert with massive mountains in the background. I also particularly liked the way the beginnings of the Kali Gandaki river meanders across the plain, and even more so as it reflected the setting sun:
Although it was flat, the rocky bumpy, stony surface plus strong winds blowing in our faces, made it a hard walk. I was loving it until we reached the outskirts of Jomsom but the last hlf hour through this modern and ugly town pushed me over the edge and I was really pissy by the time we found the hotel. We were the only people staying there and I missed our trail buddies from the previous couple of days. On the other hand, we got some of our own group bond back and even enjoyed the company of Henry and Vivek. Just to be clear, it was never an issue of not liking them. They're both great guys. It was just that we hadn't seen much of them the past few days. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
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